Antwerp

Our neighbors upstairs sent us a text Saturday morning to ask if we wanted to ride with them to Antwerp - of course we did. The city was a mix between Amsterdam and Bruges to me. It had the modern side of Amsterdam with all the shopping and the old school side of Bruges with some of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. It is amazing to me the workmanship that was put into these old churches. It is a bit sad to think about sometimes because I wonder how many people lost their lives building them or how the money may have been better spent on the communities. I also wonder why today we don't build churches the same way. Now they are just big ugly monstrosities to me. When I go into these churches I feel nostalgic for a time that I never knew. It is truly amazing to think about all the feet that have walked in and out of those old places. What were they like? What sort of solace were they trying to achieve there? Were they upset so much money was spent building the thing but they were living in a hovel. Or were only the rich allowed to go to these churches? I wish when you visit these places they told you these things. But most of the time, they are used as churches and have bulletins only. Don't they know there are tourist visiting! ha. I think if or should I say when I start writing my first book/story will be set in one of those gorgeous churches. Any ideas for a storyline?

Settling In

This weekend was the first weekend in a few weeks that Charles and I had "nothing to do." It turned out to be a really nice weekend of new friends and relaxation. Friday night, we went to local pubs and hung out with our upstairs neighbor and a couple we met at the Christmas party last year, Allan and Marta. Allan is from Canada and Marta is from Czech. They met at Oxford and have been together ever since. We had a good time getting to know them better and are happy to have met them and to have such cool neighbors!

Saturday was spent shopping for drinks for the house and watching Epitafios. It was lightly snowing all day so we didn't do very much. I did make some yummy meatball subs. Sat night, we met our new Hungarian/UK couple outside the Cathedral of St. Michael. Apparently this is the oldest church in Europe (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/belgium/brussels-cathedral-st-michael-gudula.htm). And yes, it is gorgeous. We then proceeded to a pub that has kept most of the original woodwork, bars, etc to have a pint. After we finished our beers, we headed to their place for some conversation and Wi tennis.

Sunday was spent relaxing and watching James Bond with our upstairs neighbors and Allan and Marta.

All in all it was a great weekend! I feel very lucky to have met people here this fast! It was lucky that we have young fun neighbors upstairs from us. That helps alot!

Today I am headed to a language school for a French assessment to find the right class for me. Wish me luck. ha. I have also joined a book club and am thinking of taking some creative writing classes. And, we even found a gym I can join!

bye for now.

Rainbows and Barcelona with a side of icy sidewalk

My Dad passed away week of Xmas - incidentally that was the exact same week my grandmother, his mom, passed away. The day after the funeral, we were sitting outside chatting and noticed a gorgeous double rainbow. This rainbow filled up the entire sky and you could see it end to end. The ironic thing about this sight is obviously it was right after Dad passed, but even weirder is that when my grandfather died (my mom's dad) and when my grandmother passed (Dad's mom) there was also a rainbow! True story.

In keeping with how my Dad would have wanted us to feel/react, etc to his passing, Charles and I kept our plans to go to Barcelona for NY's. Dad didn't want us to feel sad or upset about his passing. He looked at it as a natural part of life and a new journey for him. Boy, has his passing got me thinking of a lot of things - but I digress. So, off to Spain we went. First, I loved Barcelona. We had fun looking at the gorgeous churches, eating tapas, and toasting the new year. We even had the opportunity to "almost" get mugged twice! The first time, there were two guys and they started chatting us up. Then one guy tried to dance with Charles and stuck his hand in the front of his pocket. Simultaneously the other guy beside me tried to do the same with me. At the same time, Charles shoved the guy and told him to f' off and I looked at the fella beside me and said leave me the f'alone. Needless to say they ran w/o succeeding in getting our money. The second time wasn't as close. There was a fight in the street and a guy tried to distract Charles.. nice try.

For me, the trip to Barcelona was the first time I felt relaxed in months. It felt like a real honeymoon for both of us. Our "official" honeymoon was filled with me worrying about Dad. Sigh.. it's a shame we were both exhausted from the funeral and traveling to the states. But, I still enjoyed the trip and wouldn't mind going back again. Especially to the see the inside of the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. I was a bit hungover from the NY's celebration and didn't get out of bed in time to see the inside. opps. Charles was up and had coffee and juice by the time I rolled out of bed. We just missed seeing the damn thing too. Opps. ;) One too many champagnes. The guy at the restaurant brought us TWO free champagne bottles! That's right - TWO. So we had a bottle of wine at the meal, and two champagnes b/w the two of us.

One final note on Barcelona, for NY's they have a tradition of eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight with each ring of the bell! Now, that sounds ok, but think about it for a minute. How the fuck do you eat 12 grapes within the time of the 12 bells. We couldn't do it. hahaha.. hopefully won't be too unlucky this year. We didn't eat black eyed peas or cabbage either. I'll take my changes 2010 will be ok.

Which brings me to my closing thought - today I fell on my arse from the icy sidewalks here. Opps! hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come. ;) I was just a bit mortified, not hurt.

bye for now.