Well, last Sunday we went to the spa in Valkenburg. Melanie and Evelyn took us. We went in and changed. I wore my bathing suit. Anyway, we went into the aromatherapy pool which does lavender scented water. Then, we went in the warm, jet pool. Then, I went around the lazy river. Monica, Melanie, and Evelyn went into the nude part of the spa. They did a honey treatment with ice and salt. I wanted to keep my bathing suit on and couldn't bear to be naked under the towel. Anyway, so afterwards, we did a water aerobics class and they [View Full Entry]

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So we went out on Friday night and I discovered a few things. We went to Nua's which is next to O'Reilly's. For those of you who have never been to Brussels, you need to know about the nightlife. All the nightspots downtown are small. They're really bars with dance floors. People are packed in there like sardines. Think firetrap. Anyway, they smoke inside and they smell like alcohol. You have to pay to use the bathroom in most places. Usually, people stay out until 6am. They have a few food options that are open late. We went to a kebab [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, we took a daytrip to Amsterdam since Monica wanted to go. I didn't really care, but I didn't want her to go alone so I agreed to it. We took the train from Midi and got there in about 3 hours. Then, we got out and booked a canal cruise. We ate lunch, which was good. I had a club sandwich and hot cocoa. Then, we headed onto the cruise. The boat was long and had a glass roof. It was nice and we saw a lot of things, but I didn't get to pay attention alot since there was [View Full Entry]

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Allright so we drove from Brussels to Ghent. Once we arrived, we visited the tourist center and then went into St. Bavo's Cathedral. We saw the famous Lamb of God painting by the Van Eycke brothers. We went down into the Crypt. They had old Bishop's robes down there. It was odd seeing so many people buried in the church. It was beautiful though. I enjoyed walking through. They had neat statues and things and paintings to look at. I left there and saw the square with a neat fountain. We grabbed some hot chocolate and then took a horse and [View Full Entry]

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We went to Brugge yesterday. It's an historical city in northern Belgium, not far from the North Sea. We saw a neat square with a huge fountain. Then we walked down one of the main streets. We were in the shopping district. They had great clothes, toys, home items, Brugge lace, and plenty of other things like tapestry bags. We saw the typical souvenir shops with mugs and the like too. The best part was the chocolate stores. They had a Swarovski crystal place too. Monica bought some things. I bought Lukas his birthday present which I will send on Monday. [View Full Entry]

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So we took the train from Brussels to Frankfurt, then from there to Linz. We arrived in Linz on Saturday morning and Lukas was there to greet us. We then took another train to Molln, his hometown. His mother picked us up. We rested and had showers and such. Ham and cheese was for breakfast with bread. Then, we walked to the river and played cards. We had Tirolerknödel for lunch and it was good. Then there was cake and hot cocoa. We sang some Austrian and American songs with a guitar. Then, Lukas took us to Steyr which is a [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday, we went downtown using the bus system. It was the annual Nuit Blanche. We got off at De Brouckere and walked around through the alleys, malls, and other places. It was alot of fun and we ate at a chinese restaurant for dinner. The ice cream and spring rolls were very good. We saw the display at the plaza, where they had people dancing on a stage. They also had the Dexia Tower all lit up with the computer lights that changed colors to the music. We really liked that. There was so much seafood and it was fresh. [View Full Entry]

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We stopped in Memphis and stayed at the Holiday Inn. The next day we went to Graceland, the home of the King of Rock N Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley. I asked Johan if there was one thing he really wanted to do while on this trip and he said see Graceland. It was in that moment that I loved him anew. If you know me, you know I love Elvis. Seriously people... So we arrived there and went to the gift shop and went on the tour of the house. They don't take you upstairs since that's reserved for the family. [View Full Entry]

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Well, there were good parts and bad parts. We found a cheap hotel, but you get what you pay for. I finally got the wireless to work by magic. There was a pool and a hot tub and a laundry. The inside room wasn't the greatest but there was HBO. Either way, we ended up staying an extra day. Here's the story about my Bad Week. We got in and took the car in since it was acting tired. We got a rental car that turned out to be an SUV that seated 7. I never let Johan drive it and [View Full Entry]

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I made the decision to visit Manzanar War Relocation Center while we were out here. We took the scenic route from Las Vegas and crossed through Death Valley. Keep in mind folks, to take careful precautions to ensure your car doesn't overheat if you take this route. It's beautiful though in a scary sort of way even though it's hot. So we finally got there and saw that there's only one building left standing-the auditorium. It's now the visitors' center. They have exhibits and a movie showing and stuff that's really good. They have a gift shop too. The thing that [View Full Entry]

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