I can't believe it is over. It has been an amazing seven and a half months living in Europe. I feel like we were able to fully take advantage of our time here. We did just about everything that we hoped we would do and did about a million things that were new and unexpected. Setting out for this trip I had a few specific travel goals, most of which we did. I was able to see three new countries, which was terrific, but we were also able to go to some old favorites and really immerse ourselves. In most of [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to nearby Tongeren. We had plans to meet friends for dinner in Leuven but we thought we deserved/needed/craved one last little trip. We were going to bike to the station as usual but Jonathan had (another) flat tire. Even the bikes know it is time for us to hand in our gear, pack up our stuff and bust out of here. So, the bus to the train and a peaceful hour long ride to Tongeren. The kids did their usual coloring, reading and eating routine on the train. Jonathan and I have been amazed to think back to [View Full Entry]

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Happy New Year Everyone!!!!! [View Full Entry]

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We had no plans when we woke this morning. All of our motivated house guests were out the door early and the girls were happy to stay in their pajamas until noon. It was nice to have a lazy morning, of course this is the kind of lazy morning you are expected to have after a meter of beer the night before. When I returned from my run Jonathan and I looked at each other and decided we needed to get moving. With only two weeks left we could just sit back and be idle and wait for our departure, or [View Full Entry]

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Our first house guest was Jonathan's cousin Eric. Our last house guest (or one of them) is my cousin Molly. Accompanying Molly is her friend Sarah, and overlapping their visit is one from my brother Pat and his girlfriend Elisa. The girls and I did our final (?!) trip to Gravensteen (yes, that makes it six times for the kids and they still get a chuckle out of the knight's toilet) and helped the weary travelers to get accustomed to European train travel. We stopped in Brussels on our way home and while Molly and Sarah babysat (I mean slept) the [View Full Entry]

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When we last reported we were "freezing in Florence". We are now nice and warm and a lot has happened. We found celebrating Christmas in Belgium to be an inspired experience for the whole family. We were able to invent new traditions that will hopefully stay with us for years to come and additionally we were able to escape a lot of the harried chaos that usually accompanies holidays in the States. Perhaps it was the lack of pre holiday parties or the lack of travel over the actual few days but it was such a relaxing time for all of [View Full Entry]

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After a wonderful night's sleep we all dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. We certainly got our money's worth here. They had a terrific coffee machine and I personally had four cups of cappuccino! The girls feasted on cereal, croissants, and juice. The previous day we had to decide how to spend our day today. I lobbied for a trip to nearby Lucca. But yesterday when we saw the cathedral Jonathan was seriously impressed. My response: it's nice but the one in Florence is better (perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut). Thus, we went to spend the day in [View Full Entry]

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When we first discussed our European adventure with the girls we showed them pictures and maps and tried to get them excited about travel. Luckily our efforts have panned out and they are as excited as we are when we go someplace new. Of course it may prove harder to leave them behind with friends and grandparents should Mom and Dad find a way to escape once we get home! During our studies with them they became hooked on seeing a few sights in particular while we were here. Abigail was all about castles. Emma was most interested in the Eiffel [View Full Entry]

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Here it is serious holiday time in Europe. When we were planning our trip we had the option to return home before the holidays but decided that it would be a great opportunity to enjoy a different way of celebrating if we stayed through mid January. Christmas time in Europe is so beautiful with all of the lights and particularly with all of the Christmas markets. Last week marked the beginning of Hanukkah. The girls and I fashioned a menorah together and we found candles so we were able to light the lights and sing. Unfortunately we didn't have any matzo [View Full Entry]

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Yeah, more friends visit Belgium!! We can't get enough entertaining :) We are very happy to have Maura and Bill visiting us from greater Boston. Maura and I used to work together (the girls can't believe someone used to pay me to do things) and we have spent many hours reminiscing (a shout out to declass right here!). They arrived from Amsterdam, despite the scheduled Belgian train strike (occurring the several times over the next few weeks) and we had a relaxing rainy afternoon together. Saturday night I prepared a traditional Belgian dish, witloof, which is endive wrapped in ham with [View Full Entry]

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