Brugge and the English Channel

This past weekend we packed the car and headed out once again to Belgium. Our destination only 2 ½ hours away, and a place where old Europe lives. Brugge, Belgium is about an hour from Brussels situated in the northwest corner of the country. The old part of the city is a beautiful reminder of times past where the streets are all break-your-neck-cobblestones and the roads have no discernable pattern. The houses are small but built well, and the churches are magnificent. There are several squares and many more chocolate shops. There are also horse drawn carriages that will take visitors around the old city and give a limited tour of what old Brugges has to offer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges
Being the horse lovers that W. and I are, we opted for the buggy ride, and J. didn’t object. This time of the year day light is of limited quantities- because of the latitude and because of the constant cloud cover. Our ride was at twilight, the city shops were lit up and there were oodles of pedestrians out strolling the city streets. The experience was very fairytale, and W. and I enjoyed ourselves very much. J. not being much of a horseman was gracious the half our journey it took to tour the city.
Accommodations in Brugge are expensive, but we were able to find a reasonable hotel at the Hotel Groeninghe using a Rick Steve’s recommendation: http://www.hotelgroeninghe.be/ This hotel included a great European breakfast and was centrally located. The only disappointment I would point out was that you have to park your car at the train station and have a ten minute walk back to the hotel. But not that I’m complaining…
For us, a complete day was enough to see in Brugge, so we loaded back up into the car and drove another 20 minutes away to the Belgium shore town of Oostende which over looks the English Channel. This cute little town was once the vacation hotspot for royalty, but now is open to all sorts of tourists. The beach reminded me of an Oregon beach- cold and windy with drizzly rain. There were no boulders sticking out of the sea, but there were loads of misshapen rocks (small enough to fit into your hand) and all the sea shells a girl and her mom could carry. Belgium: a very fun place to visit!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oostende

Luxembourg and Trier in a dash

Traveling with a two and a half year old is tough. Traveling with two 2 year olds and a 5 month old will test the limits of reason. But what else is there to do in life but to be unreasonable some days. Our most recent adventure took us south to Luxembourg City, Lux. What a beautiful place- full of parks and coffee shops, there is little else to want on a chilly Saturday afternoon. (Well maybe a nap)

A map is not required to see the city; it is full of pedestrian walks and signs that point you to where you want to go. After wandering around the shops and eateries we strolled on over to the Gëlle Fra monument which shares one of the most magnificent outlooks in the city. Being October, all of the leaves are starting to change, and for me, it was heaven to see. As I mentioned before, we were traveling with small people, and we not able to stay long in the city- but we know now how long it takes to get there, and what we want to visit when we come back.

Being associated with the armed forces does have its advantages. One of these is the benefit of being able to stay at the temporary lodging facilities on the bases in Europe. Where a night in a local hotel would cost you € 80, a night with the army will only be $25. This makes traveling for us very reasonable- AND the facilities are very nice...

The next day we did some shopping at the American stores on base- sometimes it's hard to find what you really want around here- and then headed out to Trier. Trier is a most wonderful city situated on the banks of the Mosel River neighboring Luxembourg. The countryside is well known for their wines and the city it's self boasts a history that is over 2000 years! Once called the Roman capitol of the north, you can still see evidence of Roman occupation in the amphitheater, the ruins of Roman baths, and the Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps. There is so much more to see in Trier then the ruins of the Romans- Trier like most large cities has a beautiful cathedral that is worth a trip to see. And if the cathedral doesn’t impress you, then the shopping and gastronomy is sure to do the trick. Even the children we brought along seemed to like this place.

Europe is a fun place to visit, and I am so glad that we have all of the opportunities that we do, and we look forward to seeing more with some gusts- so come over, the beer is great here!

PS: So being overwhelmed as I was with small people, the camera did not make an appearance on this trip- BUT it did make the trip with us... resting the whole time in it's bag where it did lots of good taking up valuable car space.... SO, there are no photos... sorry!

PSS: W. started kindergarten last week- actually speilgruppe, and she is fast on her way to learning more German than I!

Yet another monistary visit

What do you do on a lazy rainy Sunday? Well if you're an Archer living in Europe, you visit a Trappist brewery. Today happened to be our lucky day, and being only an hour and a quarter drive from fine beer prompted us all to load up in the Subaru and head over to Belgium. Once there we enjoyed delicious sandwiches at the monastery cafeteria, and of course Achel beer- both the blonde and brun for those interested. They also have fantastic soup and soft serve ice cream which W. can attest for. There is a small wooded area with trails, and horses pulling buggies in the street. The monastery property is located in both Belgium and Netherlands, so you really can be two places at once! We weren’t able to tour the grounds- but we did see a couple of monks. What a treat for a Sunday in Europe!

And because I didn't bring my camera with me, here are some shots of W. practicing the backstroke in the tub. Enjoy!

To Belgium and beyond!

So we did it. Today we took an epic adventure, and we made it home intact. What is this nonsense you may ask? Well, I will tell you. Coming to Europe my dear husband and I decided that we were going to become bike riders. Not just your every day hop on and stroll through the neighborhood kind of riding, but people who ride their bike to places. Ever so slowly-for me, and not so slowly for my husband- who by the way is very quick on the bike, have been building up our stamina.

Now to put this into perspective, I think my stamina is the one who needed the building. So almost daily, when the weather permits, I've been trailering W. over the local hills. To the base, to a friends house, to the park. Where ever we needed to go, that we could reasonably ride our bike to. J. on the other hand has been steadily riding his bike EVERY day to and from work- about 8km one way since January. So you see, it is now July, and we should be able to do more then a quick outing.

Belgium. This is where I thought it would be fun to go to. To get there, we had to cycle through the outskirts of Germany, and then traverse through Holland over the bridge and through the woods to Belgium. What a cool way to spend the day! Finally looking at the logistics, we figured that we would drive to Belgium- Massik, and then ride home from there. Somehow we'd figure out a way to get the car back. After an hour and a half of riding, we all decided that we were getting pretty hungry, and stopped at the local train station, 10 minutes from our house. It was a great setting to finish our goal. We rode 30km today, and through 3 countries. How many people can say that they did that this weekend?!

Post script: Here's a few pictures from last weekend. W. and I went to the neighbors house to ride their horses. We both loved it. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such great people living by us!

Oh la la

Our adventures have finally led us to Paris, or as some call her, the City of Light (La Ville-lumière), to experience what others only dream about. Well maybe others don't dream about going to the most romantic city in the world with their two year old and parents in tow, but for us, it was what we wanted. Only a three hour train ride from Aachen, we were able to see the country side in style. We reserved train tickets on a high speed train called Thalys: http://www.thalys.com/de/en/ where if you catch them at the right time, you can get a one way ticket from Germany to Paris for as little as 25 euros! W. had a great time being able to watch videos on the portable DVD player we brought, and the grandparents enjoyed her game of musical lap.

Arriving at Paris Nord, we took the subway to the nearest stop to our hotel. It was relatively easy to get to, even with a stroller and luggage. My husband, being the researcher he is, found a hotel that was reasonable and with in minutes of the Eiffel tower. http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75007turenne.htm

To me, Paris is beautiful. There are stories which I'm sure every one has heard about how dirty the city is, or how rude Parisians are. Not so. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Paris, go. There is so much history here to see, the buildings are free of graffiti, and the people are European. They are friendly, but don't expect them to gush at your feet for visiting their city. I tried what little French I could remember on them, and they seem to be satisfied with that. Being a major European city, most people have a second language, and they are able to speak English.

Having a little one restricts the places where you can go. Paris has many beautiful museums- none of which W. would enjoy. So, my husband was able to go along with my father to spend the morning at the Louvre. From what I've heard, it's overwhelming. It's so large, and there are so many things to see, that you'd need days to take it all in. I did see it from the out side, and it was impressive that way as well.

What I really came to Paris to see though were the churches. I was not disappointed. On almost every corner there is a work of art dedicated to God. In high school I took some French. Well, I was in a French class at least, and I remember learning about a cathedral called St. Chappelle. It was called the cathedral of light because it's walls were not the usual stone gothic architecture you see all around, but comprised of stained glass, so beautiful, kings would sit in the main room for hours to think.

We also saw Notre Dame. My father is an architect, and when I was younger he used to tell me about the flying buttresses of churches and cathedrals- and now I had the opportunity to visit one, an especially notorious one with him. It is a beautiful cathedral. Probably not the most beautiful I've seen, but it does rank in the top 10. If you are in Paris, this is definitely a sight worth seeing.

And a trip to Paris wouldn't be complete with out a romantic climb to the top of the Eiffel tower at sunset. Lucky for us we had brought some babysitters. Lucky for me, my husband agreed to wait two hours in line to purchase tickets to the top. The views were amazing. Paris lit up at night is unbelievably big. The elevator takes you up to the second level platform, where you are able to look over the city landscape. Then you hop back on the lift and travel up to the top most platform where the views are stunning, if not a little breezy. In fact, it's chilly up top- take a jacket if you go!

Paris is a great city to visit, and I will definitely be going back. There is just too much to see and do in one short weekend. Luckily it's so close, and we'll be here for a little while longer, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to go back!

Brussels, Belgium

On Friday the 11th of April, the Archer family decided that we'd had enough of Germany, and that we needed to see the sights in Belgium- that and we were running low on good beer. So we loaded up the Subaru and ventured the short way to heart of the European Union- Brussels.


What a beautiful city! What crazy drivers! Now if you've never driven in a large European city, you're in for a treat when you visit Brussels by car. Not only are the streets incredibly narrow, but there are little to no road markings. It's like running with the lemmings... you're all going somewhere, you have an idea of where, but most likely it's not going to end up the way you thought. Thankfully we have our trusty GPS. Not that she does a lot of good when a double Decker sightseeing bus is double parked in your lane, but she helps.


So we arrive at our hotel in the center of Brussels. A nice place with in walking distance to all the places you'd like to visit or take the tour bus to. We were able to comfortably walk around the city with a toddler and a stroller. http://www.eurostarshotels.com/en/hotels-in-belgium-bruxelles-eurostars-grand-place.html

The first stop on our afternoon walking tour was of the Grand Place. Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful squares in Belgium, I now could see why. The Hôtel de Ville is a now the town hall for the city of Brussels; it is absolutely beautiful, and you can read more about it here: http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-town_hall.htm

The Grand Place was bustling with activity, and a weekly market was just coming to a close. There were all kinds of unusual sights to behold- did you know that the Belgians walk their children on leashes? What a great place!

Over the next few days we gorged ourselves on waffles right off the iron, chocolate goodness on every corner, and the main staple we were here to get: BEER! If you love beer as much as we do, this is the place to be. Every cafe has a different taste, and you will never get tired of trying them all. That is unless your toddler starts wanting to have a beer party instead of a tea party... but I digress.

There is just about everything that you could want to try here. And lots of sights, here are a few that we visited: Palais de Justice, Bourse (Stock Exchange), Market Place, King's House, The Town Hall ( Hôtel de Ville), The Guild houses, The Royal Palace, The Royal residence, The Heysel with the Atomium, the St. Hubert gallery (has fantastic chocolate!), and of course Manneken Pis (adorned in his karate outfit). To read about where we've been, check out this web page: http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-buildingsandmonuments.htm

And now I'll leave you with a few parting shots!