Fifteen years ago today...

It is hard for me to believe that fifteen years ago today, at just about this time on the East Coast, I was about to walk down the aisle at Central United Methodist Church in Denton to marry Dan.  Time has flown and it has been a wonderful fifteen years.  I couldn't ask for a better way to spend our fifteenth anniversary than with Dan and the kids in Europe.  It is all very surreal.  We have had an amazing trip.

We began our day with more waffles in Brussels before boarding the train to Amsterdam.

We took the train directly to Schiphol airport because Dan had the brilliant idea for us to stay at a hotel connected to the airport on our last night.  I am so glad he made this plan.  We were able to dump our stuff in our hotel room and take a 15 minute train ride into the city.  Tomorrow morning we won't have to rush around at all, since we are already at the airport.

Anyway, we headed back into Amsterdam and began attempting to find Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder.  My poor navigating took us one block over from where we were supposed to be and directly in the heart of the red light district.  Luckily, we ran across a Chipsy King for lunch (the best frites around in our opinion) so we redirected our attention to lunch.  Unfortunately, we had to walk past a completely inappropriate storefront to get there.  I hope the kids aren't scarred for life.  As a matter of fact, I hope I am not scarred for life.  We tried to shield the kids as best as we could.  I didn't help that it smelled like we were at a Phish or Grateful Dead concert, either, as we walked through the streets.

After lunch, we got back on the right track and found our museum, which translates as Our Lord in the Attic. This was a fascinating museum, in which a Catholic church is hidden in the top of a canal house.  The house itself was built in 1630 and the church was built in the attic in the 1660s during the oppression of Catholics in Amsterdam.  Around 150 people can fit in this beautiful church that unfolds before you after climbing up three flights of teeny, twisty, Amsterdam stairs.  They gave the kids their own scavenger hunt for ladybug clues throughout the building and they had a blast.

Following the museum church tour, we headed to a real educational experience -- The Heineken Experience.   I would describe it as the Coke Museum in Atlanta, but with adult beverages.  It was entertaining for all of us.  I am a dorky auditor who loves factory tours, so I got to see how beer is made. The kids got to see the horses that still pull the Heineken wagons throughout Amsterdam and they loved the 4D ride that made you feel like you were becoming a bottled beer.  Dan got to partake in one of his favorite beverages-- an ice cold beer.  Lots of fun!

Please note that the kids are drinking a Fanta orange, not a beer!

After the Heineken tour, we went back to Wagamama for our anniversary dinner.  Sid took a picture of Dan and me toasting each other.  The food was delicious. 

On our way back to Central Station to catch the train back to our hotel, we were playing the human frogger game that is attempting to cross a road in Amsterdam and we witnessed an honest-to-goodness bike wreck.  Dan and I could see it coming, but we couldn't do anything to stop it.  We were stopped at a crosswalk waiting on the bike traffic to clear, so we had a clear view.  One guy was having trouble controlling his bike to begin with. Then, he decided to turn across another lane of bike traffic without looking behind him.  He turned right into another guy and knocked him flat on the ground.  No one wears helmets around here.  We made sure they were both OK.  Sure enough, the flattened guy hopped up, jumped back on his bike and said, "Thank You" in Dutch to the guy who had just knocked him off his bike.  Crazy!  

 Upon entering our hotel room at the airport, we discovered that the hotel staff had surprised us with a dessert tray for our anniversary.  How sweet!

It has been a wonderful anniversary to top off a wonderful trip.  I can't believe all that we have seen and experienced.  I have learned a lot.  I will make a more conscious effort in the future to try to learn a basic knowledge of the language in the countries in which we will be traveling.  I don't like not knowing what people are saying to me.  I could fake it a little in France, thanks to my two years of French with Mrs. Brett at Central High School in Helena, Arkansas, but I should have tried to learn more.  I will greatly reduce the amount of things I bring to entertain my kids in the future, because they have found ways to entertain themselves.  I will invest in more Wiki Sticks, though, because those were a big hit.  I will remember windbreakers with hoodies in the future.  I will try to stick to the pattern of including at least one educational opportunity and one fun activity each day when we travel. I will remember to treasure the time I am spending with my husband and my kids and live in the moment.  Above all, I need to remember to be thankful for all of my blessings.  

Thanks for following my blog.  I hope you have learned a little and laughed a lot.  I hope it has made you realize that if we can do this with four young kids, you can go anywhere you have always wanted to travel.  Dream big!  I know I will keep on dreaming.  Who knows where our next trip might take us.  

Au revoir!

Rain, rain,go away

We woke up this morning to rain...lots and lots of rain. We have been so lucky with the weather, so we were due to have a washout day.  The rain didn't stop us from having fun, however.
Our morning got off to a memorable start when Sidney lost her 10th tooth while brushing her teeth.  She was so excited that the tooth fairy would visit her in Europe tonight.
We headed out the door for a breakfast of Belgian waffles and hot chocolate, or as Dan likes to remind me, they are only called waffles here.  The Belgian description is redundant.  They lived up to their name.  We all agreed that they are the best waffles we have ever tasted.  The hot chocolate was delicious, too.  Jack liked it so much that he finished his and moved on to Hadley's.  He insisted on using a straw.

After breakfast, we hopped on a bus to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, or as we like to call it, the Dinosaur museum.  Finally, Jack got to see his long-anticipated dinosaur bones.  As you can see, the kids were soaking wet when we arrived, because I was the great mom that didn't pack a hoodie, poncho or umbrella.  They didn't seem to care, though.

 The museum was fascinating.  It was the most informative dinosaur exhibit that I have ever seen.  I think Dan and I learned more than the kids.  They have 30 Iguanodon skeletons that were found in a coal mine shaft in Brussels. They were found completely intact in the proper alignment. For some time, scientists thought that a cataclysmic event must have trapped them there, but now they are leaning toward the theory that it was an Iguanodon rest home of sorts, where old Iguanodons went to die.  Do you think they played Bingo every day?  Just kidding.  The whole display was interesting.  It was also kind of depressing, because so many things that Dan and I learned about dinosaurs have turned out to be untrue, such as Brontosauruses didn't really exist.  What are you going to tell me next?  Pluto isn't a planet?!?

The kids also finally found some hedgehogs at the museum.  Yay!  They were formerly-alive hedgehogs, but hedgehogs none the less.

After the dinosaur museum, we toured around Brussels a little and then went back to the hotel to dry off.  We decided to take the kids to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. I know, I know. It is a chain restaurant, but it is technically not breaking my rule, since it is based in London and not in the US.  While they showed music videos, Dan and I were able to reminisce about the good ol' days when you could watch music videos on TV.

By the time we finished dinner, the rain had cleared off.  It was a beautiful evening in the Grand Place, so I couldn't resist taking a few night pictures.

On the walk home, the kids wanted their picture with this crazy sculpture of a cat on a bike that we have passed about 10 times.

While we prepared for bed, we also prepped for the tooth fairy's visit.  Hadley was still freaked out by the prospect of the tooth fairy being in the room in which she is sleeping, so Sidney and I made a tooth holder.  We hung it on the adjoining doors of our rooms.  It will be interesting to see if she leaves the tooth ransom in Euros or dollars.  That was the big question of the night.  I also have to keep convincing Jack not to pull out his teeth, since he wants in on the tooth fairy action.

Wandering around Brussels without a guidebook

Most of today was spent traveling between Dijon and Paris and then Paris and Brussels.  The kids are getting pretty good at navigating the train stations and they have learned how to get comfortable on the train.

We made it to Brussels, settled into our hotel (the first hotel stay since we began our trip), and then set out to explore our area of Brussels.  I do not have a guidebook about Brussels, which is driving me nuts, due to my control freak nature.  I printed off information about recommended activities with kids in Brussels before leaving home and I got a map from the Concierge at the hotel, but it isn't the same.  I knew that we wanted to find the Grand Place, which was supposed to be spectacular.  Some of the streets on the map weren't clearly marked, so after a little wandering, we made it to an area that I assumed must be the Grand Place, based on the map. I like to call this photo "not the Grand Place."

I took the kids' picture and Dan and I were trying to sound excited for the kids, while at the same time, we were mumbling, "What is the big deal about this?"  Dan saw something large in the distance and suggested that we go check it out.  Thanks to him, we stumbled on the actual Grand Place, which is quite stunning!

Brussels is known for several things:  chocolate, waffles, Smurfs, mussels, frites (yes, more fries), The Grand Place and the Manneken Pis.  We plan on checking out waffles for breakfast in the morning and frites as a snack tomorrow afternoon.  We did find a Smurfs-chocolate combination in multiple store windows.  Yes, those are smurf-shaped chocolates in the window.  At over $25 for a box of twelve chocolates, I have already informed the kids that we will not be investing in any.

We decided to eat dinner in the now-located Grand Place (yay, Dan!) and try the local delicacy, mussels.  Our waiter wanted to get in on a picture.

Dan and I both ordered mussels.  They were quite delicious, and you can see that Dan won the contest between the two of us.  

After dinner, I decided that we needed to seek out the Manneken pis. I promise that I am not making this up.  This is a statue of a peeing little boy that is famous in Brussels.  It was sculpted and installed in 1619 (not a typo).  There are several different legends surrounding its creation.  You should read them on Wikipedia.  They are quite fascinating. As I stated earlier, I don't have a guidebook or a very clear map, so we wandered around for 30 minutes looking for this statue.  After asking 3 different people, including a policeman, we finally found it.  

Lots of food establishments and stores around Brussels have fake Manneken Pis displays with the boy performing different activities with his "unoccupied" hand and wearing some sort of outfit.  This was one of our favorites at a waffle stand.

We are actually turning in fairly early tonight (and enjoying central air conditioning for the first time in 2 weeks) so that we can be ready to eat waffles and go see DINOSAURS!  Finally, Jack will get to see them after talking about them for weeks.  

A lazy day in Dijon

Today was a day to take it easy in Dijon.  I discovered this morning that most places are still closed on Monday mornings.  My boulangerie was closed, but I discovered a new one that was even better AND open on Mondays. We hung out around the apartment this morning and decided to visit the Musee des Beaux Arts de Dijon this afternoon. It is housed in part of the Palais des Ducs (or Palace of the Dukes), which is less than a block from our apartment. It really does have an extraordinary art collection and you get to see part of the palace.  Dan and I were most excited about seeing the sepulchres of former Dukes, but, as luck would have it, that portion of the museum was closed for renovation.  I did take a picture of the kids outside of the palace.

We shopped for a few souvenirs and the kids rode yet another carousel.  This time, Jack and Hadley chose an airplane to ride together and Sidney and Lyndon chose the teacup, as usual.

We let the kids put on their swimsuits and play in the fountains one final time before dinner.  Then, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner at a restaurant on the square across from the palace. Dan and I drank a bottle of Burgundy wine.  We recognized the small town nearby from the label and talked about how fun it will be to search out Burgundy wine at home.  

We managed to stretch out our dinner through sunset, so we snapped a few pictures with the lights on at the palace.

                                            

 This final picture is of the kids on the street of our apartment, which is appropriately named Rue des Bons Enfants, or Street of the Good Children.  We are definitely blessed with our kids.  They have been great travelers.  Yes, everyone gets a little tired, cranky or hungry every now and again, but they have been troopers.  It is time to get packed up now so we can head to Brussels in the morning.

Flunch? Oui, I think so!

The reason for the title of this post will be explained at the end of the day, but for now, let's follow the advice of Maria Von Trapp and start at the very beginning.  I learned the hard way that most take-out food establishments are closed on Sunday mornings in Dijon.  Every morning, I have run out to a certain boulangerie (bakery) and picked up various types of chocolate bread for us to enjoy for breakfast.  This morning, all bakeries were closed.  I did manage to find a grocery store that was open, so I picked up a few pre-packaged foods for breakfast.  After breakfast, Sidney and I decided that we wanted to climb to the top of Tour Philippe Le Bon (the tower of Philippe the Good), which is part of the palace near our apartment.  The tower is the highest vantage point in Dijon and it requires climbing over 300 steps to reach the top.  The other kids weren't interested or couldn't handle it, so Dan stayed home with them.
We took advantage of being alone and made a detour for a photo opportunity for Sidney.  She really wanted a picture with the owl plaque that is her "age number".  It just happened to correspond to the famous lucky rubbing owl, which made it even more special.

Philippe le Bon was the most famous Duke of Burgundy, and he built his tower in the 1400s, as well as helped fund the hospital we toured in Beaune yesterday.   We greatly enjoyed the climb, the view was spectacular and we learned a lot from our tour guide.

The plan was for Sidney and me to run back to the grocery store and pick up something for lunch.  Well, that plan failed.  It turns out that grocery stores are only open in Dijon on Sunday mornings and close at noon.  Oops!  We returned to the tourism information office and asked if there was anywhere to get lunch, other than a sit down restaurant.  The man informed me that Flunch was open on Sundays.  There will be more on Flunch, later.  The location he gave us was out of the way, so we went back to retrieve everyone from the apartment and went out for pizza at a cafe on the square.  

Following lunch, I requested that we visit the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne. All three of my guidebooks highly recommended it as a great place to take kids.  It said that they have an entire floor dedicated to the re-creation of an 18th and 19th-century city street in Burgundy, complete with the merchants of the time.  Well, the entrance was pretty, at least.

The inside was just downright creepy.  They had those old-fashioned mannequins that look extraordinarily real dressed up in period clothing and in realistic poses.  They seemed to pop up out of nowhere when you turned corners.  We all got pretty freaked out, but in a fun way.  The lighting was dim to make the scenes seem realistic, which didn't help matters any.  I didn't take any pictures, because I was too skittish. It didn't help that Dan kept referring to a Saturday Night Live skit in which the wax mannequins come to life on an amusement park ride that is broken down when they try to abduct the riders.  Needless to say, we made it through that museum pretty quickly.  The street re-creation was neat, though, and the kids particularly enjoyed the hair salon.  

After we reached the sunlight again, we let the kids play in the fountains across from the palace because we planned on walking to another park and thought they would have time to dry out.  I didn't expect them to get this wet.

We set out for the Jardin Botanique de l' Arquebuse, which was about a 10 minute walk.  We hadn't walked through this part of town, yet, and we passed a l'ecole (school) along the way.  I took the kids' picture in front of the school, because it will make Grandmom excited.  Everywhere we traveled when I was a kid, she made sure that we located a school building so I could compare it to our schools at home.  

When we arrived at the park, we saw the beautiful botanical gardens with a fountain in the middle, in which kids were swimming.  Apparently, it is encouraged, as they have even added a step to help them enter the water.  We decided that when in France...and we let the kids become honorary Griswolds in their European Vacation.  They were already wet, so why not?!?  

We also found a playground for the kids and some sunflowers for me to photograph.  I couldn't resist.  

Now, to Flunch...We were on that side of town and we knew Flunch was open, so we decided to head there for dinner.  I thought it was supposed to be France's homegrown equivalent of McDonalds, but I was pleasantly surprised to be mistaken.  I don't really know how to describe it, other than saying that it is the Ikea of restaurants.  It was unexpectedly high quality food with lots of options (cafeteria-style) and at a cheap price.  To top it all off, they had ice and fountain sodas!  Maybe it was even invented by Ikea.  It has the same rolling carts for the food trays as in the Ikea food court. All I can say is that it was a hit with the Briggs family!  They also had a photo opportunity with a Wonder Woman cut-out to celebrate your birthday (which is "anniversaire" in French).  Our anniversary is a few days away and Dan was a huge Wonder Woman fan as a child, so we couldn't miss this opportunity.

A super anniversary, indeed!!!

A fun afternoon in Beune

After a leisurely start to our day, we took an afternoon train trip to a small town about 20 minutes away.  Its population is close in size to Lexington, so it was neat for the kids to see what a comparably-sized town in France would look like.  We walked from the train station to the town center and discovered a very cute carousel.  Hadley chose a horse to ride, Sidney and Lyndon chose the "teacup" (their favorite at Hanes Mall) and Jack chose...a chicken.  It still makes me laugh to picture him riding that chicken around and around.

After the carousel, we wandered around the streets (thanks to my terrible navigation) and finally found the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices Civils de Beaune. In French, "hotel" is the word for hospital.  This hospital was founded  in 1443 (yes, 1443 -- that isn't a typo) in order to provide hospital care for the poor.  It continued to operate in the same capacity until 1971.  It is a beautiful building that was established by a husband and wife.  They used the finest materials available and the highest standards and practices of the day to give medical services to the poor of their town.  Here is a picture of the beautiful courtyard.

We were all given audio guides, with the kids receiving their own age-appropriate explanations for the building, its operations and the medical devices and practices of the day.  We were able to view old medical equipment and hear about its uses, some of which were not very pleasant.  We all learned so much.  I am including a picture of the Great Hall, where the poor patients were served, and a picture of the pharmacy.

We enjoyed some ice cream while we further explored the streets of Beune.  It was really a lovely little town.   There are numerous wineries in the town that produce Burgundy wines that are enjoyed all over the world.  We didn't tour any, as we didn't think that would interest the kids.  We will save it for another trip...