Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Bruges
We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Bruges. It's a tiny little city (town really) in Belgium that I didn't know much about until I saw the movie "In Bruges." Not sure if that helped tourism at all, but it did inspire me to go. So I booked a nice little weekend for Ric's birthday and we had a great time celebrating his 2-9.
Getting there was super easy... we took the Eurostar on Friday evening into Brussels, then changed to a different train and two stops later (about 1 hour) we're in the middle of Bruges. We got in fairly late (and I'm not the night owl that I used to be... ok, I never really was a night owl), so we went straight to bed. The next day we kicked things off with a yummy breakfast at our B&B, which looked like an old Flemish farmhouse and only had 3 rooms.
Then we went for a boat ride through the canals and got a great view of the gorgeous buildings from the water. I was really amazed by the architecture and how clean and nice everything looked. They've done a great job maintaining the character of the place, but so many of the buildings look like they've been redone and were really, really nice. After the boat ride we pretty much wandered around for the rest of the day. There was a pretty park, lots of pubs and restaurants, and tons of tourists (more than I expected).
Dinner was one of the highlights - we ate at a three Michelin starred restaurant called De Karmeliet, which is only the second restaurant we've been to with that many stars. It was an 8 course meal that lasted 4 and half hours. Every course was delicous - from the salmon to the shrimp to the venison to the cheese course and BOTH desserts. But four and a half hours was a little much for us. I know that they're trying to space things out, give each course time to digest, and the pacing is supposed to be a science. But pretty much whenever we eat at a nice place with a long tasting menu, I find myself wishing they would just bring the courses faster. Once, in Berlin, we timed it and a full hour passed between two of the courses. That meal lasted about five hours total. I'm all for savoring a great meal, but back to the whole "night owl" thing, when the clock strikes 11 or 12pm I start to lose my focus. Anyway, the food was amazing and the service was great too. Would definitely recommend it.
After considering how we could move to Bruges and both find jobs there, we realized it was time to head back on Sunday afternoon. All in all, a great weekend and a very fun place to visit that's such an easy trip from London.
Here are a few pics! More on FLICKR
Our B&B, the No. 11 Guesthouse
Our room
Pretty park
An entire mass of people who all knew the dance/workout moves that the two people on stage were doing. It was like a flash mob workout!
In the streets of Bruges
Gorgeous buidlings
The famous bell tower from the movie "In Bruges"
Funny dog in the window... we thought it was a statue until he moved...
On the water
Getting there was super easy... we took the Eurostar on Friday evening into Brussels, then changed to a different train and two stops later (about 1 hour) we're in the middle of Bruges. We got in fairly late (and I'm not the night owl that I used to be... ok, I never really was a night owl), so we went straight to bed. The next day we kicked things off with a yummy breakfast at our B&B, which looked like an old Flemish farmhouse and only had 3 rooms.
Then we went for a boat ride through the canals and got a great view of the gorgeous buildings from the water. I was really amazed by the architecture and how clean and nice everything looked. They've done a great job maintaining the character of the place, but so many of the buildings look like they've been redone and were really, really nice. After the boat ride we pretty much wandered around for the rest of the day. There was a pretty park, lots of pubs and restaurants, and tons of tourists (more than I expected).
Dinner was one of the highlights - we ate at a three Michelin starred restaurant called De Karmeliet, which is only the second restaurant we've been to with that many stars. It was an 8 course meal that lasted 4 and half hours. Every course was delicous - from the salmon to the shrimp to the venison to the cheese course and BOTH desserts. But four and a half hours was a little much for us. I know that they're trying to space things out, give each course time to digest, and the pacing is supposed to be a science. But pretty much whenever we eat at a nice place with a long tasting menu, I find myself wishing they would just bring the courses faster. Once, in Berlin, we timed it and a full hour passed between two of the courses. That meal lasted about five hours total. I'm all for savoring a great meal, but back to the whole "night owl" thing, when the clock strikes 11 or 12pm I start to lose my focus. Anyway, the food was amazing and the service was great too. Would definitely recommend it.
After considering how we could move to Bruges and both find jobs there, we realized it was time to head back on Sunday afternoon. All in all, a great weekend and a very fun place to visit that's such an easy trip from London.
Here are a few pics! More on FLICKR
Our B&B, the No. 11 Guesthouse
Our room
Pretty park
An entire mass of people who all knew the dance/workout moves that the two people on stage were doing. It was like a flash mob workout!
In the streets of Bruges
Gorgeous buidlings
The famous bell tower from the movie "In Bruges"
Funny dog in the window... we thought it was a statue until he moved...
On the water
Monday, September 14, 2009
Hello strangers! And pics...
I'm sure you've all been wondering why the Bremer Blog has been so quiet over the past month... it's an unfortunate side effect of traveling to visit friends and family back in the states and then being so busy when we got back that the weeks just flew by! Hope to get back on the bandwagon now and don't have too much travel planned except for a trip to Bruges this weekend, Charlotte the weekend of October 10th and then Parma in Italy the weekend after that. Then the doctor-ordered "no fly zone" kicks in and we're grounded at least until January.
So to catch everyone up on what's been happening, here are a few pictures from the baby shower in Charlottesville and our trip to visit Ric's mom for her 60th birthday in Colorado.
The little guy is doing fine and we go in for our next scan on Friday, September 25th. I feel like we haven't "seen" him in ages, so am really excited. He's supposedly 14 inches these days and weighs somewhere near a pound and two thirds.
Here are pics from the Baby Shower with more on Flickr
Three generations of Bremer boys!
Here are pics from Colorado with a few more on Flickr
Ric practicing on his niece Brie, and only looking slightly uncomfortable...
From a great hike up to an old homestead in Colorado... just a few minutes from where Ric's mom lives
In Aspen
So to catch everyone up on what's been happening, here are a few pictures from the baby shower in Charlottesville and our trip to visit Ric's mom for her 60th birthday in Colorado.
The little guy is doing fine and we go in for our next scan on Friday, September 25th. I feel like we haven't "seen" him in ages, so am really excited. He's supposedly 14 inches these days and weighs somewhere near a pound and two thirds.
Here are pics from the Baby Shower with more on Flickr
Three generations of Bremer boys!
Here are pics from Colorado with a few more on Flickr
Ric practicing on his niece Brie, and only looking slightly uncomfortable...
From a great hike up to an old homestead in Colorado... just a few minutes from where Ric's mom lives
In Aspen
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