Brussels - November 2009

On to Brussels - The train trip to Brussels was O.K. - but the lugging of the luggage was not.  No one would help us put it on and off the train.  And there isn't anywhere to put the fricken luggage one you get on the train.  Not well thought out.  Anyway...our hotel was attached to the train station which was great.

When we walked in the hotel lobby had a exhibition of tea/coffee cups.  I thought it was pretty neat.

The next day when we went sight seeing Shonda navigated.  Which was good because I am useless when it comes to following a map.

We liked this statue - Shonda said it reminder her of two best friends traveling.  Us.

The park had a lot of statues and features.  This was all before breakfast, which we generally didn't roll out of the hotel to have until about 11:30. The concierge was mortified at the times we took our meals.  I thought we took a picture in the breakfast place he recommended - but I can't find one so I guess not.

We took a day trip to Bruges.  It's a really nice town with canals and old architecture.  But of course my battery died when we arrived and I didn't have my spare.  The only photos I got were of the Cathedral we went to (we even attended a service which was really nice).

I think this is the church organ.  And I got a photo of a fountain in one of the squares.

I still can't believe how good this turned out.  I literally did a point and shoot and, if I do say so myself, it looks awesome.  I need to take some photography courses maybe I could get more like this if a actually knew what I was doing.

The next day the concierge gave us the name of this restaurant for lunch - again he was a bit disgusted with us because we were asking at the ungodly hour of 3:00.  Little did he know that not only was this lunch but it was breakfast too.

And as you can see from both my photo and...

Shonda's the atmosphere, food and drink were very good.  And of course the company was superb.

After eating we were walking around to see some of the sights when we came across this candy store.  They really like their peeing boy statue and replicate it everywhere.

Here is the real one and here is one in the Belgium beer bar we went to:

And here are the Italians in the beer bar that were chatting us up.

None of them spoke English fluently. One of them knew a bit of English and most of them could speak Spanish and some French.  So between our bad Spanish, their bad English and the bit of French we both knew we could communicate.  A little.

Breakfast the next morning - neither one of us was 100% after the wine, brandy, and beer the night before.  But boy did we have fun...

Amsterdam - November 2009

My friend Shonda came out from Houston to met me in Europe to help me celebrate a milestone birthday.  And while we were in Amsterdam a good friend of mine from London, Samara, came over to meet us.  Needless to say, we all had a blast.

Here are some photos of Amsterdam decorated for Christmas - I took these as Shonda and I were walking back to our hotel after dinner and drinks with Samara.

Walking around we saw a lot of interesting signs and statues but this door below was one of my favorites.

It took me a minute to figure out this was someone's front door - and once I did I had to shoot a photo.

The next day we went to see a heritage town, it was cute and it was the first time I'd seen windmills in Holland.

Then I saw this:

And it was so stereotypical Dutch that I couldn't believe it!  Windmills and bicycles.  I'm not sure it if was decor or if this was really someone's bike they just happened to park here - but I thought it was cute.

The three of us getting ready to leave the little town.

Me and Shonda after dinner and drinks one night.

Samara making us dinner at her place.

This was a really nice tea & dessert place... of course I had coffee!

That night we met Samara's boyfriend at a hole in the wall place in Amsterdam that served brandy.

They fill the glasses so high that only surface tension keeps the brandy in the glass and you have to take your first sip off the bar.

The bartender's name was Hans and he was a sweetie.  Needless to say we were feeling good by the end of the night.

After Amsterdam Shonda and I continued our trip onto Brussels.

Eat, Drink, and be Merry!

One of my best friends, Shonda, came into town in March for business and was able to extended her stay for a nice weekend visit on either side of the trip. YES! We had a wonderful time. We hung out at the house watched "B" movies like Alligator, Lake Placid, and Snakes on a Plane.

We also went out to a London club with some of my friends from the Shell project, and took a walk down Bond street to look at all the posh stores. While we were window shopping it started to rain (what a surprise) and so we went to my favorite pub in London, The Mews.

http://www.mewsofmayfair.com/home.asp

One of the best things about living in London has been traveling to Scotland and tasting the different whiskys available. Unfortunately its making my taste more discerning and I prefer the nicer whiskys now - which means I'm going to be spending more money on our bar at home!

At the Mews they have a wonderful 30 year Macallen which I absolutely love and since Shonda is a whisky drinker too, I had to take her so she could enjoy it. We started with the 30 year then decided to try the 18 so we could taste the difference. Just a note...don't go high to low when you are drinking whisky, the 18 year isn't bad but after the 30 it tasted like lighter fluid (or what I assume it would taste like!).

Another night Me, Sammy and Shonda all went to at Clos Maggiore which had both excellent service and food. http://www.closmaggiore.com/v1/default.aspx.

Shonda and I also went to another of my favorite restaurants in London, La Pont de la Tour http://www.danddlondon.com/restaurants/le_pont/home where we had lobster and enjoyed an excellent view of the Tower Bridge.

And on the weekend before she left we actually did a little site seeing. We went to Stratford upon Avon to visit Shakespeare's home. http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/

Me and Shonda in Stratford

Keeping in line with my normal habit of not getting out of the house (or hotel if I'm on vacation) early we arrived in Stratford at around 2pm. Thankfully Shonda isn't an early riser either and was down with the leisurely schedule!

We visited Shakespeare's house...

Me and Sammy at Shakespeare's house

After visiting Shakespeare's house we walked around town and had a look at some of the medieval houses, which surprisingly enough, are still lived in.

Crooked House

We walked around for a little while then popped into a cafe which had a really interesting interior. I especially liked the staircase. The food wasn't bad but the service left much to be desired. So we skipped desert, walked around town a little more, then left to go back to London.

Rouen France

In March, after I got back from Atlanta, Sammy and I went to France to visit a couple of his friends from Rice University.

Go Rice Owls!

We took the Eurostar because I had never been on it or through the Chunnel (check another item off the list). I have to say it was much easier and much less stressful than flying and it took about the same amount of time. But according to Sammy it's not a good choice because there are no frequent flyer miles involved.

Sammy and Alex at the Joan of Arc burning site

We had a very nice visit with Alex and Karen. We explored Rouen saw the spot where Joan of Arc was supposedly burned.

Sammy & Karen in the town square

While we were walking around I was introduced to one of the best cookies I've ever tasted (except a homemade Toll House cookie of course!), a Macaroon. After exploring we had dinner at a restaurant which bills itself as the "oldest restaurant in France" http://www.lacouronne.com.fr/accueil.jsp?lang=en.

Restaurant La Couronne

Dinner was excellent, I branched out and tried oysters. They were raw. Didn't like them. Glad I tried them - but didn't like them. Saturday we slept in - bliss! Then drove up to Paris, went to Louis Vuitton and browsed (Sammy bought a tie) and then went to dinner at La Fermette Marbeuf which we highly recommend.

http://www.fermettemarbeuf.com/en/index.html

It was an excellent dinner, good food, good company, what more could you ask for in a night out?

Next...a visit from one of my best friends from home...

Lexi in Atlanta

This post is ohh so late...but better late than never!

My trip to Atlanta was very exciting, not only did I get to meet Princess Shannon, I was able to meet my friend Lisa's new husband Phil! Lisa and Lexi (Gabi's best friend) moved from Houston where they were my neighbors, to Atlanta where Phil lives, back in November.

Lisa and Phil

Lisa had Sandi and I over to her beautiful new house - which was completely unpacked and decorated by the way - for dinner the Tuesday night after I arrived. I'm always in awe of Lisa's organizational skills, I've been in London for 2 years and I still haven't unpacked all my boxes or hung up all our pictures / paintings!

Lexi has been feeling under the weather but she greeted me with her same loud welcoming voice when we arrived at the house.

Lexi Chillin' on the Kitchen Floor

When I returned back to London Gabi was doing some serious sniffing in my bags. I think she could smell Lexi on my clothes and was a little disappointed that she (Lexi) wasn't here in the flesh.

Gabi in Northern England

After I had dinner with Lisa I stayed the night and we went shopping the next day in Roswell. We poked around in a bunch of little shops that had a ton of stuff I wanted to buy. Why is it I always find the furniture I'd like to buy when I'm thousands of miles away from my house?

Lisa's youngest is in the middle holding Shannon

Later that week we popped over to Lisa's house again for dinner and to meet her step-daughters. Lisa also had some other friends from out of town and we all had a great time eating and visiting. Shannon spent her time hanging out with the other kids at the party in the living room.

Lisa's eldest in front

The rest of us hung out in the kitchen chatting. I went home soon after this party...sigh... I was bumped from first class because Northwest was grounded due to a snow storm. So I had to ride coach all the way back to London, very traumatic.

Next trip on to Rouen to visit some old college buddies of Sammy's.

Sad news...Lexi passed away at home on May 21st 2007. She will be missed.