Bruges

I really had my heart set on going to Bruges over the holidays. I've been hearing great things about it from the people I work with since I've been here. It's been to the tune of, "Go to Bruges. It is worth the trip."

Since the kids all had gotten sick over the holidays, I was hesitant to make any hotel reservations, but I still REALLY wanted to go. So David and I agreed to "wing it." I'm not very good at winging it. I'm too much of a planner, and not having plans stresses me out. And I don't like being stressed out!

We left at 14:07 on Friday. I kept looking at hotels.com and booking.com to see if there was availability, and honestly, it didn't look like much. But I still didn't want to make a reservation because I thought they were easily 20 Euros per room higher than they needed to be. We were getting 2 rooms, so I decided that the savings would be worth the stress.

David drove. He feels a lot of stress when he drives over here. That stress carries over to me. We got to within about 10 minutes of the city center, drove past a fancy hotel, and made a u-turn back to it at a roundabout. I checked if they had vacancies, they did. They had a restaurant. They had breakfast. They had adjoining rooms. It was twice the price I had been hoping to pay! But it was 100 times more convenient than driving the extra ten minutes at 1930 and trying to find a B&B in the city center, not to mention parking for our giant van.

What a good decision!

Our dinner and breakfast were excellent. The rooms were lovely, with some unexpected amenities (coffee, chocolates, madeleines, beer). I had told the kids that we were staying for one night, but if they ended up loving it, we would stay a second night. OF COURSE they loved it! But I reneged. Anyhow, what I had ACTUALLY told them was that if they loved the city, we could stay a second night. They loved the hotel. Even Livvy said when we got back that she was a little bit sad because we weren't staying at that hotel. Alex said he wished we could live there. I'm glad they have that sense of adventure, at least.

Bruges was certainly worth the trip. The first thing we did was visit the ice castle located next to the train station. It was kind of gimicky, but still interesting. It was cold (22 degrees), so we only stayed in for about 20 minutes. But the interesting thing was that the train station had parking for a half hour for only 10 cents. Handy! And even better, after having parked, we found a parking garage right next to it for 3.50 per day. That was easy walking distance in, and it was big enough to be relatively comfortable for David to park the van.

We walked around for four or five hours. Livvy wanted one thing and one thing only--ice cream! Even though it was cold, she enjoyed her ice cream so much. David and I got some waffles. (The word Belgian there is redundant, don't you think?) Delicious! I went into a grocery store and bought some chocolates and waffles to bring home. I/We visited two churches, the plaza, and the outside of Belfort. Alex wanted to go up it, but the line was long both times we went there, so we didn't do it. At least they had a convenient restroom there! I am to the point where I don't hesitate to pay 50 cents for a potty anymore. They're always clean and well-stocked when they're attended, so it doesn't bother me at all.

Bruges had such a different atmosphere than most of the German cities we've visited. For one, I didn't feel in the least bit judged for speaking English (not Dutch or French). There were a lot of tourists, so I would imagine in the spring/summer/fall it would be very crowded. They don't like cars in the city center, so parking by the train station and walking in was ideal. (Not what we would have done if we hadn't gotten that hotel--I was going to try to go into the center and then find a B&B very close. I don't think that would have been easy for the six of us.) I could see Bruges being very romantic and a fun destination in addition to Paris. It sort of reminded me of Prague (friendly, ancient, modern), and I didn't think the prices were bad compared with other cities we've been to. I could easily spend 3 or 4 days there. I'm so glad we were all feeling well enough and had a chance to go!

Church of Our Lady Bruges

Two lovely girls. I took this at breakfast at the restaurant.

At St James Church Bruges. It had dozens of lovely Flemish paintings and many sculptures. I took a quick stroll through it, but I could have easily spent an hour there.

A look at the year gone by

I'm very excited about this year. I'm looking forward to so much. But before I get into all of that, it seems only appropriate to tally the pros and cons of 2018.

Let's see:

January: January of last year was a little bit sad for me because Mom left, but the good news was that she was coming back to help us out in March.

February: February was somewhat uneventful for us, except that we visited Koln (Cologne) and saw the Lindt chocolate factory and the very impressive Dom (cathedral). I really enjoyed Koln and would go back if I had more time. I recommend it as a top city to visit in Germany.

On February 3, 2018, I became a Rodan and Fields consultant. So glad I did.

In February, I also left for the exercise in Israel. Mom came a week later to help David out with the kids.

March: In March while I was in Israel, I got to see so much, including Tel Aviv, the Mediterranean, Masada, The Dead Sea, Ein Gedi Nature Preserve, The Sea of Galilee, and Yad Vashem. The sunshine and the sights were incredible. It was a time I will never forget.

I had about a week left with Mom when I got back, and we went to Frankfurt and saw the Goethe House, the Museum of Archaeology, and the Cathedral and its museum.  We also went to Mainz and saw the Isis and Magna Mater Museum, the Dom, and St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was very hard to see Mom off, not knowing how long it will be until I see her again. (I'm still hoping it's before July!)

April: In April, we all went to Frankfurt so David could visit the Schirn Museum. We also went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (very cute), and we took a trip to the Netherlands to see the tulips. That trip was a little dampened because Lilly had a fever most of the time, but the tulips were incredible, and I might like to go again. Also, since Lilly wasn't feeling all that well, we didn't go to Amsterdam, which would be really nice to see.

May:  May was the kickoff for our series of incredible months. I went to Prague with a friend, and we took a family vacation to Tuscany, which remains one of our favorites so far.

June: June was special with the visit from my in-laws. I also took a special day with Alex in Mainz, where he got his first mohawk.

July: In July, my sister came to visit for three weeks. We hit Paris, Berlin, Colmar, Strasbourg, Trier, and did a Rhein River Cruise. It was such a blessing to get to see her and spend time with her.

August: In August, my friends came to visit us and let David and I go on our first date of the year. We also visited Stuttgart with another friend of mine, including the Porsche museum, which I thoroughly enjoyed even though I'm not a motorhead whatsoever. Fred and David did a Rhein River Cruise together because I thought it was a necessary experience for David, and Fred and I did a tour in Rudesheim that included 2 gondolas and a short hike. It was such a nice visit.

September: I met up with a friend from my past in Worms. That was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. Shortly after that, my friend from high school came, and we went to DisneyLand Paris, which wasn't fun at all for me because I ended up getting sick and then so did everyone else.  During her visit, we missed our opportunities to take her to Garmisch and Neuschwanstein, Oktoberfest, and everywhere else we had planned. Fortunately, she wasn't timid and didn't let that stop her from sightseeing on her first trip to Europe. AND, she didn't get sick, thank God.

October: October ended up being a downhill slope for us, when David was hospitalized with the same infection of strep that was plaguing all of us. The German doctors didn't give us adequate prescriptions of antibiotics, and Griffin and Lilly ended up with Scarlet fever (Griffin for a whole month). So we didn't really go anywhere or do anything in October. The kids all felt well enough to go trick-or-treating, fortunately. They didn't last more than an hour, though! A really big, huge milestone that happened in October was that Lilly started sleeping in her own bed. For the first time in about 7 years, I was getting quality sleep through the night again!

November: November 12th was the last day that anyone in our family started their last prescription, so in all honesty, part of September, all of October, and most of November were pretty hard on us. I depleted my sick leave almost entirely during that fiasco.

December: December saw us all on the mend and mostly healthy. I thought I would be very sad after Christmas, but I absolutely wasn't. Our Christmas was so enjoyable, and I appreciated the reduced workload from not having visitors (but I don't want that to happen again for at least another ten years!). I had hoped that we would go to Belgium to see an ice castle in between Christmas and New Year's, but the kids were taking turns with a fever, so we didn't. By New Year's Eve, everyone was feeling well, though, and we had a nice time on our balcony watching the fireworks that surrounded us.

It was a blessed year! It wasn't without its challenges, of course. And honestly, as my friend warned me before I left, being here without our support network has been very taxing on our marriage. I'm not worried about that, though, because we'll bounce right back when things get easier, and we now have a baby-sitter to give us some time together here and there for the rest of our time here (thank God!). I mean really, if you think about it, David and I went about the first six months of our time here without a single moment to peacefully share between just the two of us. Then when Mom was here in December we went on one date. Then, if I recall correctly, it didn't happen again until August. That would be tough on any marriage!

What's in store for 2019:

The stress on my marriage is the main reason I am looking forward to coming back home in July. That and, of course, because I miss my extended family and my friends SO MUCH! But don't get me wrong! I have about 7 months left, and I intend to enjoy them to the fullest! Starting with a trip to Belgium (the one I didn't get to make over Christmas) tomorrow for a night! I am also planning (God willing):

* A trip to Bratislava / Vienna / Bavaria during Alex's spring break
* A trip to Poland to go to the Polish Pottery Outlet
* A trip to Denmark / Sweden / Finland
* A visit to Nuremburg

I'm CONSIDERING:
* Another visit to the Netherlands when the tulips are in bloom.  That was so pretty and we just didn't quite enjoy it enough because of Lilly's fever! But it almost seems silly to revisit (even though we are going back to Edelweiss in Garmisch) and I'm not sure I can swing it with another big trip in April already. We'll see!
* A Disneyland Paris do-over. (I really can't decide about that!)

What are your hopes for the year? What are you looking forward to this year?

View of the fireworks from our house on New Year's Eve