The Ardennes and Luxembourg

A new excursion this weekend. Saturday morning we set out for Luxembourg City. Our aim was to leisurely drive south while taking in the scenery of the Ardennes Forest, stopping at the Bastogne Historical Center (which is located on one of the battlefields from the Battle of the Bulge and has an American Memorial), and then eventually checking out some of the sites in Luxembourg City.

On the drive down toward Bastogne I read in one of our guidebooks about Durbuy, a cute little medieval town. We decided to stop there for lunch and try one of the recommended restaurants, Hostellerie le Sanglier des Ardennes. Durbuy was really quaint with windy, cobblestone streets and cute artisan shops. We found our restaurant and opted for the 4 course lunch menu. It was really good, but took a REALLY long time! Here are a few pictures of Durbuy:

Our lunch restaurant:

The view from our table at lunch:

Here's a video we took on our drive. The scenery was pretty and a nice contrast to the northern part of Belgium that is incredibly flat.

Ardennes Drive1 from Melanyann Garvin on Vimeo.

Our lunch took so long that the Bastogne Historical Center was already closed by the time we made it there. So we journeyed on to Luxembourg City, enjoying the drive along the way.

The next morning we set out for the sites of Luxembourg City. We first needed to find some breakfast so we walked, and walked, and walked looking for SOMETHING, ANYTHING that was open. We have never walked for so long in a city and not seen an open restaurant. In fact, I almost entitled this post: "Never go to Luxembourg on a Sunday unless you're not hungry." Anyway, we finally found a place that was open, but it was only pastries and coffee so we ate something to tide us over and then walked, and walked, and walked back to the city center. We hadn't planned that well and didn't have a city map, and since nothing was open, we couldn't get one. So we admired the old city walls:


And admired the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame from inside and out:


And then we decided to get back in the car and tour the Valley of the Seven Castles. It's really just a drive along the (very small) Eisch River, but it was very scenic and supposedly has one of Europe's finest concentration of castles. There are castles in Koerich, Septfontaines, Ansembourg(2 here), Hollenfels, Schoenfels, and Mersch. We only found 6 of the seven castles- the Mersch castle elluded us and our empty bellies did not lend themselves to a lenghthy search.

Here's a picture of the Castle at Koerich: Mostly ruins

And the 13th century castle at Septfontaines:

There were two castles at Ansembourg, but the first was so hidden up in the hills, among the trees, that we couldn't even take a picture of it. The second was from the 17th century as opposed to the first from the 12th, but we couldn't get a good shot of that one either.

Here's what the castle at Hollenfels looks like as you enter the town:
And here's what it looks like closer up with me jumping up in front of it. I'm a dork... I know.

Here's a the view from Hollenfels Castle:

We are now totally pros at the full-arm-extention-b/c-no one-is-around-to-take-our-picture-shot:


And this is the Castle at Schoenfels:

We used our handy TomTom GPS to navigate between all these tucked away towns. The roads were pretty bare and we felt like we were all alone exploring the Luxembourg countryside. While typing Hollenfels into the GPS, I saw that there was a Holler, Luxembourg. Being that Holler is my maiden name, I was pretty excited to find this. We mapped it and realized it was fairly close to where we were (really everything in Luxembourg could be described as "fairly close" since the whole country is only 35 miles across at it's widest point) so we decided to take a detour and check out Holler. You can click here if you want to see where Holler is in Luxembourg. It's basically in the most northern area, nearly equal distance from both Belgium and Germany.

I got even more excited when I saw this sign and confirmed that Holler did, indeed exist:


And now........ what I'm sure you've all been waiting for.......... your personal tour of Holler, Luxembourg:

Holler, Luxembourg from Melanyann Garvin on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoyed a little peak into our weekend. Where to next?

Busy, Busy, Fun, Fun!

Hello, All! I should be better about blogging. It's okay to post something short. I don't have to stress over each word. (Just trying to convince myself.) I guess just the idea of each blog entry being archived and accessible for eternity to potentially any willing reader makes me feel like each entry must be so well thought out and, essentially, perfect. But, really, it's not such a big deal. Nevertheless, blogging brings out the perfectionist in me and the thought of creating a "perfect" entry often causes procrastination! Does anyone else find this to be true or is it just me?

Anyway, I've been keeping very busy. So busy, in fact, that I had to print out a monthly calendar to keep track of all my activities! I used to use my iphone, but since I can't use that here, I've been without a way to stay organized (i use that term loosly, of course). So, what pray tell, has been keeping me so busy? Well, mostly activities with the American Women's Club of Antwerp (AWCA) and the friends I've met through it. I found this club online before we moved here, and it has been a lifesaver! I've met some really great women and they have welcomed me into their group wholeheartedly. Yes, while my wonderful husband is slaving away at work, I'm off having new and fun adventures with a great group of gals!

Last week, I went shopping for a few days in Paris with Stephanie and Joanna. Joanna knew of good outlets just outside of Paris, so off we went. I had found nothing, and was feeling discouraged, when just before the shops were closing, I found two beautiful dresses. And even better, they were on MEGA-sale! The two dresses were originally just over 1000Euro, but I got both for 150Euro!! I'm sure some of you will be completely bored with this portion of the post, but if you know me at all, you can surely appreciate how exciting this was for me! Here's a picture of my finds:


I also bought two pairs of shoes. Fun, comfy ones: aren't they cute? ...and very Mel
And since I only brought winter shoes/boots when we came, I bought a pair of Spring shoes that can be dressed up or down (and they're SUPER comfy too):
I'm actually very proud of this purchase. I was able to overcome my ingrained tendency to buy 5 pairs of $20 so-so shoes and hold out for ONE pair of good, comfortable shoes. I try to replay Eric's voice in my head when I'm shopping: Quality, not quantity.

Anyway, it was a fun, productive girls' shopping trip and I was very happy to have been invited along. I didn't do a good job of taking pictures during the trip (I was focused on the mission at hand), but here's a picture of Stephanie and me (from a recent trip to Brussels for a tour):
She has been such a great friend already. She drives me to all the AWCA events, passes along useful Antwerp tips and restaurant suggestions, gets me out of the house, and, of course, invites me to Paris to shop! She's getting married in July, and it's been fun to tag along while she does some of her planning. And.... she may be moving to the Bay Area after the wedding. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I didn't get a picture of Joanna (sorry, Jo!), but she was a wonderful travel companion and so sweet!

I got back from Paris on Thursday, and Friday I went skiing in Holland with Nicole (another friend from the AWCA) and her kids. We went to SkiWorld, an indoor skiing facility, and it was pretty neat. Here's a picture of Nicole and me:
And here's one of Nicole and her kids, Hayden and Jillian:
And one of the slopes:
Nicole has been really great to me also - inviting me to coffee, letting me tag along on their ski day (I just realized I hadn't been skiing in 10 years!), and also inviting Eric and I out to dinner this past weekend. It was really nice for Eric to finally meet some of my friends and their husbands too.

Then, on Saturday, Eric and I went out for breakfast - Stephanie had told us about a place that serves omelets - and then walked around one of the weekend markets. Prior to this weekend, we hadn't made it out in Antwerp before about noon. So it was nice to see the hustle and bustle of the city on a weekend morning. We bought some flowers at the market and they've been cheering up our flat all week:

This week, I went to a jewelry party, we went out to dinner with my Chinese teacher, Kuan, and her husband, Kim, and I've been to the gym 3 times (so far). Tomorrow I'm meeting up with friends for afternoon tea (or wine, I think I'll choose the wine!). And we just found Domino's Pizza - my mouth is watering just thinking of the cheesy bread! This weekend we're going to drive through the scenic Ardennes Forest on our way to Luxembourg City.

Hope you're all well. Happy Valentine's Day!

Oddities and Observations

Hello, All! Well, having been in Belgium for several months now, we've had the opportunity to note some interesting differences in everyday life - things you may not notice if here only on vacation or for a short period of time. Granted, these are nowhere near as odd as experiences we've had in Asia, but are just a few things we've observed, some quite obscure. I've broken them down into four categories for your reading pleasure:

Television:
Each morning I wake up looking forward to watching Will & Grace and, after that, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Hey - don't judge - you'd find yourself watching things you may not normally watch when English language television is limited...... oh, who am I kidding, I'd watch these in the states too! Anyway, I usually wake between 7:15am and 7:40am as Eric is getting ready for work. I flip on the TV and either wait for Will & Grace to start or catch it mid-way through. The thing is, the start time of my morning shows appears to be fairly random. Not completely random, because I know it'll start sometime between 7:12 and 7:21am, just fairly random. And then The Fresh Prince will follow sometime around 7:48am.

We've noticed this same pattern, or lack thereof, with most television programming. No exact start time, even if it's advertised. You may see that "Bridget Jones' Diary" is going to be on tomorrow evening at 9:15pm, but really, that's just an estimate. Could be 9:03, in which case you miss the first 12 minutes, or it could be 9:22pm - either way. And then there's the placement of commerical breaks...this one isn't fairly random, it's COMPLETELY random. It never takes place at the natural storyline break. It's always in an unexpected place - like right before someone answers a question or even in the middle of the question. Eric and I always crack up because it takes us by surprise. Commericals come at the least likely or logical place. It's so weird. Even if it's an American show that probably came with the commerical break placements pre-determined. It's as if they like to change it around just for the fun of it!

In keeping with that unpredictability, I've noticed that shows don't always play each day at the same time... or even on the same channel. Shortly after arriving, I stumbled upon Oprah one afternoon. I was so excited (even though it was an episode from 7 months ago) - I'd be able to get a daily dose of Oprah! So, I faithfully tuned in at the same time the following day. Sad to say, no Oprah for Mel. I tried again the next day just in case Oprah was only on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. No Oprah again. I started flipping channels and found Dr. Phil (definitely not something I'd watch in the states) and an hour later Oprah came on - different time, different channel.

The Gym:
Well, I did join a gym here and that's been interesting. I've managed to get through pilates, bodysculpt, bodypump, and spinning classes - all in Flemish. Right now I'm really good at counting (in Flemish) backwards from eight to one. I also know the words for up, down, again and more (as in eight more, four more, etc.). The set up of the gym is pretty similar to gyms in the states, only on a smaller scale. What's not similar are the hours. Apparently, people don't go "sporting" here until much later. Whereas in the states the gym would open at 5 or 6am (if not being open 24 hours), the gyms here don't open until 9am. And all the classes are at 11am or noon. I'm used to going to the gym for classes around 8am and then being done and having the rest of my day to get things done. Here, by the time I'm done at the gym, it's 2pm! It's also so much easier NOT to get to the gym because activities, events and outings come up and you can't go to the gym beforehand. Good thing I walk so much here.

The other thing I find puzzling, has to do with decorations vs. necessities. Somehow, someone felt that a very well-lit, religiously-used disco ball took priority over.... fans. There are no fans in the gym. But the disco ball is affixed perfectly in the center of the group-ex room, and it has yellow, orange, red AND white flashing lights positioned to illuminate the area with colorful sparkles throughout your workout. What I wouldn't give for a fan about 45minutes into my workout if not for cool air, then for circulation of the very warm, muggy, sweaty air.

Candy:
I realize it's typical Mel to notice the extensive differences in candy options here. I'm not sure anyone else would notice or care, but since you're reading anyway, you may as well learn a little about candy in Belgium. Now, when I say candy, I'm of course not referring to the deliciously, delightful, delectable Belgian chocolate that we've had the pleasure of enjoying (often) during our stay. I'm referring to the chewy, gummy, sugary treats that I should NOT be enjoying so often. But actually, I'm not enjoying them so much. They're either not chewy enough and it hurts to try to chew, or too soft and it's like a weird sugar that melts before you can chew it.

Needless to say I've been craving some good 'ol fashioned bad-for-you American candy with the perfect chewy consistency. I had been lamenting my ridiculous plight, and apparently my husband took mercy on me and had provisions sent from the motherland! Lo and behold, a beautiful package arrived for me today! I knew I had good reasons for marrying him!! Here are the contents:

And this was me 10 minutes after the package arrived:


And finally....
The Radio:
We've discovered that most radio stations here don't have themes. In the states, you'd find a country music station playing country music, or an alternative station playing alternative music, rap stations playing rap.... you get my drift. But here it appears to be a free for all. You can get anything on any station at any given time. For instance, you may hear a completely obscure, one hit wonder from the 80's like Jack Wagner's "All I Need" (click here for a refresher: All I Need) and then the next song will be Kanye West's "Stronger". After that will be Levert's "Casanova" and then the ever-popular "Big Girl" by Mika (is this song playing in the States?) . And finally, one of their favorites, "I'll Be There for You" by the Rembrandt's, which most American's will only remember as the theme song to Friends. Yes, that is a likely five song lineup here. According to Eric, if you listen to the radio regularly, you may just believe that Rod Stewart, Tears for Fears and Prince still have active music careers. Strange.

ok, hope you enjoyed our observations of Belgian oddities! Nothing we can't live with and laugh at!

Zurich Trip

Hi, Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I added a new element to our blog which you can see over to the right of this posting. You should see the "blogarithm.com" box. You can input your email address there so that you receive a notification email whenever we post something new. Just thought that would help (thanks, Amylee).

Ok, onto our latest adventure: Zurich, Switzerland! Eric had to be there for work last week, so we made a trip out of it and I tagged along. We had a great time. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it was going to be. And it was actually sunny for a few of the days too!

We were going to take a day trip out of the city to Bern (Switzerland's capital) or Lucerne, but then we decided just to take it easy and explore the winding streets of Zurich. There are three main churches in the city of Zurich: The Grossmunster, the Fraumunster and St. Peter's. We checked out all three of them, and it was really interesting because churches we've seen on most of the other travels have all been Catholic, however, these were all Protestant. So it was interesting to see the differences. From what we could tell, they were much less ornate and elaborate (although equally as beautiful) than Catholic churches.

Here's a picture of the Fraumunster:
The Church had a convent and was also inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany, and was thus called the Frau-munster.

And here's a picture of St. Peter's:
St. Peter's steeple boasts the largest clock face in Europe. It is 8.7 meters in diameter.

And here's a picture of the Grossmunster:

The Grossmunster was the coolest because you could climb up the left steeple and (if you made it to the top), the views were awesome! You could see the Limmat river which separates the Grossmunster from the Fraumunster and St. Peter's and which runs into Lake Zurich. Plus you could see most of the city. Here are a few pictures:



I don't think these pictures can do it justice!

So, the first night we were there, Eric had to work that day. By the time he got to the hotel, it was kind of late and our hotel was a bit of a walk to the city center. So we decided to go across the street to this little tavern and it was really cute. There was this table full of a dozen or so old men toasting and having a grand ol' time. They were so cute:

I don't know why I like taking pictures of menus (and Eric thinks it's strange), but I like showing you guys what our choices were and basically that we had no idea what our choices were!!
So this was our menu that night:

And this is what we ended up getting: Weinerschnitzel and Bratwurst

And of course our beverages of choice: isn't he cute?

So mostly we just wandered around, enjoyed the views, did a little shopping and walked... a lot! Here are a few more pictures from our trip:




Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

Barcelona Trip

Happy New Year! Eric and I rang in 2008 from Barcelona this year. Poor Eric actually ended up getting really sick right before our trip there, so we layed pretty low for the most part. I was able to use all those years of Spanish to explain to the Pharmacist what I needed for him. And after he was sufficiently drugged, I lugged him out the door so we could see at least a little of Barcelona. Thankfully, we actually did get to see quite a bit. Here's a recap of some of our adventures..........


La Boqueria is Barcelona's main food market. It was right down the street from where we were staying, and although we weren't looking to buy food for our stay, I just love markets and wanted to look around. There was so much beautiful food - fruit stands, seafood stands, cheese stands, veggie stands, meat stands. Everything so colorful and neatly organized. I did end up buying some fresh coconut - Yummy!

Well, no one can say you wouldn't know what you're eating if you bought dinner from this stand! Rabbit anyone?


Las Ramblas is the major street running from the main square, Plaza Catalunya, to the waterfront. All along Las Ramblas are small stalls selling magazines, flowers and birds, fish, and small furry creatures. Also along Las Ramblas are the famous street performers. Basically they sit/stand still until someone drops a coin in their bucket. Then they come to life, or you can have your picture taken with them. Some are more creative than others. Interesting nonetheless. Here are a few we saw:





You may not be able to tell, but this guy doesn't have a head (well, he has a head, but it's hidden in his shirt..... you know what I mean).




One day, when Eric felt well enough to venture out, we strolled along Las Ramblas and decided to try out a seafood restaurant. We chose a traditional mixed seafood dish and the menu said it was for two. When it arrived, we were pretty stunned. It was a massive hill of seafood. This is a picture after we had already made a big dent. It was really good - especially the calamari. However, we decided the menu should more accurately say, "for AT LEAST dos personas" !

On another day we searched and searched for a certain recommended restaurant. When we finally found it, the line was out the door. We were pretty hungry and opted to find an alternative. When we went into our new choice, this was the menu for the day. I could pick out very few words, so we just pointed and hoped for the best. For our first course, Eric got some sort of weird pasta or potato salad with big slices of salami on the side and I got some sort of vegetable soup, but I couldn't recognize the veggies by sight or taste! For the main course, I got a chicken filet and fries. Eric got some kind of fried fish. All and all not too weird. Could have been much worse. Anyway, we took a picture of the menu so my friend Renee (who is a Spanish Teacher) could help us figure out what we COULD HAVE eaten! A fun adventure!



No trip to Barcelona is complete without a trip to see La Segrada Familia. This church was designed by Antoni Gaudi and construction began in the 1880s. Gaudi died suddenly in 1926, and it's been a struggle to complete the church since. It's perhaps one of the most unique churches we've ever seen. Extremely elaborate, with very non-traditional shapes. You can't really tell from the picture, but the tops of the towers are all covered in tilework. If you can see it closer up, you'd see it's very colorful.


Ok, I know this post is getting really long. Thanks for reading. I'll wrap it up now with our last day:

On our last day we set out to explore Montserrat, a monastery in the mountains about an hour outside of Barcelona and over 4,000 feet up. It's said to be the spiritual heart of Catalonia (the region in Spain of which Barcelona is the capital), with reports of miracles taking place. It was definitely a serene place with absolutely beautiful scenery. I think if we had ventured up further into the mountain and hiking paths, away from the many tourists, it may have revealed a more spiritual feeling, but it was a bit difficult to separate yourself from all the throngs of people. Anyway, it still had amazing views and a beautiful church where La Escolania (the oldest boys' choir in Europe) sings at daily mass.


We decided to take the tram up the mountain (as opposed to the funicular train). Here's a short video of part of that ride. Yes, I know I need to work on my filming skills. Sorry.


Montserrat from Melanyann Garvin on Vimeo.


And after we got up to the top:


The View from Montserrat from Melanyann Garvin on Vimeo.



This little room was off the courtyard of the church and monastery. At first, because we saw several walking canes propped up in a corner, we thought it was memorabilia from all the miracles that had taken place at Montserrat. But after seeing the sheer volume of pictures, baby clothes, molded limbs, and other strange objects, we decided it was a room of prayer requests for sick or deceased loved ones. Most of all the writing/prayers was in Catalan or other languages so we couldn't be sure, but that was our guess.
Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our trip. I tried to be brief, but you know me! Love and miss you all! Thanks for reading!

Christmas 2007

A few pictures from our Christmas in Albuquerque.....



Mel & Eric


Lane with her stocking (Almost 4 !)


Zia and her new "dress up" glasses (6yrs old)


Sonora - 11 months


What a pretty smile!


Mom & Dad


The Udell Clan



The whole gang - Merry Christmas!

Lane's Makeup

A cute video of my nieces. While in Albuquerque for Christmas, my mom and I brought the three Udell girls back to my hotel room so Amylee could have some time to get a few things done at the house. After getting Zia set up with a project, I noticed Lane playing with something in her purse. This was the outcome. Pretty cute. Enjoy.


Lane's Makeup from Melanyann Garvin on Vimeo.