In the depths of a Wisconsin winter, only four months after our European adventure, we decided that we needed to travel again. With Kevin having started a real job with limited vacation time, we were not sure how we were going to do it. But December offers a lot of time to think, and here is what we came up with...
Our goal is to go somewhere, anywhere, once a month. Keeping with the blogging trend, we'll write about it too. All we need is a catchy name for this project, we're working on that.
Now I know what you're thinking, It's February and you haven't posted yet. I know, but let me explain.
We had a number of ideas for our first month: Lake Geneva weekend with some sweet Wisconsin skiing (we don't ski, but think we should try); the Wisconsin Dells for some indoor water parks; and Madison and New Glarus to see another brewery tour or two. However, Kevin's job was keeping him busy on the first few weekends, then bad news on the home front when we learned Kevin's Grandpa passed away. We fit in a trip, just not the one we wanted. But instead of letting it serve as an excuse to abandon our plan, we're adapting and counting our trip to Indiana as January's trip. It took us a couple of weeks to make that decision and, well, here we are waiting at O'Hare Airport on our way to Mexico. So, basically, it took awhile to get going, but we'll see if we can do a better job from here on out.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Final Post
This blog has been fun to write and it was pretty cool to find out people were reading it. We are looking foward to having this blog as a way to remember our trip. Thanks for coming along for the ride, and I'm sorry I didn't have a thesaraus or dictionary along the way.
The last ten weeks have been the trip of a lifetime. We always talked about doing it, but never knew if we'd be able to really pull it off just as we wanted. We wouldn't change anything. Everything lined up, and, in the words of our Chianti wine tour co-passengers, we are, like, totally privileged. Hopefully, however, our acknowledgement of how lucky we are for having this trip comes off with a little more sincerity.
Here are some things we will miss about traveling in Europe:
- the fun of trying to communicate the simplest thing (e.g., where is the bus, what animal does that meat come from) with someone who doesn't speak English
- train travel
- delicious, cheap house wine and Belgian/Czech/Austrian/German beer
- the adventure
- the surprise of walking into your hotel room and not knowing what you'll find
- minimal safety requirements, maximum emphasis on take care of yourself (see Cinque Terra & Interlacken)
- soccer! (I mean futbol!)
- despite getting sick of the repetive nature of the 20 minute loop of CNN/BBC International news, getting another perspective of news was cool (although I think the Michael Jackson coverage was ridiculous)
- the views/scenary
With all that said, ten weeks is a long time for us to be away from home and all that goes with it, so we made a list of some of the things we miss:
- Having a dresser, closet, laundry facilities, and not living out of a suitcase
- Food selection (we can walk across the street for a burger, any direction for Italian, drive 5 minutes south for Mexican on National, and to our kitchen for whatever we want)
- Driving a car
- Playing guitar (including the new one, thanks again Mom and Dad)
- Watching more than just BBC and CNN International on the tube
- Sleeping in our bed, not on two twins pushed together
- Having normal outlets and not needing plug adapters
- Using a phone without a calling card or fear of huge costs
- Not having to convert anything (dollars to euros, forints, czechs, and francs; temperature; time; distance; and speed)
- Being able to check emails and use the internet without having to walk blocks searching for WiFi
- Most importantly, family and friends. We look forward to seeing everyone when we get back.
Au Revoir
Aufwiedersehen
Adios
Ciao
(insert Czeck, Hungarian, and Dutch goodbye)
Day 70: Brussels & Dublin
We checked out and left our bags at the hotel so we could squeeze a little more Brussels in before our 7 PM flight to Dublin. We walked through the king's Palace, through a few churches, and stopped for one last bit of Belgian Chocolate and for a first truffle, which was created here.
Our big stop for the day was the small Cantillon Brewery. They still use the open-air/wild fermentation process and their beers sourness showed it. This was a cool self-guided tour because we walking along their actual brewing equipment. They only brew a few months of the year because they need the cool temperatures outside to cool their beer down after the hopping stage. They supposedly export Milwaukee, so go out and try one and support a small Belgian brewer trying to stick to tradition.
We went back to the Grand Palace square for lunch, a final waffle, and a final Belgian beer from the 1600s pub (where Michael Jackson's "Beat It" appropriately played). Then it was off to the airport and we arrived in our Dublin hotel at about 8:00.
We got dinner at an Irish pub in the Temple Bar area along with a final Guinness (or two), and the musician appropriately played "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane" as we finished our last sip. That wrapped up our final night in Europe. Awesome end to and awesome trip.
Day 69: Brussels
Today we took the scenic route by walking into town instead of using the metro. We saw cartoons painted on buildings (Brussels is know for their comics) and a flea market. Our first real stop was a beer museum in the main square. If you ever go to Brussels, skip this museum. It's basically a cellar bar with old beer making supplies, a Belgian beer making movie on loop, and a pamphlet. The highlight was a sample of a "special beer," but it wasn't that great.
We made a quick recovery by getting a waffle and later heading to a pub from the 1600s and having a real Belgian beer.
We also took a ride out to the Atomium, a large structure in the shape of an atom of iron made for some World's Fair (it seems everything in Europe was made for some World's Fair).
When we arrived back in the main square, a 30 person band made up of people under 25 or so were putting on a show. A crowd gathered very quickly because they were really good, but apparently didn't get their permits. Cops eventually shut them down while a crowd of a few hundred booed.
The rest of the night we walked around Brussels, got dinner, and a beer or two. I'll keep it short today because it's our last night on mainland Europe, crazy . . .
Monday, August 3, 2009
Week 10 Top 5
1) Amsterdam Brewery
2) Van Gogh Museum
3) Brugges Brewery
4) Vama Veche Festival in Brugges
5) Pit stop on Brussels bike tour for fries, beer, and meeting the group
2) Van Gogh Museum
3) Brugges Brewery
4) Vama Veche Festival in Brugges
5) Pit stop on Brussels bike tour for fries, beer, and meeting the group
Runners-up - Cantillon Brewery in Brussels, eating lunch and waffles in the Grand Palace in Brussels, Brugges bars with large selection
Day 68: Brussels, Belgium
Our first stop this morning was for a waffle from the same walk up window as yesterday. Then with a quick check out, off-road walk to the train station (fun with rolling suitcases), and an hour ride, we were in Brussels.
Our first 15 minutes in Brussels was not ideal. It was raining and smelly and we were wondering around looking in vain for the bus we need to catch on our way out of Brussels in 2 days. Things started looking up when we got to our hotel, which was huge, modern, and had a single queen (not the usual two twins).
Although still raining, we headed for the central square called the Grand Place. There we found a bike tour that was highly rated and about to start. The bike tour didn't really compare to Mike's Bike Tour in Munich, mostly because of our weird Argentinean guide (we think Cesar was high or something). The Belgian tour guide that was in-training was a lot more fun.
That said, we were glad we did the tour because we saw a lot of the city and met some interesting people. We got to know our group when we stopped for beer and fries (we were made fun of for ketchup, but we're ok with that because they had mayo). Two people were Australians that were working in Dubai, one was Australian living in London, and one was from Malaya (I'm sure this is way off, but some African country somewhat close to Congo).
We got adventurous for dinner. We went to a Moroccan place with French menus. With a little luck, and knowing chicken and vegetables in French, we had a good meal.
Our last stop was to Delirium Cafe, a bar named after the famous Belgian beer and known for having two thousand types of beer. The bar was OK, but not as great as we expected. After a beer (one of us had a Delirium, although we are not sure who) we headed home.
Our last activity was to watch the only non-news English channel on TV, which was showing Die Hard III or IV, whichever one had Samuel L. Jackson. Awesome.
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