Neighborhood BBQ

One thing I noticed immediately when we moved here was that no one has an outdoor grill.  The Dutch do not seem to grill out or have BBQ's . . so good thing our next door neighbors are German!  We planned an impromptu BBQ with a few of the neighbors and it turned out to be a great neighborhood evening with around 20+ people and lots of food, wine/beer, and kids running around.  We are so lucky to have such great neighbors!  Now off to bed as we have a big weekend ahead of us.

Birthday Party & Bike Ride

We ended up staying in town this weekend (resting up for our big trip next weekend).  Yesterday we went for another jog along the Maas River and then attended Jamie's boss's 50th Birthday Party.  Birthdays are very important events for the Dutch. The party took place at Mondo Verde, in Landgraaf (about 25 min away), which is a huge park with beautiful gardens, a zoo, amusement park, etc.  The celebration began at 2pm and went late into the evening.  It started with a coffee and pie social hour and then a tour of the world gardens and zoo followed by a long dinner (a Mediterranean buffet in the Tuscan villa) and ended with birthday cake and coffee.  It was a gorgeous sunny day to walk around the park and a lot of fun getting to know Jamie's colleagues.
Today we got our road bikes out for a 20 mile ride along the Maas River to Eijsden and saw some countryside and nearby towns.  It felt great to be back on the bike.  We ended the weekend having dinner on the terrace at Cafe Zuid, a restaurant across the street from our place, and walked around while we enjoyed our gelato (one scoop of chocolate hazelnut and one scoop of coconut . . . Yum!!! :))

The gardens at Mondo Verde

gardens at Mondo Verde

some of the zoo animals at Mondo Verde

Dinner on the terrace at Cafe Zuid in Maastricht

Wine Tour & Tasting

Today was a fun and relaxing day in Maastricht.  We had a relaxing morning at home with a great cup off coffee, large breakfast, hung out reading all our favorite news sites and went for a jog along the Maas River.  I planned for us to go on a wine tour and tasting here in Maastricht and then out to dinner at a restaurant called David.  We visited Thiessen winery, founded in 1740, which is still aging and bottling wines in the old 18th century buildings in the heart of the city.  We toured the cellars where they host many parties, learned about the aging and bottling process and tasted 6 of their wines along with bread and cheese of course!  We ended the evening at Steve and Sarah's for a movie.

It's been a month!

We have lived in the Netherlands for a month already.  We are definitely enjoying ourselves and can't wait to check off all the cities/countries on our long list of places we want to visit!
Jamie traveled back to Minneapolis for work this week and returns today.  Our crate finally arrived this week so I was busy unpacking and organizing all our stuff.  I can't believe how excited I was to see familiar American brands like Tide, Bounce, Triscuits and all natural Skippy PB.  But mostly excited to see our road bikes and to start taking some day trips out to the countryside.  Sarah and I drove to Belgium to go to Carrefour, a larger grocery store, where we will now be doing our weekly stock-up trips.  It was nice to have a larger variety of options and hopefully not have to go to Albert Heijn everyday but rather go there or the market for fill-in trips.  We also had dinner at a restaurant nearby, Cafe Zondag, and went to the cinema to see Crazy, Stupid, Love.
I also joined the International Women's Club this week and went to the welcome coffee event.  There were around 12 new women joining that had moved to the area from Spain, Ireland, Germany,etc.  The South Limburg club currently has a total of 200 members and has many different events going on every week (a running group, cooking, book club, a younger group that meets at a different pub/bar each month . . I'll definitely be joining that group!).  My first official meeting is next week and I am very excited to meet many new people.

Tapas from Cafe Zondag

Opening of the Cultural Season in Maastricht

Today was the Het Parcours, the opening of the cultural season in Maastricht.  The celebration included free live theater, dancing and music with different genres of music at each of the squares throughout the city.  Jamie and I walked around both city centers checking out the festivities and many of the different bands.  We ended up getting a table at a restaurant in our favorite square, Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, which featured jazz bands. And just in time as it started raining again (it rains just about everyday here!).  We had just missed David Rhodes, a well known musician, but caught two other great bands.  We also stopped at the Basilica of Our Lady (in Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek) to say a prayer and light a candle in remembrance of the victims of 9/11.  

We ended the weekend and evening at a little Italian restaurant, Quattro Mori, near our place that has been closed due to holiday (vacation) since we got here.  They had fabulous pizza, salad and wine!  We will definitely be going back.

Enjoying some jazz music on Onze Lieve Vrouweplein

 Basilica of Our Lady

Trip 3: Cologne, Germany

We got up early today and took a day trip to Cologne, Germany (the 4th largest city in Germany).  First we visited the Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom) where we toured the inside and climbed the 509 steps to the top of the tower.
Here is a little information about the cathedral:  Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took until 1880 to complete. The cathedral is one of the world's largest churches and the largest Gotchi church in Northern Europe. For four years, 1880-84, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument and it has the second-tallest church spires. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest facade of any church in the world.
After our visit to the cathedral we stopped in at a local pub for some German fare of Wurst, kraut and potatoes at Fruh am Dom.  Then we headed to Museum Ludwig, a museum of modern art, which houses the largest collection of Picasso in all of Europe and also features many works by Andy Warhol.  We enjoyed the beautiful warm day by walking around the city, stopping for a drink on the river and seeking out an authentic German restaurant for dinner.  We had dinner at Gaststatte Lommerzheim in the beer garden and had their specialty, Pork kotellet and frites . . . it was delicious (even the orange European ketchup that tastes like curry was good) but a heart attack waiting to happen!!!  I am really glad we tried the local food but I am SO full and feel like I consumed a gallon of fat/grease/oil!

Of course the day was not done without a little drama.  We walked back to the other side of the city where we parked to find out that the parking ramp was closed for the night and also closed Sunday (tomorrow).  What we had thought was the price of parking (14.45) was actually the time the ramp closed on Saturday's.  We ended up walking to the train station to check out our options for train rides back to Maastricht which was a 4 hour train ride (it was only 1 hour by car) and we would get back at 3am. Good thing Sarah ended up asking some police officers for help as they called the parking garage owners who agreed to meet us there to unlock the gates.  We got our car out safely and headed back home.  All in all we had a fantastic day in Germany!

Cologne Cathedral

Inside the beautiful gothic cathedral

views from the top of the church tower 

Hohenzollern Bridge (also called the Locking Bridge)

The Locking Bridge is covered in padlocks placed by couples to show their loyalty. The locks have their names and a significant date inscribed.

View of Cologne from the other side of the Rhine River

Lunch at Fruh am Dom

Dinner at Gaststatte Lommerzheim

Deep Fried Pork Cutlet!!!!

Beautiful evening view of the cathedral towers and bridge

Trip 2: Bruges, Belgium

It is our third weekend in Europe and we are off to our second excursion.  We decided to take a long weekend trip to Bruges, Belgium with Steve and Sarah.  We left on Friday late afternoon and it only took about two hours to drive from Maastricht to Bruges.  We checked into our hotel and set off to seek out a casual place for dinner.  We ended up at Vlissinghe tavern (thanks to Rick Steve's recommendation) which is the oldest pub in Bruges dating from 1515.  It was a great restaurant for good cheap food and beers (a non-touristy place where the locals go).
On Saturday we got up and had breakfast at Het Dagelijks Brood (Le Pain Quotidie) . . a great place for organic food and treats.  I had yogurt with granola and a HUGE cappuccino and Jamie had soft boiled eggs and of course we had bread with all the different spreads (apricot, chocolate, hazelnut, etc).  We then decided to take a boat tour through the canals to get a good sense of the area.  After the canal tour we climbed to the top of the bell tower in Market Square which we had passed the night before when it was all lit up.  We climbed 366 steps to the top of the tower and checked out the views of the entire city.  After walking around we stopped in at an old quaint pub, De Garr, the only micro brew left in Bruges.  We tried a few different beers and some belgian chocolate truffles that Sarah and I had picked up at the chocolate shop next door.  We were then off to a beer museum and tour at Brewery De Halve Maan where we learned about the brewery process and enjoyed one of their beers (Brugse Zot) on the terrace as part of the tour.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the cute cobble stone streets, checking out the old buildings, shops and of course tried the belgian waffles which people eat as a treat/snack.  We had dinner at an old Belgian restaurant, Pieter Pourbus, and had the 'varied menu' (what we would call a set menu where you select your first, second and third course from a few select options).  The food was okay but typical belgian food.  We want to make sure we eat authentic foods from each country we travel to.  We ended the day at a pub enjoying some more Belgian beers.
On Sunday we had breakfast at Bittersweet, a cute little breakfast place with fantastic food and a large selection of teas, coffees, etc.  I had the healthy breakfast which came with natural yogurt, kiwi, breads & ham, a Tao drink (a health drink with amino acids, antioxidants, etc. that I am now on the search for to have at home) and a cup of coffee with little cookies.  Breakfast continues to be my favorite meal of the day!  We spent the rest of our time in Bruges walking the streets and stopping for more treats.

Jamie & I in front of the bell tower on Friday night

 Views from the top of the bell tower on Saturday morning

 Jamie & I outside the only micro brew left in Bruges. This place was our favorite part of the trip!

Belgian beers, chocolates and waffles!!!

One of the most memorable things about Belgium was the unique beer glasses that were specific to each of the different beers . . . each glass had the brewer's brand name and emblem on it

 There are Belgian chocolate and waffle shops on every street!

The healthy breakfast at Bittersweet

 Dinner at Pieter Pourbus