2011 . . What A Year!

Wow, what an incredible year!  I don't even know where to begin except this has been the best year of my life so far!  It started off on the beach in Maui where we got engaged after two years of dating followed by our wedding on June 4th in Minneapolis.  Then I had to make a tough decision to quit my job in order to join Jamie in the Netherlands for a year for his job.  What an amazing experience it has been so far and we were able to visit a total of 3 Continents and 10 Countries this year!  We were also blessed to be able to go home for the holidays to spend time with our family and friends.  This will be a difficult year to beat but we will try and are excited to find out what's in store for 2012!  May this new year bring lots of happiness, good health and prosperity to you all!

Christmas Markets!

The entire city has been transformed into a winter wonderland (minus the snow) with the whole town lit up and everyone out enjoying the ice skating rink, ferris wheel, merry go round and Christmas Market at Vrijthof square.  Sometimes it feels like we live in a little fairytale town . . http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/lifestyle/travel_winter_in_maastricht_1_3223943

 Christmas Market and Ice Skating Rink at Vrithof Square in Maastricht (click pic to enlarge)

 Trying some traditional Gluhwein (which is like mulled wine)

My favorite square in Maastricht, Onze Lieve Vrouwplein  (Jamie kind of stands out in his UofM cap!)

 Beautiful sunset on our walk home from the Christmas Market

We also visited the Christmas Market in Aachen, Germany

During our last weekend in town we also went out to dinner and drinks in Maastricht with Steve and Sarah for an early Christmas and New Year's celebration.  We had dinner at Le Courage where we all had the 4-course set menu along with the wine pairings which was absolutely delicious!  

 Dinner at Le Courage

 second course. . . so yummy!

  drinks at Zondag

And lastly, the night before we headed home for the holidays, we went out with Jamie's colleague for their work Christmas Dinner at a lovely restaurant, Eten bij Michel, in Nuth, Netherlands.  It was very nice to see and visit with Jamie's colleagues again. . . what a great and diverse group of people!

Trip 8: Geneva & Lausanne, Switzerland

Back from Spain for only a half day and then off to Switzerland for Jamie's work.  In a matter of two weeks we went from a Dutch speaking country, to Arabic, to Spanish and now French! We stayed in St. Sulpice, a small town on the north end of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.  We took the train into the city twice for dinner, but unfortunately it was extremely windy, cold and rainy the entire time we were there so we didn't get to walk around the city as much as we would have liked but that might have been a blessing because Switzerland is extremely expensive!  I had to take a picture of an advertisement at the train station of the McDonald's meal deal for 9.90 franks which would be $10.57 . . yes over $10 for a fast food meal . . something I wouldn't even pay $1 for!

 View of Lake Geneva and the Alps from our hotel breakfast table

How about $53.26 for a family pizza?

 Would you pay $10.57 for chicken nuggets and fries?!?!

On the train back to the hotel

Trip 7: Madrid, Spain

Jamie had to travel to Spain for work so we decided to extend his trip and spend the weekend in Madrid.  We stayed on Gran Via within walking distance of all the sights and less than a block away from 3 Starbucks . . oh yeah! (can you tell we don't have a Starbucks anywhere near Maastricht). Parts of Madrid reminded us a lot of Manhattan with the big city feel and constant hustle and bustle.  The city streets and plazas were all lit up for Christmas and was clearly a shopping destination for many.  We visited the Christmas Markets in the beautiful Plaza Mayor, walked through many of the other main Plazas, visited the Royal Palace and the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, enjoyed some delicious tapas at Mercado de San Miguel twice, took a long walk through Retiro Park (much like Central Park), enjoyed some authentic Paella for dinner at a Spanish restaurant and listened to some live music at a little Jazz cafe.  A wonderful weekend getaway!

Plaza Sol

 Grand Via

Christmas Market in Plaza Mayor

Admiring the beautiful architecture while walking the streets of Madrid  . . . 

                      

                         Royal Palace

  

                  

             Fountains in front of the Royal Palace

Royal Palace Gardens

 

Retiro Park

A snapshot of the street while exiting Plaza Mayor / Exterior of Mercado de San Miguel 

Mercado de San Miguel . . by far my favorite part of the trip and one of the best experiences of Europe!!!

Best lunch of my lifetime!!! . . lots of fresh fish, caviar, olives, cheeses, olive oil chips and red wine!
I loved the social atmosphere and food so much we visited again the next day!

Authentic Paella at a local Spanish restaurant

Listening to live jazz at a club near our hotel