London Rocks!

Well, our last trip with the JMU group was the best yet. How lucky we have been to have such a fantastic group of students. They are everything one would want such a group to be: responsible, inquisitive, adventurous, mature, and just all-around fantastic people. We will see them at a final banquet tomorrow evening (see the American Club entry for photos of the restaurant on Venusstraat) and again Wednesday with girls in tow for a pizza party and tearful goodbye. We already have plans for a reunion bbq Labor Day weekend at our house.

Sorry I don't have many photos of late - my Fuji FinePix died and my hubby treated me to a new Canon PowerShot A460, but I'm loath to load the software onto the university's laptop just for a week. I did find a nice shot of Regent's Park, where the girls spent some serious quality time over the past few days. What a beautiful place to spend a few hours.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first: Wednesday, we sold La Stroller and said a grateful farewell to the lovely machine that gave us so much freedom to see and do since January. The buyer was a woman who provides before and after school care for two students at the girls' school, and wants an easy, non-car way to get them from place to place. She saved a pile of money, and we actually made a small profit. Free stroller--hooray!

Thursday morning we took the tram to Antwerpen Centraal to catch a train to Brussels-Zuid, where the Eurostar terminal is. Eurostar is a high-speed train that goes through the Chunnel to London. Ever since Eurostar service began, flights between Brussels and London have dropped dramatically because the train is so enjoyable and affordable. It was very comfy, and the girls settled in to color and play their LeapPads as we glided through the countryside. What a difference from January! Back then they were so curious about all the things on the train, it was like traveling wtih ferrets, but now they know the drill and just settle in for the ride.

We got to London-Waterloo and took the Underground to Warren Street, then walked to "ISH", International Students House, our home for the next three nights. ISH is hostel-like, but it's quite nice and you can't beat the neighborhood--right in Central London, diagonal from Regent's Park! And you don't have to be a student to stay there, though you do have to be affiliated with a university. We had a room with three sets of bunk beds. One scan of the situation and we knew MeiMei would be unable to have or even visit a top bunk. No safetry rails. JieJie has never been a bed-faller-outer, so she was the only one of us in a top bunk and she liked it just fine. The shower room was private, unlike some of the other more dorm-style rooms in the facility. Some mildew in the shower, but that was the only thing about the whole facility that wasn't up to quite a high standard for a mass student residence. It was safe, well maintained, sheets were clean, beds comfortable, and best of all there was a cheap, good cafeteria right down in the basement of ISH that serves three meals a day. London is SO expensive, especially with the current 2-to-1 exchange rate, so having a cheap alternative for meals--especially when the girls so rarely finish all of theirs--was crucial.

After unpacking and resting a bit, we grabbed lunch at Pret a Manger (yum!) and it was off to the British Museum, admission free. The Great Court is quite impressive, a former open-to-the-sky courtyard that has been glassed in a la the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. The grid-like shadows from the glass roof make really cool shadows on the white stone facades of the courtyard. I took some fun photos of the girls. John headed off on the tour with the JMU students and I asked about family tour options. I was directed to the library to ask for an activity backpack. The British Museum has activity packs for about six different exhibits, two that are appropriate for really little kids like ours. We chose the Africa pack and went to the exhibit. The pack was really great! It includes a globe so you can point out different countries as you look at the various exhibits. JieJie and MeiMei got to dress a velcro/paper doll to match a chief depicted on a bronze frieze. They got to compare little plastic farm animals to animal bronzes. They looked at animal masks and made their own mask using velcro pieces and a velcro swim-cap type thing. They also were challenged to find masks depicting six different animals using photos of the real animal and clues to help them find the answer. I was really impressed with the activities.

After the pack was finished, we saw heiroglyphics, sarcophagii, big stone Buddhas, a totem pole, and various other treasures collected by (or stolen by, depending upon your perspective on this ongoing controversy) representatives of the British Empire past and present. We sat for a cold drink, some students joined us, and I left the girls in their care while I went for a quick duck into the gift shop's children's section where I got a Colorforms-style heirglyphics set for each girl, and two neat books, "All Kinds of Homes" and "All Kinds of Beliefs" about the different ways people do things in different parts of the world. JieJie has had questions about things like why the Hassidim we see in Antwerp wear their hair and clothing the way they do, things like that. It's helpful to have a book that presents an open-minded perspective on the spectrum of cultures the world has to offer.

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe near Green Park. It's the original one, and still in the original location. The memorabilia was fun to look at. We were sitting right near a suit Roger Daltrey wore--he's not very tall! We also chuckled to think that the last time we were in a Hard Rock Cafe, we were with baby JieJie in Guangzhou, China (that location has since closed).

That night Mr. K (bless him!) babysat while John and I went to see "We Will Rock You," the show based on the music of Queen. I love their music, and from a music and technical standpoint the show was very enjoyable. The show's book though (script) was hundvlees--DOG MEAT. The plot didn't make sense, people's motivations morphed mid-sentence...it just plain didn't make sense. I felt like we were in the 21st-century version of one of those early musicals where the plot is a series of justifications to get to the next song (usually 'Swonderful) and I thought why have a plot at all? But then again if you don't make a story, you're lumped in with all the other tribute shows, so I understand. And Queen's music is just plain strong enough...good sauce on the dog meat, shall we say.

Friday morning: world's largest ferris wheel! We got to ride on the London Eye and it was fantastic. I highly (ha) recommend it. From the fully enclosed lobby-like cabs, you can see the houses of parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, you name it. JieJie spotted a playground, so we went there after disembarking while John accompanied the students to their next rendezvous point. He came back and found us so we could get lunch together, which we did, at a place called Giraffe at the Royal Festival Hall complex. It's just east of the London Eye after you go under the Jubilee Bridge. Lunch was good but exPENsive...like (after the exchange rate) ninety bucks. OUCH. And we're talking sandwich/salads and smoothies, not filet mignon. Anyway.

After lunch John helped me get the girls back to ISH for some rest time before heading to Westminster Abbey for his next tour. After they rested, the girls and I went to Regent's Park, which boasts four playgrounds, beautiful gardens, a boating lake, and the London Zoo. We never made it past the first playground! For two hours plus, they climbed, went on swings, merry go rounds, and seesaws, played with other kids, had an ice cream cone...it was such a great place to be with them and they really got to have their kind of fun. On the way back to ISH, we went through some of the beautiful gardens and they splashed their hands in fountains. What a fantastic park! I chatted for a while with a woman who was born in China, married a guy from India, they lived in New York for a while, and just moved to London last week to try living there for a while. I can see why. I could absolutely live there--though it's SO expensive (did I say that already?).

Dinner Friday was sort of catch-as-catch-can. I got the girls something from the cafeteria rather early as they seemed pretty wiped out. They fell asleep about 7pm. John and I did the "tag-team" thing, going out for a bite one at a time.

Saturday morning JMU was scheduled to go to the Tower of London. After looking it up in my Take the Kids to London book, I decided to skip it in favor of a trip to Covent Garden. After messing up the Underground transfers (got on the wrong line, urgh) we arrived in Covent Garden and proceeded to have one of the best mornings I've had this whole semester. Covent Garden Market is filled with performing arts treats. We heard an opera singer, saw a brass band play a great Beatles medley (how British--the medley used "Day Tripper" to connect a bunch of fantastic songs), the girls left our outdoor lunch table at Fuel (great pizza, and we got enough for the three of us for under ten pounds) to watch some men do Morris Dances (as in, "I'll be there with bells on!"--the men wear bells on their sock garters) and, the piece de resistance, A REAL PUNCH-AND-JUDY SHOW!!!!! I was so excited for them. And they loved it. All day they laughed about so-and-so getting "whacked on the head." Why is that so funny? But when puppets get angry and whack each other with slapsticks, it just is. The presenter said the first such show was presented back in the 1600's. I guess whacking puppets has been funny for quite some time.

We met John back at ISH, where he was finishing up lunch, and headed for our rendezvous with Mr. K at the Apollo Theatre near Victoria Station. The plan was for Mr. K to take the girls back to the park while John and I saw a matinee of "Wicked." It worked quite well. MeiMei had fallen asleep in my lap, but I know she is so comfortable with Mr. K by now (he's become like a favorite uncle) that I had no reservations about putting her (still asleep, mind you) and JieJie in a taxi with him for their trip to the park. And they had a GREAT time with him. He was going to take them to see the lake, but also didn't make it past the first playground.

"Wicked" was the best show I've seen in a long, long time. The script, the music, the performances, the technical aspects all came together to make a nearly perfect few hours in the theatre. I laughed, I cried, I hope to see it again with the girls when they're old enough. I hope my parents see it. I hope you see it, if you haven't already.

When we got back to ISH, we called Mr. K to tell him we were en route to the room, and he said oh no, just come to the bar, that's where we are! He had bought them sodas and they were happily sipping away, grinning like jack-o-lanterns (and that's including Mr. K). We had reservations for dinner at a Thai place called Blue Elephant out toward Wimbledon, so it was back on the Underground. Blue Elephant was a lovely place with great food. We got the girls an order of Chicken Sate and some rice and vegetables, which suited them just fine. The three adults got the Royal Thai dinner, which comes in several courses. John and I both said, as much as we loved the food, we felt that our Taste of Thai restaurant back in Harrisonburg very much holds its own compared with Blue Elephant and also Sombat, a Thai place here in Antwerp. The only thing Taste of Thai doesn't have is the dramatic decorating that Blue Elephant and Sombat have, but I find that ambeince is most important the first time I go somewhere, and after that it's the food that keeps me coming back.

The girls were well behaved enough to earn themselves praise from the couple at the next table, who said when they saw little ones at the next table they groaned, but that our girls were so good, the couple forgot we were even there! It was so great to see the girls swell with pride at this unsolicited praise. I was just glad they made it through dessert after such a busy day! They fell asleep in our arms on the Underground, and we carried them up to our room and put them in bed, the little angels. We are the luckiest parents in the whole world. Love those girlies.

Saturday morning, breakfast at ISH, then back to Waterloo Station and back on the Eurostar after a too-short trip to a wonderful, absolutely charming city that we can't wait to come back to. Not to mention the weather we had was very un-London: 70's and sunny for three days in a row. We got back to Antwerp (our apartment always seems so huge after we're all together in a hotel room) and all got to bed early.

This morning I went to Brussels Airport on the 7am airport bus from DeKeyserlei and met my parents at their 8am arrival from the U.S. Let the fiesta begin! Grampa and Gramma might as well be rock stars where our girls are concerned, and when they saw my folks after school today, they squealed and jumped and laughed and hugged and squealed some more. Dinner tonight was at the Eleventh Commandment down by Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk--what a place! It's filled with statuary and decorative arts pieces from decommissioned churches and cathedrals. It's so funny to have a beer and some nice beef stew while the saints and angels look down upon you as though they're praying for your immortal soul. They needn't; the food is so good, we were already in heaven.

VA Tech Shootings

We just learned via CNN of the terrible shootings that happened today just a few hours down I-81 from Harrisonburg. We have friends on the faculty there and hope they are ok. Our students have friends attending Tech and are anxiously awaiting word.

I was across the street at a pub tonight and people there were talking about it too. They thought it was significant that there was an airport there and thought it was just for the university. I tried to explain that Blacksburg is an isolated place that would need its own airport, but it's isolated in a way that is hard to explain to someone here.

Anyway, I'm rambling. We're glued to CNN. This could have been JMU. It's so awful.

We survived school vacation!

Wow...three weeks with no school for the girls, and we are now crossing the finish line, as John reads a bedtime story to two very in-need-of-routine little girls.

To recap: last week of March was a bus trip to France. First week of April was spent locally in Antwerp, just taking it easy and going to local parks, things like that. We found a great place, too, thanks to a fellow mom from the girls' school: Nachtegalen (Nightengale) Park, just a 10-minute bus ride from the Groenplaats. In addition to two very nice playgrounds, one for little ones and one for bigger kids, there's a little animal area with deer, a bridge over a brook filled with goldfish, so many nice walking and biking trails, and right there overlooking the playgrounds is the Melkirij, a casual restaurant / pub with indoor and outdoor seating. On nice days, though, you really have to stake out a table because all of the parents are eager to get a spot. It's great, because kids can come to the table and have a swig of a cold drink before diving back into the playground, and parents can settle in and enjoy the beautiful day, while keeping an eye on the kiddies.

Easter Sunday was a bit of a bust. The Easter Bunny part was great! We had decorated some dime-store baskets with extra ribbon, and each of the girls was so proud of her creation. They got some chocolate and some Jelly Bellies, and a K3 DVD (wish there was some way for those to work in our DVD players at home!). The mistake we made (and it was a really dumb one) was trying to go to a High Mass at Onze Lieve Vrouwecathedral, the big one with the clock tower that dominates the skyline. The first hour would have been sufficient, but we pushed our luck and soon had to exit in the midst of a full tantrum. I hate that! Then we tried to turn things around by going on a river boat cruise, but it only got worse, so by the time we got home we were about ready to chuck the whole day. We were both grumbly which made the girls even more clingy...I guess you could say it was a bad case of Family Claustrophobia.

So Monday we set out for De Panne with high hopes, and I'm happy to say that it was truly a wonderful week, a great respite from the pavement and trams and bustle of Antwerp. We stayed at Strandpark which is right between De Panne and neighboring Kokside. We got there via two trains and a tram: Antwerpen-Centraal to Gent St-Pieter, then a change at Gent to DePanne (station is actually a bit inland in Adinkerke), and then the Kusttram (Coast tram) to De Panne - Golfstraat. The Kusttram is operated by DeLijn, so that was free since we still have our three-month passes.

Strandpark is so nice and quiet. If you've ever been to Virginia Beach, you know what high-rises hugging the coast look like. The Belgian coast tends to be like that, but Strandpark somehow managed to stay small, hidden behind the dunes, just one-story motel-like rooms. It's actually a converted motel, and then there are some more recently built larger units. I can't tell you how amazing it was to be there with the girls and just reconnect with the best in each other. We were on the ground floor, had a table outside for meals and coloring and hanging out, the girls could go in and out as they pleased, and of course the beach is just great for kids--they immediately "get it." In no time they were building sand castles, fetching water, looking for shells, chasing and playing and laughing.

John came down with us to help us get settled in, and thank goodness he did because we did have to backtrack a few times to find the place and I'm not sure I could've managed two girls and the luggage on my own. He had to go back later in the day. The girls and I walked to the promenade (like the boardwalk) and got crepes with strawberries on top for "dinner."

Tuesday was PLOPSALAND!!! We haven't really been to a kiddie theme park with them before, though we've taken them to the county fair and to kiddie rides at the Point Pleasant NJ boardwalk, that kind of thing. This was just the most incredible day. I was prepared for meltdowns and frustration but I'm telling you we made it from 10:01 to 18:30 (getting used to military time, and you know it does make things clear not having to worry about the am/pm thing) with only one little glitch just before dinner time, which is to be expected given their ages.

Plopsaland is organized around a group of tv shows produced by Studio 100, including Bumba, Plop / The Wereld Is Mooi, Piet Piraat, Big & Betsy, and of course K3. We saw the whole park, starting with destination numero uno: The K3 Museum. I kid you not. We had not heard of K3 at all before we got here, and now we are surrounded by Karen, Kristel and Kathleen. Imagine the three prettiest, coolest kindergarten teachers got together and made themselves into a supergroup, and you've got a beginning sense of things. Karen is the redhead, a bit mischievous. Kristel has dark hair and tends to be in charge, level-headed. Kathleen is blonde, kind of the sweet girl of the group. They all sing beautifully and their songs are the kind of thing you'd actually like a little girls to sing along with. Songs about how great Grandmas are (Oma's Aan De Top) and songs about making your dreams come true (Toveren). JieJie said "I want the K3 Museum!" so we found it on the map and it was great - a room full of the K3 story, starting in 1999 when they released "Heyah Mama" thinking they could be the Dutch-speaking Spice Girls...but then all these little girls bought the single and they apparently changed their business plan and image to fit their audience. With over 2,000,000 albums sold to date, plus DVD's, a musical (we saw it on Friday and it was great...to think the girls' first musical was in Nederlands (Dutch)!), K3 makeup kits, K3 princess dresses, K3 cookies for the lunch boxes...anything you can get in the US with Dora the Explorer, they have it here with K3. I think we're going to be going through some serious withdrawal when we get home.

So then we went to the Big and Betsy area of Plopsaland, farm related rides. JieJie got to drive a car (on rails) through the farm. The Bumba area is like a traditional carnival with a carousel, bumper cars, that sort of thing. And so on and so on, through the park, through the day. The tilt-a-whirl cups were called the KoffieKopjes and they were Delft blue. I loved how local everything was, how unique to this area and this culture. Come to think of it, there's really not a lot of franchising here. Incredibly, I have not been in or even seen a Starbuck's since January. The food at Plopsaland was just fine, and not even as overpriced as I'm used to at places like Busch Gardens.

By dinnertime, we were hot and tired and the playful "fountainplein" near the entrance was the perfect antidote. We headed to the tram stop that is half a block from the front entrance, and rode back to Strandpark. I had to take turns carrying JieJie and MeiMei a little ways at a time because they were so worn out, but given how much walking and standing in line and fun-fun-fun they did, I was really amazed that they came home with smiles on their faces. JieJie said "that was a really great place Mom...can we go back again tomorrow?" Whoa! Given unlimited funds, I would have said yes. Actually MeiMei was free because she is not yet a meter tall, so I just had to pay for me and JieJie. Strandpark is a Plopsaland Partner, too--we bought our tickets for the park from the hotel, saving us a few euro and a wait in the ticket line.

Wednesday was a beach day. We took the tram to the west end of the promenade and spent the day working our way back to Strandpark. Simple as that! The beach there is really wide and the slope so gradual, like Cape May / Wildwood NJ. It's perfect for kids because you don't have to worry about some rogue wave grabbing your child the moment you turn your back.

Wednesday night John arrived late, and Thursday we tried renting the fun-looking "family bike-cars" you can ride on the promenade. Too stressful with all the people! We turned ours in before we'd used up all our time just to be done with all the dodging and weaving. Perhaps it would be more fun when the crowds are thinner.

Friday we headed back to Antwerp, refreshed and ready for that night's K3 concert at Antwerp's Lotto Arena.

Saturday JOHN FINISHED HIS BOOK! He's been slogging through page proofs since February, and this book (Doing History, with co-authors Michael Galgano and Raymond Hyser) has been in the works since 2003. We went to Nachtegalen with the girls and John had a celebratory beer on the terrace at the Melkirij.

That night we went to Kleine Zavel on the Stoofstraat for a dinner out with another couple we met through JieJie and MeiMei's school. Great meal--we had an appetizer of tempura shrimp wrapped in smoked salmon with avocado on the side, and John had a white fish called Brill for his entree, served with a Bearnaise sauce. I had rack of lamb with an herbed pancake and Mediterranean vegetables on top. We toasted John's book and had a very enjoyable conversation. This couple plans to vacation in the USA next year and we definitely hope to see them and keep in touch. We really hit it off. After dinner, they took us to yet another really cool place (they know all these little hideaways) with a Spanish theme. Tucked back in a courtyard near the Stoofstraat and the Zand, the bar has tapas, port, and my favorite Spanish treat: flan. Some people don't care for this delicate custard, but if done well, it's heaven (hemels lekker!) and this one was great. Wish I could tell you the name of the place, but perhaps you'll find it yourself when you wander around down in that neighborhood.

Today John took his day trip. We had agreed back in January that we could each have a day to ourselves. I took mine on the 4th of this month and went to Delft to meet my friend M. It was a great, great day and we got to spend some much-needed one on one time together. John chose Roubaix, France, the site of the finish line of the Paris-Roubaix bike race. It's a big deal race--you could've watched it on three different tv channels here today. He went with the husband of the couple we went out with last night, and they had a blast. Free seats in the velodrome right on the finish line. I was so glad he had a great day, and the weather is downright summery - 80's and sunny today.

I did not have my favorite day with the girls. We tried to go to a park but by the time we got there it was too hot, I forgot to bring water, the girls were out of sorts and cranky, and we got into one of those blasted negative cycles where everything just feeds everything else until I want to scream and the girls actually do. Oh well. We'll always have Plopsaland...

Starting tomorrow we have the last two weeks of the program, the girls' school, the whole thing. Hard to believe, but we're almost done here already. Wednesday is really our last "normal" day as far as what we've gotten used to here. Thursday to Sunday is London. Monday my folks arrive. A week from Thursday our students depart, some for home, some for a few weeks or months of backpacking around Europe. A week from Saturday we move out of the apartment. Two weeks from today we head to Estepona. Four weeks from today we will wake up in our own beds back in Harrisonburg.

Wow.

Paris Ctd

Just got back from a week at the beach...more on that later but that's the reason for the blackout.

Back to Paris: Thursday was very much a tag-along with the tour day. Friday I declared independence from the itinerary. Saturday the itinerary declared independence from me. Intrigued? Read on.

Thursday we had a full day of touring planned, beginning with the obligatory trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Since it's impossible to get a double stroller anywhere near the Metro without significant assistance (tips on this later), John took JieJie with him and the students (she loves riding trains and trams and had studied the Paris Metro map for days before we went) and I took MeiMei and the stroller to get a cab.

Who says Parisians aren't friendly? Certainly not I. A woman actually gave up her cab so we could get in. My French is good enough to know that she said "I will give it to you, madame, since you have une enfant." Then the cabbie was so nice, he suggested she get in anyway since we were going right past where she needed to go. 25 Euro later (ouch!) we were at Tour Eiffel and we met up with our group. It was hazy and chilly, very hard to see much. I told John the main reason I'm glad to have been up in the Eiffel Tower is that I won't ever have to do it again. I guess I've never been one for going up in tall buildings Just Because. But come on, you have to do it if you visit Paris, right?

Then we caught one of the non-Metro trains that serve the Paris area, en route to Sante-Chappelle, home of the World's Most Beautiful Stained Glass. The girls were starting to melt down a bit and I was sensing that they needed a break, but ultimately a nice guard (see? see? another nice person!) waved us through and we went in. The girls were definitely in awe and appreciated the beautiful colors. I have never been quite that dazzled by a stained glass display as I was by this one. Definitely worth a visit. John bought the girls some coloring books in the gift shop downstairs, one of famous stained glass windows and one of different sights in Paris.

The books came in handy at lunch. We ate in a pleasant, modern pizza/pasta place near a beautiful fountain and plaza. The girls colored while we waited for our food, and John, Mr. K and I talked about various things. Eyeballing the map, I thought it a good bet that I could walk the girls to the Musee D'Orsay for the afternoon tour. The group was going to take the Metro, obviously not an option for us. The inconvenience of the double stroller in Paris led us to the decision to sell it earlier than we'd planned - we may be saying goodbye to LaStroller as early as this Tuesday or Wednesday!

Turns out I guessed right, and the girls and I had a GREAT walk from the restaurant to the Musee D'Orsay, which contains a fantastic collection of Impressionist art including works by Monet, Degas, Gauguin, L'Autrec and my new favorite, Caillebotte (sp?). He did this amazing work of three men refinishing a wood floor that is really mesmerizing. Or maybe it's just that we had all our wood floors done last summer and I have an increased respect for the work...naw, it's really a great painting.

So we walked along the Seine and I quickly realized that with so many bridges going back and forth, I could go across and come back where the museum was. It was a great idea to have the program go on the Bateaux Mouches ride our first night in town because immediately I had a sense of where things were and could recognize the giant clock towers in the Musee D'Orsay, which used to be a train station.

We crossed the Seine at the Louvre and passed by three serious looking guards with automatic weapons. Wow. To my right I saw the famous museum with its new I.M. Pei pyramid of glass. To my left: The Tuileries Gardens. Yay--something I'd wanted to see, and I got a chance to walk through it with the girls. JieJie had fallen asleep (bless the stroller) but MeiMei ran through the entire Tuileries, chasing pigeons the whole way through. She's so cute the way she runs, still stiff-armed and kind of bouncy with her sweet little short hair swishing from side to side as she goes. Hard to believe she's only a few months from turning four, but I can tell by the fit of the clothes we packed in January that time is passing.

We came out of the Tuileries and I saw the bridge to the Musee D'Orsay. And I saw the many steps that led to and over the bridge. DRAT! If I went down and doubled back, I'd be late. Only thing to do was look vaguely meek and helpless and say "s'il vous plait, m'aidez vous?"

And again, Many Nice Parisians. Several people saw my predicament and lent a hand without my even having to ask. One woman said "bon chance!" after she and her husband helped me part of the way. But she was smiling.

We rolled into the museum's waiting area at the same time as the students, and Mr. K offered to walk the girls around so I could go on the tour! I was so grateful. Turned out to be brilliant timing too, because MeiMei fell asleep so all he had to do was take a walk with two sleeping girls on a nice day.

The museum's collection was truly spectacular. Our guide was one of the best we've had. It was a GREAT opportunity, one I'm so grateful for. We came out of the museum just as the girls were waking up, got them some cocoa and figured out how to get the double stroller back to Saint-Mande (don't try this at home and don't tell the Paris police until I'm back in the USA). We waited until someone pushed open the glass exit door coming from the Metro, held it open, and sent John in the exit with the stroller to meet us at the platform. Mr. K and I took the girls through, and it was clear sailing from there. Getting the stroller on the train itself was a piece of cake, but unless you have a really small collapsible stroller, leave it in the hotel room. The entrance turnstiles have a three-prong design but right after it is a double door you have to push your way through (like a saloon entrance) and THAT is the problem.

So. Dinner at La Tourelle again since it was so good. This time I had entrecote with frites (rib steak) and it was the best steak I'd had in a long time. The girls had desserts called Charlottes, sort of a lady fingers / berries / custard sort of affair. I noticed that Strawberry Shortcake is called Framboise Charlotte on French tv--cute!

Took the girls back to the Etap and tucked them in for a well-deserved rest. I had decided that I would not be going on Friday's excursion to the Louvre, no way. The girls deserved a day for them, and being in Paris doesn't mean as much to them now as it may later. They needed something with intrinsic appeal and I found a great recommendation in my Take the Kids to Paris book: Cite des Sciences, at the northeast corner of the city.

After a nice breakfast of rolls and croissants from the boulanger near the Metro (thanks to John who ran out to get them--love that man!) we said au revoir to the group and found our way to the bus, sans stroller. It was shaping up to be a crappy day weather-wise, cold and rainy, so an indoor destination was just what the doctor ordered. In no time we were at our stop. We were a bit late for the 11:30 time in Cite des Enfants, the very popular interactive exhibits for little ones, so we bought a 1pm ticket and got another ticket for the Light and Shadows exhibit.

The Light and Shadows exhibit was so well done! The design of the exhibit rooms was analogous to a house. so there was a parlor, a kitchen, a basement work room, a back patio, a back yard...all very easy for kids to put things in context. And somehow they went from looking at your own shadow to understanding a lunar eclipse. Brilliant work by the designers.

We had a quick lunch downstairs in the fast-food cafe. Again (how many times do I have to learn this?) one kids' meal would've fed both girls, each of whom ate exactly half of her sandwich, fries and drink. Oh well. I was getting text messages on my phone from John and Mr. K who were en route to meet us, their Louvre visit having concluded. I was able to guide them to where we were just before running out of minutes on my pay-as-you-go phone. Dumb me, I hadn't bought an extra scratch card before leaving Antwerp.

Cite des Enfants was SO AWESOME!!!! I can see why my guide book called this museum the most popular attraction for families after Disneyland Paris. We went in the age 3-5 area after assuring JieJie that, although she wanted to go in the 5-12 area, she hadn't actually "learned everything in MeiMei's area." So intense, that one.

I liked that only a certain number of slots are available for each 1.5 hour slot in the exhibits. We had plenty of chances to explore interactive exhibits about weather, the behavior of water, the way grain is grown, processed and turned into bread, the design of machines, and the piece de resistance: a little construction site! Kids don hard hats and vests and go into a kids-only area where they can load foam building blocks onto cranes, conveyor belts, rail carts, and hoppers. They can climb up to a second story to receive shipments of blocks from the crane. They can build walls, staff a checkpoint for rail cars, and move blocks in a wheelbarrow. I watched with the same fascination I feel when realizing that the seemingly random movements in a beehive all have a purpose. It's wild to see kids gravitating toward particular tasks and roles. Some of the blocks are too heavy to move alone, so kids need to cooperate to get things done. JieJie immediately appointed herself Foreman, her too-big hard hat falling over her eyes occasionally as she called orders in English to anyone who would listen. MeiMei tried her best to please the boss, and soon the two of them ended up filling in the walls of a skeleton house.

All too soon our time in Cite des Enfants was over and it was time to meet Daddy and Mr. K, who agreed that we had found a great place. And we didn't even see the IMAX 3D theatre! If you are taking your kids to Paris, do yourself a favor and block out most of a day for this museum and its surrounding park. If you are lucky enough to have nice weather you can even take a canal boat ride from the park down to the Seine.

We capped off the kid-focused day with dinner at the most popular kid-friendly restaurant in Paris, Hippopotamus. It's a chain, and we chose the one at Bastille. Kids get coloring books, balloons, fancy swizzle sticks and a smile from the staff. The food was great too! Mr. K was glad to have a new dining option in Paris. Only sour moment was a grinch sitting next to us who growled at me "atten-DEZ, madame!" when JieJie's arm entered the woman's aura. I can hear her now, planning dinner with her friend: "I abhor children. Let's go to dinner at Hippopotamus!" I mean come on, get real. Not as if there aren't a few other restaurants to choose from IN PARIS. Anyway.

We'd had such a great day, and Saturday promised to be the best of all. The itinerary was BLANK. Free time til the 1pm bus departure meant that we could do anything we wanted. We decided to get breakfast somewhere on the Left Bank and wander our morning away. I couldn't wait for a family day.

I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of John outside in the hall on the phone with Mr. K explaining that one of our students was in police custody for alcohol-related reasons. WHAT?! The student was okay, thank goodness, but our morning together was not to be. I ended up taking the girls to a playground in our neighborhood (Paris has a ton of playgrounds, thank goodness) and then to a mall, shopping. We tried to meet up with John but missed each other and my phone wasn't working. He and Mr. K signed the student out of police custody around 10am. He couldn't find us, so he ended up going to the Arc de Triomphe, buying a few postcards, and coming back to the hotel.

I felt like such a selfish baby for doing it, but I have to admit I looked out the window and cried as the bus left Paris. I was mad that I'd let my phone run dry, mad that I'd been unable to meet up with John, mad that he got to see more of Paris, mad at myself for not being happy for him getting to see at least something, and just mad at the circumstances that took our morning away. I just have to remember: I'm in Europe, touring with my family. Everything else is gravy. We can come back, and we have a foundation now, a sense of what we'd want to see. And the student had a really scary experience. My inconvenience was not much compared with what she confronted. We're glad that things turned out ok for her and everyone involved.

Not the best way to end the visit, but we know we would like to go back to Paris again someday. I think it would be good to do when the girls are maybe 10 and 11, when they are better able to grasp what it Means to be in Paris. Still, they had a pretty good time and we continue to be amazed at their ability to go with the flow.

Strasbourg ctd

So...where was I? Ah yes, the Alsace Wine Road. Just a moment while I get my map, where I made some notes. As I said, we began by going quickly to the south, to Colmar, and then worked our way back north toward Strasbourg on the "Wine Route." We wound our way through beautiful rolling countryside dotted with villages new and old (mostly old) before the bus rolled into the town of Riquewehr. Here's what the map says about Riquewehr: Admirably well-preserved medieval and Renaissance city. Foritifications, houses and courtyards from 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries. Dolder belfry tower (1291) and Thieves' tower (with torture chamber). ...Grand Cru Schoenenbourg and Sporen vineyard trail, Grand Cru wines.

We disembarked and walked up a cobblestone street to the entrance of a vineyard tasting room where we sampled some Reisling, Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer. The wine steward poured the girls a couple of Coca Colas and they played with the pebbles that covered the floor of the wine cellar for a bit. I left earlier than everyone else so we could wander the narrow old streets and find them a treat. They wanted to by some candy (natuurlijk!) so we went back to a sweet shop we'd passed earlier. MeiMei picked jelly "Smurts" (smurfs) and JieJie chose an assortment but hovered over the Smurts begging for a handout as soon as she had eaten the items in the assortment that she liked best.

I picked up a book for a few euro called Alsatian Cuisine (in English, though you can click on the link and find your way to the yummy index) and I have a recipe to share with you. It's something our bus tour narrator described that I absolutely had to try--it was on the menu of a place we went later that evening with the girls and Mr. K.

CHOUCROUTE AVEC TROIS POISSONS (sauerkraut w/3 kinds of fish)
500 each of pike, perch, and carp (my restaurant meal had salmon)
1 kg sauerkraut, Alsatian style if possible (very thin cut)
1 clove garlic
1 onion
100 g. goose fat
1 bay leaf
5 juniper berries
25 cl Alsatian white wine
25 cl stock
50 g butter
1 teaspoon cognac
salt, pepper

Scale, gut and clean the fish. Wash, drain, cut into portions. Keep in a cool place. Wash the sauerkraut in cold water and drain. Brown the chopped garlic and onion in the goose fat in a deep saucepan with a thick base. Add the sauerkraut. Add the bay leaf and juniper berries. Season with salt and pepper. Fill to mid-height with the wine and stock. Leave to simmer gently for 2 hours, stirring from time to time. Brown the fish pieces in butter in a frying pan. Add them to the sauerkraut and leave to cook for another 30 minutes, adding a little water. Before serving, add the rest of the butter, heated until it turns to a warm brown, and the cognac.

Mine was served piping hot with a cream sauce on the plate, a skewer of fish alongside a haystack of delicate, delicious choucroute. A meal I shall always treasure! You can use any kind of fish, though I would stay away from anything as strong as tuna or swordfish. A nice white fish takes on the flavors very well.

And the restaurant we went to! There are canals in the Petite France section of Strasbourg, and built right over the canals are beautiful old timber frame buildings. The room where we ate this delicious meal was a glassed-in deck right on the water with views across the canals to the lovely illuminated old places all around, and the bridge just past the restaurant. I was going to remember the name to write down for you...but just go to Strasbourg and wanter the Petite France area. If you find our place, you'll know. If you don't, you still won't be disappointed!

The next day we had a walking tour of Strasbourg and a bus ride around some of the EU administration buildings that are keeping Strasbourg's economy stable these days--especially the hotel proprietors! The EU meets in Strasbourg every so often when they're not in Brussels, even though it's a logistical nightmare. Imagine if everyone involved with governing and lobbying in Washington DC suddenly relocated to Chicago every few months just to be "fair." Ok, it's an oversimplification but still.

After our tearful goodbye to Strasbourg we headed out to the highway en route to The City of Lights, Gay Paree. The girls slept a good chunk of the way--perfect, because we were scheduled to go on a boat tour that night and I really didn't want them to miss it. Better that they nap and then stay up a bit late.

We checked into the Etap Hotel in the suburb of Saint-Mande, just outside of the Paris city line but very much part of the metro area. The Etap is the entry-level of the chain that Ibis is also part of. It's...well, how to describe it? If Ray Kroc from McDonalds and the dude from Ikea got together and designed an ultra-ultra budget hotel, basically a hostel where you are at least guaranteed a safe clean experience, they would've come up with the Etap. And I'm not even complaining. Everything's so well designed and they are so acutely aware of their target market, it's just ingenious, the whole thing.

Each room has a double bed under a bunk bed, max 3 persons per room (so again we had 2 rooms but at least this time it was easier to get one of the girls to stay "not with me" by offering the tantalizing Bunk Bed Option.) Each room has a sink, a desk and chair, a small tv, a small digital alarm clock permanently affixed to the wall by the double bed, a toilet with no seat (no breakage!) a shower in a waterproof closet (no curtain!) three towels, no shampoo, no bath mat, two slivers of soap, and two disposable cups. You want toiletries? Buy them from the vending machine in the lobby.

Breakfast at the Etap is perfunctory. You can have bread, bread, or bread, or cereal. You can have butter, honey, or jam. Milk, coffee, orange juice. You want yogurt? Fruit salad? Buy them from the vending machine in the lobby. Or better yet, ask your wonderful husband to walk to the AMAZING pastry shop across from the Saint-Mande Metro station and come home with mouthwatering croissants, apple turnovers, chocolate-almond croissants...wow.

Though I would probably go one step above the Ibis for our family if we were booking the rooms, simply to avoid having to be in two separate rooms, I have to say that if all you're looking for is a place to keep your stuff, sleep and wash up, Etap/Ibis more than fit the bill. It was comfortable and quiet, the two most important criteria.

We ate a quick dinner at a lovely cafe called La Tourelle (we returned the following night since it was so good and so welcoming), unpacked our stuff and headed to the metro for the trip to the Seine for our Bateau Mouches river boat trip.

I wish you could have seen JieJie's whole face light up--I swear you could see her heart swell with joy, and that doesn't happen for just anything--when we came up out of the Metro and she saw the Eiffel Tower sparkling like a giant diamond in the night. She and MeiMei and I decided that fairies were making all the twinkly lights. It was even more beautiful than I expected!

JieJie has this LeapPad book called Anna's First Ballet that has a section about Paris and the Eiffel Tower, so even though she's just turned 5, she knows the name and shape and a few trivia facts about the tower, for instance that it is taller in the summer due to the expansion of the metal. I really saw it hit her, the connection between what she had heard so many times and the fact that this is a REAL place and a REAL thing. I can't know for sure, but I think that was part of her excitement. For me it was really a Magical Moment.

To be continued with: Tour of the Eiffel Tower, visit to Sainte-Chappelle, our visit off the Grand Tour list to Cite des Enfants, and The Morning That Was Not To Be.

Speaking of Strasbourg...

Click on the title of this post for an article from today's International Herald Tribune back page. How timely!

We're off to dinner at City Palace in Chinatown with a letter--in Chinese, thanks to a friend--explaining that we don't want Chinese food translated for the European palate...we want real Chinese food! We'll see if the letter does anything. Wish us luck, and thanks to P.W.!!

Our Week in France

Wow, what a whirlwind! I had never been to France before, but now that I've dipped my toe in the pool, I know I'll be back, maybe soon. John feels the same way, and JieJie bought herself a scrapbook with her own money and has filled it with stick-people smiling, arms wide, atop the Eippel [sic] Tower.

Monday: Bus trip thru Luxembourg City on the way to Strasbourg, France. I wish I had more to say about Luxembourg, but it just didn't ring my bell. We had a nice pizza lunch off one of the public squares that was surrounded with chain restaurants from "Old MacDonalds" as JieJie calls it to ChiChi's and beyond. Then we had a 45-minute bus tour across beautiful gorges with views down to the old villages along the river far below. Our guide explained that the fencing on the bridges is for "suiciders" as he put it, since there are houses down below and the potential for grisly interruptions to family dinners is certainly there. The bus drove us past building after building associated with the European Union administration and -- perhaps most significantly for Luxembourg--finance. Luxembourg's EU specialty has earned it the nickname "the treasury of Europe." Something I didn't know, definitely.

Then we got the stroller out to follow along the walking tour of Luxembourg City. It's very pretty, very quaint, quiet, and our guide (not a native) said he decided to retire there because it's just so nice and quiet and boring in all the best ways. If someone told me I had to live the rest of my life there, I'm sure I'd grow fond of it, but it just didn't capture me the way other places have (including my home state of Virginia, which still takes my breath away regularly!)

On to Strasbourg. To be honest, I had been so focused on Tackling Paris with the girls, I didn't put any time at all into reading about Strasbourg and what it's known for. Just as well--it had the chance to spring all of its charms on me at once. John and I fell in love with this amazing city almost from the moment we looked out of our hotel room to see 21st century trams gliding past 17th century apartment buildings - and that's not even the old city!

We stayed at the Ibis hotel. Ibis is part of a chain of hotels with ever-ascending levels of service. In the same way that an Applebees is above a McDonalds, the Ibis is slightly above the bottom of the barrel. We had a nice couple of rooms (rooms are for 3 people max, so a family of 4 like ours needs two rooms). Sometimes I think in terms of toiletries when I think of the grade of hotels. The White Swan in Guangzhou, China--without question the most posh I've ever stayed in--not only had shampoo AND conditioner AND body lotion, but the turndown service included a chocolate on the pillow and everything. At the Ibis, no conditioner, but no matter. NICE breakfast. Croissants and bread with nice fresh butter, some fruit, some cereal, yogurt, that kind of thing. I pocketed an apple and an orange both days we ate breakfast there, which came in very handy for the girls' midmorning snack.

The first night in Strasbourg we ate at a microbrewery that makes a local Alsatian specialty (Strasbourg is the capital of Alsace), Tarte Flambee. Mr. K called it "Alsatian Pizza" and the nickname is certainly apt, but it was a subtler sort of taste. Some are plain with onion, some are topped with sauerkraut, also a trademark Alsatian ingredient.

When the girls got tired and the students got rowdy (a student in another group mooned our students, all in good fun, and JieJie said, shocked, "that was NOT PROPER!") it's a testament to Stasbourg's accessibility that I was able to find my way back to the hotel so easily, just by keeping the river to my right. The Ill River winds its way through Strasbourg past palaces and cathedrals and taverns, under bridges new and old, and it's part of what I found so enchanting about the city. Martin Luther studied there long ago. I wonder if he ever wrote about what it was like there.

The next morning we got to see Strasbourg's main attraction, its spectacular pink sandstone Gothic cathedral. Of course we've seen many cathedrals since coming here, but this one was up there among the most impressive we've visited. My favorite thing about it was the elaborate clock in one of the side chapels. It's a union of Christianity, humanist philosophy, astronomy, astrology, and mechanical arts. At the top is Jesus. The next level down is a series of images depicting a baby, youth, man, and old man, which turn as the day goes along. There are cycles depicting the phases of the moon, what day it is, which saint's day it is, the rotation of the earth, astrological signs, and of course the current time (which almost seems beside the point when confronted with one's minute place in the grand scheme).

It made me realize how far the church must have come by that point. Ten years ago we visited the church in Pisa, Italy where Galileo worshiped before he was excommunicated for daring to suggest that the earth revolved around the sun. Here we were with a timepiece accurately representing the movements of the universe contained within the walls of the very church that had condemned such thinking a few centuries earlier. Pretty amazing.

After the cathedral, it was time to board the bus for the main tour of the day, a lovely ride through the famous winemaking region of Alsace. Absolutely beautiful. At first it even reminded me of the Shenandoah Valley as far as the topography, but the villages nestled in the folds of the green hills were so picturesque, each with its church spire surrounded by homes and farms and occasionally a castle or fortress.

We made our way to the smaller city of Colmar, south of Strasbourg. I'd never heard of it, sad to say. What a charming spot! And the flowers weren't even in bloom. Mr. K, who accompanies so many tours to this region, said that in summer, every window has a flower box with blooms and vines cascading down toward the canals that run through the picturesque little town. We had lunch (quiches all around--the girls LOVE quiche!) and went on a nice walking tour of Colmar. Among the pieces of trivia we learned: the chef at New York's very posh restaurant Lutece is from Colmar and has a restaurant back home too--put that one on the "to-do" list, eh? Can you imagine the combination of culinary genius and the best local ingredients? The possibilities are mouthwatering.

By the end of the day, John and I were wondering how much summer rentals cost, either in Alsace or in Strasbourg itself. It's really a fantastic place, I can't say it enough! And is it any wonder that this town, with its red, pink, and yellow sandstone buildings giving it such a warm and cozy feel, is also a university town? Makes sense that we would like it I guess. There are three universities there, about 48,000 students in all. Our 30 students seemed right at home there as well.

Tomorrow: Our tour of the Wine Road and a great dinner in Strasbourg--recipe for Choucroute avec Trois Poissons included! Thursday's entry: The City of Lights, Paris...aaaah.

Au Revoir until next Sunday

No new entries will be posted til April Fools' Day. Tomorrow morning we leave on our longest university trip of the semester, and it's a doozy. It looks like this:

Monday: bus to Luxembourg City, tour the city, continue on to our hotel in Strasbourg, France
Tuesday: tour Strasbourg and the wineries of Alsace, stay in Strasbourg that night
Wednesday: Leave Strasbourg for Paris!
Thu-Fri-Sat: Tour Paris, arrive home late Saturday night.

Best news of all: the weather is supposed to be absolutely ideal. Partly sunny to mostly sunny skies, highs in the 60's. We can't believe our luck, especially since this past week saw a return to the raw winter weather that Lonely Planet described as "wretched." Mid-week, JieJie and MeiMei actually had to put hats, mittens and scarves on after we were certain they were gone for good.

I've been reading Take the Kids to Paris, a handy guide for our situation. The plan is to go on as many excursions with the JMU students as possible, but to have some alternates in mind in case it gets to be too much. The Tuileries gardens look like a definitely possibility, especially since they're right there at the Louvre, one of the stops on our tour. Only bummer is, a lot of things don't open til April 1, including the little amusement park area at the Tuileries and also at the Bois de Boulogne. But we will certainly find plenty of great things to do. JieJie and MeiMei have gotten to be experts at going with the flow, so I look forward to this trip knowing we will all have a great time, not that there won't be the Meltdown du Jour, but they're growing out of a lot of that too, especially since our usual response is kind of a blase "are you done yet?"

It's so strange to feel as though our time in Antwerp is coming to an end, but in a way it already has. We have no more truly open space in our itinerary. We know what we're doing with almost every day until we leave Belgium for Spain. That's a real mental shift. When there are entire weeks on the calendar with nothing specific planned, it's like the unopened presents under the Christmas tree--they could be anything, sitting there in their pretty wrapping. Now, though, we know what's under the tree, though we haven't actually unwrapped it.

So what's on tap after Paris? Well, here's the long and short of it: JieJie and MeiMei have no school again until April 16th because of a two-week Easter break, or paasvakantie (kind of funny when you think about the easter egg coloring kits that Paas makes! There's the name, and I never knew that's why the company was called Paas!). We have decided to use the first week to rest from Paris and do day-trips, maybe rent bicycles in good weather, go to Mechelen one day either to the zoo (if weather is good) or the Speelgoedmuseum (toy museum). Then on Good Friday, I hope to see the Bach St. John Passion at the Carrolus Borromeuskerk--what a thrill that will be. If one of the students is in town, John will come with me and we'll make an evening of it. Then comes Easter Sunday. We're going to see what our options are for Easter services. On the one hand it would be nice to go to the giant Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Our Dear Lady's Church), but on the other hand, a service in English would be nice too, and there is certainly an impressive cathedral somewhere here with a service in English.

Initially we had thought a trip out of town over Easter weekend might be fun, and I had done some research into biking the flat trails in Germany's STUNNING Moselle Valley, which follows a tributary of the Rhine River through the heart of the Riesling country (my goodness you must think all we do is drink wine and plan to drink wine). Ultimately though we decided to shelve that trip for another time, maybe a Germany/Czech Republic trip. Staying in Antwerp for Easter means that the girls can have their Easter baskets, we can make a nice dinner, and all that jazz.

Easter Monday we are heading out of town, however. The prospect of two weeks with no school sent me researching options for getting away with the girls, preferably to the sea, and I found a great deal for that second week. John will be able to join us for one, maybe two nights, but will have to spend much of that week in Antwerp because our students are still in the midst of their classes and he has logistical responsibilities.

I have decided to rent a studio apartment in DePanne at the Belgian coast. We'll have a sunny balcony and a view of one of the most beautiful beaches in Belgium, very wide, unspoiled, with beautiful dunes. JieJie and MeiMei LOVE the beach. Even if it ends up being cold, we can always play in the sand, rent bikes and explore, and near DePanne is the kiddie amusement park called (you gotta say it out loud) Plopsaland! And if it's rainy and we're cooped up inside...well, at least we'll be cooped up somewhere new. Because it's still the low/off season, four nights in DePanne at the place I found (to be revealed after we are safely home of course) only costs about 300 euro. We'll bring breakfast stuff, cook lunches at the apartment and find affordable dinner places, and ta-da, instant beach vacation. Yay. Also, the rail system is offering half-price fares to the coast during the first two weeks of April so my ticket will be 50% off.

And the day we get back from that, we got tickets to the K3 show "De Drie Biggetjes" (the three little pigs)!!!!!! The two shows they had scheduled sold out, so they added shows on April 13th and we snagged four seats in the 16th row. It should be so much fun. The girls were on their absolutely best behavior all week trying to earn the tickets, and they succeeded.

I'm excited that we were able to use JieJie and MeiMei's paasvakantie time for them, since they've been so great on this trip. They'll have two weeks where it doesn't matter what time they wake up, they don't have to wear a uniform, cram down breakfast, rush to the tram, etc and they can just hang out.

Movies

Since arriving in Antwerp, we've all seen a lot more movies than we would have at home. John's and my work hours are more flexible, and the girls are in school several days til 3:30, which allows for the occasional 11am matinee. Just a 10-minute walk from the apartment (like everything else) is UGC Cinemas, a multiplex with a great selection of films.

Only thing that's a bit of a bummer is, we can't see foreign films (even Letters from Iwo Jima) because the on-screen language is not English and the subtitles aren't either. Other than that though, there are all kinds of good movies out right now and we've gotten to see a few.

John and I have seen two together: The Illusionist and Blood Diamond. Illusionist was GREAT, love Edward Norton, loved the story and soundtrack. It's my kind of movie, and John thought it was one of the best he'd ever seen. A bit of love story, a bit of mystery and magic, a bit of Hapsburg-era royal glamour...very cool.

Blood Diamond was interesting to see since Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world, and UGC cinemas is just a few blocks from the very sorting tables mentioned in the film, which is a first-rate presentation of some of the issues surrounding "conflict diamonds," diamonds sold to finance weapons purchases by corrupt governments and revolutionary insurgent groups in Africa. I'm interested in the claims of some diamond merchants that they can "certify" their diamonds, when the fundamental point the movie makes is that once the diamonds hit the sorting tables in Antwerp, the stones with a tainted past can be tossed in with the others and who in the world would ever know? After seeing the movie, I became much less interested in the thought of taking home a diamond as a souvenir of our time here.

By myself, I went to see The Painted Veil, again with Edward Norton, which I guess I liked...I had read a critical review that took the movie to task for using the Chinese actors/characters almost like scenery, that the supporting characters were not as three-dimensional. While I absolutely agree with that criticism, the book itself is not about China at all. It's about two people from England whose experience traveling in a third-world country in the 1920's transforms their relationship and perspective. The setting could have been any locale in the world experiencing political turmoil and a cholera epidemic at that time. Take your pick. The story itself is good, but the locale, and thus the people who inhabit it, are a device, fundamentally.

Finally JieJie and MeiMei and I saw Happy Feet but I didn't know to look at the schedule to find the magic letters "OV" for "Original Version. We ended up seeing the movie in Flemish, which is no big deal for a kids' movie, and they understood some of it, having been in a Flemish-speaking school for two months now. The movie was cute, fun, had a nice message, but after a while lost a bit of its spunk. Anyway, if there are other kids' movies to see before we go, I'll know to look for "OV" on the schedule.

D & D are probably wondering whether we've gone to Metropolis yet, the gigantic Lollapallooza of movie palaces in Antwerp. No, not yet, but we'll get there.

Brussels, With & Without Sprouts

Ok, so I couldn't resist. And actually, they're just called "spruiten," or sprouts, this close to the source. You don't need to specify the Brussels part.

A couple of weekends ago, we had a Saturday free and decided to use it to go to Brussels just to wander around and see what there was to see. It's only 45 minutes by train, no big deal at all.

Having learned from experience, I packed some juice boxes and cereal bars and we headed to the train station with the girls in the Stroller. Once we got to Brussels, we found the Grand Place quickly enough. I hadn't been there since John and I went on a trip together in 2003 when we were still dating. The Grand Place seemed immense then, and I remembered so many shop windows filled with huge speculaas cookies and lots of chocolates. Fourteen years later, it seemed smaller somehow, and I never did see a single giant speculaas in any of the shop windows, on or off the Grand Place. I guess cookies don't pay the rent like they used to.

We sat at an outdoor table of one of the many eateries on the Grand Place that cater to the tourist who throng the area. We were expecting high prices and an ok, not fantastic, lunch but the girls were antsy to sit down somewhere. The place we chose, whose name I've forgotten already, was short-staffed at best, either that or our waiter saw the kids and decided to frustrate us into leaving. I packed the girls back into the stroller and we started looking for another place. We found one on a street of Greek and Turkish sidewalk dining places, and had a very nice lunch of calamari, salads, pita slices, tsatziki sauce, some sausages, that sort of thing. I packed the girls' uneaten pita slices in a napkin in my purse for later.

We walked all over Brussels, a really nice walking city. The signage is great too - every so often there's a map for tourists to orient themselves, and lots of signposts at street corners direct you tot he major landmarks. We walked through the Galeries St. Hubert, the world's first indoor shopping area, and the girls loved looking at the displays in the windows of the chocolatiers and curiosity shops. We saw some Chinese characters on signs down one street and the girls demanded to see Brussels' Chinatown, so we did that, then found our way past an ongoing archeological dig one can view through windows, then back to the Grand Place area.

The girls wanted to run and play. Luckily there's a big huge park (Parc Royal) in Brussels, up behind the art museum and cathedral. It has a wonderful playground in it, with see-saws, swings, spring-rockers, play structures and slides. We parked the stroller and just let them run for a good hour or so until the sun started to dip a bit lower in the sky and it was time to head back to the train station.

That's the nice thing about getting to live here for an extended period of time. We can just say "let's go to Brussels today" and wander around once we get there. We don't have to Accomplish Something.

The following Tuesday, we decided to go back to Brussels to the art museum while the girls were in school. We hopped a train on the way back from dropping them off and were in Brussels just as the museum opened for the day. It's an extensive museum, with both traditional and modern wings, far too much to see in one visit. We chose the old works, specifically the 16th and 17th century exhibit. The collection contains works by Memling, Brueghel, Bosch and others, and an extensive collection of tryptichs and diptychs that were originally painted for use in private family worship. It's funny--the tryptichs so often are a scene of the Annunciation or the Passion in the center, flanked by portraits of a wealthy man and woman on either side, their hands piously folded. "Look at us," they seem to say, "we're rich!...AND we pray regularly."

The other thing that really struck me were the paintings depicting the martyrdom of various female saints. One in particular depicts Mary, her mother, and Mary Magdalene flanked by eight female martyrs who died in the most horrific ways. One ripped out her own eyeballs so she could escape from the experience of being raped to death. One was shot with arrows for refusing a marriage proposal. One had her breast cut off for refusing a marriage proposal but her breast was magically restored through prayer, and so on and so on. Not that St. Bartholomew had it any easier or anything. As someone who grew up in the Lutheran church, where the focus seems far more on God the Loving Father and a plain, symbolic cross, I was surprised at how jarring it was to confront the difference in emphasis, on suffering rather than redemption, on the crucifix rather than the stone rolled away. Was this emphasis in part because life was so much more difficult and uncertain back then? Or have we just decided that we'd rather hear the happy ending?

The exhibits were really fantastic though--certainly plenty of food for thought--and the audio guide was definitely worth the couple of euro surcharge. After two hours of Contemplating Art, it was time for a bite to eat. We decided on the museum cafe, which has been recently refurbished. It's very high-style, as most museum cafes are, and the food lived up to the designers' promise. I had a lovely tomato soup with balletjes, little meatballs, and a glass of wine. John had a sandwich and a Hoegaarden beer. The terrace was open, the weather was nice, and we enjoyed this little lunchtime tete a tete overlooking the courtyards of Brussels.

We hopped on the train and in no time were back in Antwerpen-Centraal. I'll miss having a train station close by that can take us to so many great destinations.

Birthdays Abroad

The first week of March was a festive week indeed! Our friends T&K were here, and their visit coincided with JieJie's much-anticipated fifth birthday, which she has been talking about since the day after she turned four.

Partway through the week, K and I boarded the 32 bus which goes out to the 'burbs and stops in the Oosterveld neighborhood near Grare, the American food store. We were there in search of some of JieJie's favorite food from home as a special treat for her birthday. It was so funny to see all of the familiar packages, and realize that most of what we can't get here we shouldn't be eating anyway. Partially hydrogenated high fructose reconstituted crap--admit it, you eat it too. We got three boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, a box of Life Cereal which I wrapped and put on the table for her to open the morning of her birthday, and a Funfetti cake mix, which I planned to make and bring to her class. We also got a little package of Hershey's Kissables candy-coated kisses, some Jelly Bellies for Easter, and I think that's it. The store also has lots of Tex-Mex stuff, and things like beef jerky, microwave popcorn, instant oatmeal, etc. Honestly I don't miss anything enough to bother going back to Grare and paying exorbitant prices for it, but it's nice to know that the option is there for special occasions.

On the way home, K & I sat across from a man on the bus who asked if we were British. I said "no, American." He smirked and said "I don't like Americans. They always like everything to be so big." I said "well, I suppose..." or something noncommittal (you never know who you're talking to, best not to get into a silly argument). He said again "I don't like America." I smiled a bit and said "well, I guess I'm stuck then." He asked why I was here and I explained that my family and I were living here through a university affiliation and that we very much liked Belgium, and living in Antwerp (and I wondered if the man had ever been to the U.S.--after all, at least I can speak about Belgium from some experience!). I pointed out a beautiful Art Nouveau townhouse to K and she and I chatted quietly to one another about the lovely houses we were passing on the bus. Before the man got off the bus, he must've realized he was being a jerk because he actually said "well, I hope you enjoy your time in Antwerp" before he got off the bus. Hunh? K and I just looked at one another and shook our heads. What is one to do? The guy struck me as just grumpy in general and it certainly has not been our experience that people here are aggressively anti-American at all. You hear it over and over, people in other countries distinguish between our government and our people. They may hate the former but they don't mind the latter so much. Having said that, we try as much as possible to fit in and keep our American-accented voices down in public. For me it's not so much about avoiding trouble as about not disturbing what's going on around me so I can really be a part of it.

So we got back to the apartment (yes somehow I went from groceries to anti-Americanism, but there you are) and I put the cake mix together. The girls helped and got all excited about cracking the eggs, mixing the batter, and of course licking the bowl. I baked the cake until it was pulling away from the pan, browned around the edges. Perfect.

We all went to dinner and when I came home I started cutting the cake into small pieces to bring for JieJie's class (teacher asked that I not frost it because of the mess & the kids' uniforms) and to my horror, the cake was not done in the center AT ALL. I tried unsuccessfully to bake it a bit longer but the whole middle was just like pudding. Barf. Now what to do?! I ended up taking JieJie to school and then running back to Goossens Bakkerij to ask if they had any of their famous apple cakes, which are shaped like a loaf (pound cake-like). They had two of them, and also an orange cake, so I bought all three, raced back to the school, borrowed a knife from the teachers' lounge, cut the cakes into 8 pieces each, and I somehow managed to catch JieJie's teacher's eye without JJ herself noticing that I was there so I could give her the cakes. She gave me a knowing smile - she's a mom too. She also said the book we gave the class in honor of JJ's birthday was perfect (it was a book of craft projects for kids to do) and that they had already planned to make one of the Father's Day crafts. Yesterday was Vaderdag in Belgium, by the way, so Gelukkige Vaderdag to all the dads.

The evening of JieJie's birthday, we had a nice dinner in our apartment with special guests T&K and a lovely chocolate cake from Bastin Chocolatier (www.g-bastin.com), plus Macaroni & Cheese and fruit salad for the girls, and scallops for the adults. She got some Ramona books from T&K (we've already finished Beezus and Ramona and are halfway through Ramona the Pest) and we gave her a custom made princess outfit from www.princessenjurken.nl, the company my friend's friend started in her home which is destined to become a big business if the proprietor so desires. The dresses are GREAT, very "foofy" as we say. MeiMei got a dress too...after all, what fun is it to play dress-up all by yourself?! She also had presents to open from grandparents and aunts and uncles, and family friends who made sure to send things in time for the big day (M, the makeup kit is a huge hit!). She got several phone calls too--she seemed so excited that everyone was thinking of her on her birthday. What a beautiful, radiant smile she has when she is genuinely happy.

So it may not have been the kind of birthday party JieJie envisioned, with school friends all around a big cake in some party-themed room somewhere in the Harrisonburg area, but I think she had a nice birthday just the same.

Time for a Brain Dump

I finally realized this morning that even when John has to use the computer in our apartment (which he has been doing a whole lot more than usual due to some book editing projects) I can still use the computer downstairs in the extra apartment. The heat's not on since nobody's using it these days, but I brought my jacket, no big deal. The speakers are connected to this computer, so I get to listen to my favorite internet radio show, The Morning Show from Minnesota Public Radio via mpr.org's The Current. I grew up in the Twin Cities, and worked for a time in public radio, and I still think of all the stations I've heard or heard about in the entire good ole U.S. of A., Minnesota Public Radio's offerings are the best, bar none.

It's time to get you all caught up. We had some company, we had JieJie's birthday, and then I got bumped from the computer, hence the relative silence on the FTJ.

M and R and their boys visited from Mijdrecht the first weekend in March, and we were able to do a lot of the things we hoped to do together here in Antwerp. They stayed at the Holiday Inn Express up by the port area and said it was nice, affordable, and that the boys liked the breakfast. It's also not too far a walk from our neighborhood. The first night we ate a light supper at 't Injaske, where the food is always reliably good, always a great price for what you get, and they have coloring books and stuff for kids to do while they wait for dinner. The next morning we went to Aquatopia. The kids all liked the different exhibits, especially the shark tank where you can walk under the tank through a tunnel and look up to see sharks and rays swimming right over your head. We had lunch, came back to the apartment for a bit of rest, and the boys watched an Asterix movie that we happened to have while MeiMei took a mini-nap.

One other thing we'd hoped to do together was go through the Sint-Annatunnel under the River Schelde, and indeed we found the entrance. It's a bit hidden on the Antwerp side. It was easy to identify once we were nearby, since the ventilation tower matches the one on the other side. It's got a huge elevator, big enough for people with bicycles to use. The tunnel itself is pretty amazing - straight as a particle accelerator all the way to the other side, but you can't see the end from the beginning. Something about the straightness and the length inspired the kids (and the parents as well) to take off running and laughing as we raced toward the other end. We spent some time playing in the park on the other side of the river, then John and R headed to the Holiday Inn to check them out and get their car, while M and I took the kids back to the apartment. It's just so great to be able to spend time together over several months like this, rather than our usual every-five-years cramming all our catching up into a week or so. We hope to visit Amsterdam one more time before we have to head back, and I would also like to meet M in Delft for a daytrip at some point. Phrases like "at some point" scare me though--those are always the things that end up not happening, aren't they?

We hugged M&R goodbye and stayed in that night with the girls, chilling out before the next round of company arrived the next day, our friends T&K from Harrisonburg. They were to arrive Sunday around lunchtime, so Sunday morning was free to do whatever. We decided to head out to Fort Merksem, which at one time was a working fort (not so long ago actually!) which has become a community park with soccer fields, playgrounds, trails and even some peacocks and deer in a little enclosure. It's at the end of one of the tram lines (the 3, I think) and then just a short walk to the park. The girls really liked seeing the peacocks display those amazing tailfeathers, and the park was nice, though muddy.

T&K arrived from the train station by taxi and we settled them into the apartment downstairs. T just had foot surgery and K was coming down with the Flemish Gack (bad congestion--we've all had bouts with it since coming here) so we didn't do a whole lot the first few days, though we got to spend lots of time together, which was the point. We ate out at a few restaurants, one great, one not so fantastic. Dock's Cafe down by the waterfront had been recommended by a chef whose daughter is in JieJie's class, and it definitely lived up to its recommendation. Fantastic seafood, an oyster bar, great decor/ambience, good service, and an enormous wine list, perhaps the most comprehensive I've ever seen - they even had a wine from China! We had a Gewurtztraminer and some kind of red I can't remember. Then later in the week we ate at Persepolis, an Iranian restaurant, where the food was good but not out of this world. Grilled fish, rice, grilled vegetables, bread and dipping sauces, that sort of thing. I had to leave early with two tired girls, and my stomach was bothering me, so I'm sure that tainted my experience.

Coming up: Brain Dump Part II, The Birthday Extravaganza...(gotta go pick up the girls!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Whew! What a party! Last night John and I went to Celtic Ireland, a huge Irish pub on the Groenplats, to meet a couple I first met at the PTA Rave Party in February. He's of Irish descent, she's Belgian, they're both a lot of fun.

The pub was crowded by 7pm when we got there and only got more crowded from then til we left about 11:30. The musical selections ranged from BeeGees to U2 to The Police and random party tunes ("God is a DJ"). John had Guinness and I had something called Adam's Apple Cider, but forgot to alternate ciders with bottled water so I'm moving a little slowly this morning.

The bar food was good--fantastic wings and sauce, and we also got a mixed warm platter that had meat skewers, cheese croquettes, and some other things to dip in the two tangy sauces.

Every so often the music changed to an Irish jig and some step dancers would do their thing on a raised area of the pub, and there was much cheering and toasting.

We walked home (nice that everything's so close to our apartment, eh?) and the babysitter got a fistful of euros to use wherever she spent last night. The college students' night is only beginning at 11:30...those days are gone for this thirtysomething mom. And good riddance! Waking up to cartoons and cereal with my husband and two lovely girlies is heaven.

2,000 Hits and Counting!

I just checked my site meter and the magic number 2,000 has been accomplished. How cool!

So a fitting topic for this entry might be an ode to JieJie and MeiMei's new favorite singing group, K3, otherwise known as "kah-dree" in Flemish (and flip the "r" if you want true authenticity). Our friends M & R (or more correctly their sons, S & V, who had suddenly become aware that boys aren't supposed to like a girl group) gave us the cd "The Wereld Round" and we hear it several times a day.

At a recent trip to the public library, JieJie spotted the DVD of the Wereld Round concert so now we hear the cd AND we see the concert version several times a week. The concert version has some seriously second-rate choreography...I've taken step aerobics classes that were more aesthetically complicated, but the girls really like it, and I have to admit the show is very wholesome. Kind of like Dutch ABBA, as far as the music goes. John really likes it and dances around the apartment to their songs, though he's pretending to make fun of it (after all he has to be Mr. Cool Guy). I like their belly dancing song "Ik Van Je Hou."

So now you can help your preschool girl graduate from The Wiggles to Kah-DREE...I'm actually contemplating taking the girls to the Sportpaleis in April for their concert "The 3 Piggetjes" (the Three Little Pigs, if you haven't guessed).

Thanks for reading! There's plenty more to come.

Tagging along to Leuven

wow--almost 2,000 hits on this blog...thanks for spreading the word!--a

JieJie and MeiMei are getting to be great travelers, and genuinely seem to enjoy getting out and seeing things. They have half-days of school on Wednesdays, so when the university group's trip to Leuven was scheduled for a Wednesday afternoon, I told Mr. K (Director of Logistics) that the LL's (Little Ladies, as he calls them) and I would be along for the ride.

We would need to find our own things to do because the students, who are studying business-related subjects during their time in Antwerp, were going to Leuven to visit InBev, the world's largest brewery, maker of Stella Artois and Jupiler among other brands. No little kids allowed in the brewery.

No matter. Our Michelin Green Guide to Belgium indicated that Leuven is known for its extravagantly decorated town hall and its cathedral, and the map showed a walkable city with plenty to keep us occupied for a little while. We loaded La Stroller on the bus and settled in for the ride, a little over an hour.

When we got to InBev, Mr. K pointed the way to the center of Leuven, we arranged a rendezvous time for the return trip, and we were off. We walked past a big bus depot, the train station, and turned down Bondgenotenlaan for the stroll to the town square.

The girls wanted to look in a few stores along the way, and finally we arrived at the town square, which is small enough that it wasn't possible for me to capture the whole of the impressive Stadhuis (Town Hall) facade all in one photo frame. Today the Stadhuis is the seat of the provincial government of Flanders (Vlaanderen), the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. We didn't go in the Town Hall but we did go in the 15th-century St. Pieterskerk right across the square. It was (as is usual with these great European cathedrals) beautiful, lofty, full of wondrous things to see. JieJie and MeiMei wanted to light a candle. As I lit the one JieJie chose, she sang a prayer in Flemish, one she had learned at school. Pretty neat. I like that they get the connection and we have never had to admonish them about being respectful in these amazing buildings, either. They seem to understand.

One of the things I've enjoyed are the elaborately carved wooden pulpits in the cathedrals. I've never paid much attention to them before but I'm tempted to look for a book on the topic. The thing I find almost funny is the reason behind the elaborate decoration, or one reason anyway: the inevitability that some congregants will daydream during the sermon/homily. And when their attention wanders from the person in the pulpit, what do they see? The tree of knowledge with a snake coiled in the branches, the dove of peace, a crucifixion scene, palm trees symbolising Paradise, or perhaps their glance travels to the base of the pulpit where (in Leuven anyway) they see a vision of a horse and its rider being sucked down into Hell. I took some photos of the pulpit in Leuven, which the Michelin guide says is a scene of St. Norbert struck down at the foot of a rock, but they are a bit too dark to post.

We popped into a toy store called Krokodil just off the square--great store!!! We ended up getting two additions to our growing collection of Groovy Girls, which are great little rubbery plastic dolls with names like Oki and Vanessa and O'Ryan...very cute, ethnically diverse, not at all like the Junior Sluts dolls (Bratz) I can't stand. So we came home with Jenna and Bretta and their dune buggy and bicycle.

John sent a text message that things were wrapping up, so we headed back to InBev, stopping along the way for a Croque Monsiour to go for each of the girls. It was a bit raw and windy, so we ducked into the train station waiting room to eat. We ran back to InBev, which we needn't have done because the students spent almost an hour in the gift shop wasting their money (IMHO) on Stella Artois t-shirts and beer mugs. We hung out with the InBev security guard for a while and then were allowed in the secure area to go get on the warm bus for the trip home.

The rest of Leuven, from what I could tell, looks like a nice place, though it's similar enough to other places we've been in Flanders that I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again before we leave.

Boullion in the Semois Valley

We left Bastogne on our whirlwind overnight and headed southwest to Boullion, a beautiful town in the Semois Valley. So far, Boullion has been my favorite place of all the stops on our semester-long itinerary. This photo manages to capture all of the things we did in Boullion. You see the Semois River winding through the photo. The light tan building across the river is the Archeoscope which tells the story of Godfrey of Boullion. In the foreground you see the center courtyards of Godfrey's castle (I took the photo from the uppermost parapet), and in the courtyard you also see the blue bleachers where we sat to view a falconry demonstration. A most useful picture indeed.

So: the Archeoscope. It's really a great place to take kids before you visit Godfrey's castle. It was especially helpful for our group too because in 24 hours we had skipped around historical eras with alarming suddenness. Charlemagne...19th and 20th century coal miners...WW2 battlefields and now The Crusades?! A little orientation was most appreciated. Godefroid de Boullion was born in the 11th century and was a Crusader who sold his castle to pay for his crusade to the Holy Land, where he took the title Defender of Jerusalem (or something to that effect).

The Archeoscope experience is part film, part multimedia, part diorama. We walked through a dark room where a booming voice told us about (love it in French) Godefroid de Boullion (you've gotta say it out loud, gohd-FWAH duh bool-YOHN...French is fun). Then we went into the next room and got front row seats thanks to Mr. K's insider tip on where the exit from part I was located. We sat down and put on headphones, selected English and chose our volume level, and then a great little show unfolded on a stagelike area in front of us, with moving models and different projections showing the story of Godfrey and the castle. MeiMei noted that Godfrey and his wife "fell into love." I asked her last night what that means and she said "when you fall into love, you really want to hug each other."

JieJie listened pretty intently to the narration. MeiMei's head is a bit small and the headphones kept slipping off, but she did ok. We came out into a gift shop and John bought a great book of puzzles that depict life in a castle. It's in French, but he can read it to them so no matter.

We boarded the bus in the increasingly heavy rain and rode to the castle itself, then found a place to sit for a demonstration of the art of falconry. The falconer had owls, vultures and hawks that are trained to hunt smaller birds and other types of animals. Dogs are not allowed in the castle for this reason. One stubborn dog owner disregarded the rule and the owls apparently got both of his small dogs. The falconer said these were American owls and their names are Bill and Monica. Lovely. Anyway.

The rain picked up considerably and I dreaded another 2 hours in the bus with the girls, who obviously wouldn't be up for a tour through the cold wet castle. Mr. K generously offered to take them back to the bus and hang out with them and Rene the bus driver so I could tour the castle. It is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me as a mom, and I almost wept with gratitude. The girls trotted happily off holding Mr. K's hands and we heard later that he bought them a candy bar, they played hide and seek in the bus, and just generally had a great time. Thanks Mr. K!!

John and I enjoyed the tour of the castle and the spectacular views from the parapets. I couldn't help thinking what a great trip it would be to tour the Semois Valley, by car, by boat, by bicycle, or even on foot, and stay at a little inn along the way. If you are looking for a quiet, idyllic, not-too-touristy place for a long weekend while you're in Belgium, allow me to recommend quaint, picturesque Boullion.

Bastogne & Hotel Melba

That's MeiMei, dwarfed by the enormous Battle of the Bulge Monument in Bastogne, Belgium.

We arrived in Bastogne hungry and tired from our busy day of touring (see Aachen and Blegny) and luckily we were staying at the lovely Hotel Melba, which is part of a chain (Best Western I think) but only for reservation purposes. Everything else about the hotel is one-of-a-kind, and the room was one of the nicest we've ever had.

We had the chance to choose two connecting rooms or a suite, and we decided on the suite--I'm so glad! Turns out the only suite in the hotel is under a peaked roof instead of a flat roof. Each room in our suite had double skylights right over the beds, so we literally slept under the stars, though we pulled the shades over the girls' beds so they wouldn't wake up too quickly.

The girls napped a bit more and played in the room until it was time for a group dinner in the hotel dining room. I wasn't expecting much, but we were so pleasantly surprised. Dinner began with Quiche Ardennes, named for the delicious Ardennes ham that was the main ingredient. The girls wolfed theirs down and were full, so I got them some little activity books to do over by a fireplace/lounge area in the dining room. One of the JMU students voluntarily kept them company while we ate our turkey dinners--I could have kissed her. The girls have to do a lot more keeping themselves occupied on these group trips, so it means a great deal to me that the students go out of their way to help--they certainly wouldn't have to!

After dinner I went up to tuck JieJie and MeiMei in, and by then it was absolutely pouring rain. I didn't realize til then how totally spent I was from all the touring...I sat and stared out the window at rainy Bastogne for a solid ten minutes, I think! John and Mr. K talked down in the lounge for a while longer and then we all went to sleep. I think some of the students actually went out looking for a good pub, despite the rain and their exhaustion, but if they did, I didn't hear them go out or return...I was dead to the world.

Saturday morning dawned rainy and raw. We had breakfast in the hotel, a lovely selection of meats, cheeses, and croissants, and we met Henri, the man who would be our guide for the day. Henri was 8 years old when the Allies defeated the German army in WWII's famous Battle of the Bulge, and he still remembers things like American GI's giving him chocolate. I have a bit of interest in WWII as both of my grandfathers served in the U.S. military, one in the Navy and one in the Army. My Grampa Defries, the Army guy, actually met General Patton, who was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. So I was excited for the tour, though not expecting to hear and/or see as much because I am Parachute Lady with the girls ("Tantrum! Tantrum! Eject! Eject!")

Our group boarded the bus and began the bus tour of Bastogne, where we saw more American flags than I remember seeing at home. There's a church that plays the first six notes of the U.S. National Anthem on its carillon bells, and whose stained glass displays an American Flag.

We arrived at the Bastogne Historical Center, watched an orientation movie (thankfully not too graphic) which the girls paid attention to enough that I could get the gist of it, and then went out into the exhibit areas, which I only wish I could have seen with Grampa. He fixed Jeeps, and there in the exhibit diorama were two full-size Jeeps and depictions of soldiers in uniform carrying out various tasks. I wonder what he would have been able to remember if he could see all of the artifacts collected in this impressive tribute to the Battle of the Bulge.

The girls got squirrely enough that I took them away from the group and we just looked at different tools, uniforms, canteens, and things having to do with soldiers' daily lives. Then we went back to the bus and hung out with Rene, the driver, who is a very nice grandfatherly sort of man. He let the girls sit in his seat and have their pictures taken "driving" the bus, I gave the girls some snacks, and read them "Rumpelstiltskin" which Rene said is called "Rempestentje" in Dutch.

We briefly tried to walk to the outdoor memorial with its view of the beautiful Ardennes landscape, but it was just too raw and rainy so the picture of MeiMei is about all that came of our attempts. When either of my daughters is tired of walking, it's no use trying to go another step (hence the invaluable STROLLER!) and once JieJie just whined "Coold! Tiiiired!" over and over, I knew it was pointless to argue.

John, Mr. K, Henri and the students returned to the bus, we drove out through the forest battle areas and looked at a "foxhole"--John says they can't be authentic because they had freshly broken tree roots as though they had been created or at the very least maintained much more recently than 1944. Still, it was moving to drive through the area and realize how cold it must have been, how hard it was to see through the dense pine forests. If you've seen "Band of Brothers" you know the terrain.

We said goodbye to Henri at the center of town, grabbed a Croque Monsieur (our standby for the girls - they will always wolf down a hot ham and cheese!) and got back on the bus for the trip to our final destination in this whirlwind overnight: Boullion, Belgium.

You might notice that it's taken me a couple of weeks to write about these two densely packed days of touring. I can't wait to finish with Boullion, which must be mentioned since it is so gorgeous. Still, this "assignment" has brought out my inner rebel, the part of me that drags my feet when I know I have something big to finish. I want to get caught up! I want to tell you about JieJie's birthday, about our little trip to Leuven, and today's daytrip wandering around Brussels. I'll get to it, and soon--I have to, because we've got five solid days of touring coming up later this month (including our first ever trip to Paris), and The Decks Must Be Clear!

The Halfway Point

Well, this Friday is JieJie's fifth birthday, and next week is the halfway point of our time here in Antwerp.

I still say I wouldn't live here long-term, as much as I am enjoying the day-to-day. People are nice here, it's easy to get around, the food is great, there's always something fun to see and do, but city life can be constraining. I miss my big back yard, our house, our neighbors and friends, and I am looking forward to getting all of that back. I realized the other day that I hadn't driven a car in two months, and have only been in a car three times since getting here...weird.

What's going to stay with me from our time here? A deep appreciation of the nuances of truly great chocolate making and eating...a love of beatiful wrought iron work...the plan we have to see how long we can get by with only one car and the bus system back home...wanting to try a gorgeous crystal chandelier in an otherwise casual room...being reminded how good a fresh loaf of bread can be...loving train travel.

What I'd like to leave here: JieJie's mad days, MeiMei's whining, my inability to listen to more than one person at a time when three people are all trying to tell me Something Really Important and my head feels like it's going to implode. It's so odd, but this small apartment has made the girls' clinginess (justified of course by the fact that so much is unfamiliar) seem so much more ludicrous. They want me (daddy's no good, apparently) right on their beds with them to fall asleep, and fight over whose bed I'm sitting on. They want me to sit next to them at meals, they want my lap on the tram, they want me to dress them, feed them like a baby...it's hard on them sometimes, which makes it hard on me and on John, who does his best to insist that Mommy Can't Do Everything, or (my favorite) "Mommy delegated this job to Daddy."

Still worth it? Ultimately, yes (who knows what the girls will say?). But there is about a half-hour of every day when I just want to run around like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.

Blegny-Trembleur

After our visit to Aachen / Aix-la-Chapelle, we went to Blegny-Trembleur, Belgium to visit the last working coal mine in Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium) which shut down a couple of decades ago.

I was fairly sure the girls and I would skip the mine tour, because I wasn't sure how we would be able to get out if MeiMei decided she was "SKAWED!" all of a sudden. I'd heard that there were lots of playgrounds at ground level. I made sure we had a couple of snacks handy and we waved goodbye to John and the university students as they headed into the tour orientation area.

There were indeed playgrounds! One was for toddlers and one was for bigger kids. I have to say (again) that the playground equipment here is so fun, due in part to the novelty value for us Americans, but also due to the fact that the liability insurance issue is not as major here. There were things on that playground that no American playground planner would touch with a ten-foot pole. Long multi-person swings that basically look like seats on a swinging battering ram...the merry-go-round things that U.S. playgrounds did away with when I was still a kid...really really tall slides that have no guardrails on the top and seem greased for the ride down. Needless to say, the girls had a blast!

After about an hour of that, they started to wander from thing to thing and I thought okay, enough of this. I told them it was my turn to pick what we did, and we headed off down a tour path toward who-knows-what. Turned out to be an exhibit of the different types of coal cars and miner transportation vehicles, digging machines, etc., all connected to each other and displayed on rails. The girls seemed interested in all the little cars (short of course so they could fit through the narrow passages). And then: ANOTHER playground! And a little zoo with birds and farm animals!

Finally I saw a path that led up this enormous slag heap. It was so amazing to me that just the waste from the mining operation could create a mountain which now sustains a whole ecosystem of birch trees, moss, various animals, birds, etc., but which still smells faintly of coal. We climbed the mountain together, the girls and I, and I was impressed with their ability to make it to the top with a minimum of whining. The view from the top was reward enough (see photo). We had such great weather that day. It was a really fun time, just following our noses to see what we could see.

We headed back down and the tour was just ending, so we met John and the students and went back to the bus. They said the mine tour was really interesting, and the guide (b. 1943) had actually worked for the mine (mining and then managing) from age 16 til his retirement when the mine closed. They told some pretty horrific stories about the conditions the miners worked in, and how awful the lives of the horses were that had been used to pull loads of coal down in the mine before machines were available. The horses were sometimes kept down in the mine for years at a time, never seeing the sun and often going blind down there.

You might wonder, what's the value of this tour for a group of American university students? But coal was a major industry in Wallonia. The students no doubt learned the association between an industry, the local economy, the culture and identity of a place. Perhaps in the future they will think to inquire about the major industries and "economic heritage" of the places they visit and work.

Next: Bastogne and a great little hotel