Brugge, Belgium

named by the Dutch or a.k.a. "Bruges" by the English language.

Yesterday Amanda, Mike and I traveled by car about an hour to the Northwest, in the Flemish region of Belgium.  The city is actually fairly large with over 100,000 inhabitants. However, we were more interested in the "Old City" and spent our time there.

Horse drawn carriages in the city

Once we parked on the outer edge of it, we walked a short distance into the unique center. The path we traveled on was also very unique and ornate.  Much of it surprisingly reminded Mike and I of our previous city of Fribourg,  mostly because of the cobblestone paths and detailed buildings.

Neat building with a door too small for Mike!

In the Center

However, Fribourg didn't have the gorgeous water canals that this area did. It actually has been called the "Venice of the North" because of this particular feature. We spent the day enjoying various shops of clothing, food, coffee and beer, (of course!)

On a little bridge

More gorgeous water canals

We stopped at a little cafe called Craenenburg for lunch. While here Amanda and I each devoured a Chocolate Banana Belgium waffle! Mike enjoyed an omelet, salad, and plain Belgium waffle. Everything was spectacular!

My Belgium Waffle and Coffee

Our after dinner drinks consisted of Belgium beer. We each ordered a different kind and got to experience a total of 4 differently delicious beer. Amanda and I chose 2 unusual flavors that consisted of lemon-lime and raspberry. Mike first had a "Duvel" that the waiter recommended and thought it was simply, "good." Next, Mike claimed a "Delirium Tremens", which is now his ultimate favorite beer. It was also named the "Best beer in the World" in 1997. On our way out of town we actually purchased a 4-pack with a complimentary beer glass as a souvenir to take home.

Belgium Beer: Lemon Lime, Delirium Tremens & Raspberry!

Mike and I came to a conclusion on our drive home that this was probably our favorite place visited so far! :) LOVED Belgium! ...And another perk was they spoke English here, therefore, NO communication errors all day!

The "Quick"

This is a fast food restaurant that is all over France (and Belgium) with a similar theme to McDonalds. Did some further research on this joint…it was founded in 1980 and now has over 400 restaurants in various countries with a majority of them here in France.

Obviously, we wanted to try it out and luckily there is one nearby. We each ordered a meal and were very happy with it all. The service was great and the menu had a lot of options. Plus, the entire time we were there employees were cleaning…that was so nice to observe. The food was pretty good, not too greasy or salty as we were expecting. And the prices were great! (much cheaper than the McDonalds in Switzerland!)

This was probably the first and last time we will visit, but glad we did! :)

Bowling with friends

Yesterday Mike, Ben, Amanda and I traveled about 10 minutes to a the nearby city of Calais. Here we met about 10 other people for some fun games of bowling.

Bowling here was exactly the same as in America, however something that grossed me out was the shoe process. After we paid for our games of bowling there was just a "free-for-all" when getting your bowling shoes. There were cubbies lined up against the wall with many shoes of all sizes, and we were supposed to just grab whatever we wanted. I was very particular when picking shoes. I made sure to stay away from the warm ones, (figured these ones had sweaty feet in them recently.) After getting a size 37 (my euro shoe size), we were ready to bowl.

Didn't know how great of a bowler Mike was until this day…he about doubled my score in each game! In the second game Ben had a score of 211!

BCM Gravelines

...is the short version for the "Basket Club Maritime" Gravelines basketball team that Ben plays for. We were very lucky to be able to attend 2 home games this past week and soak in the completely different atmosphere, (in comparison to our prior attended BFO games.)

Amanda and I in front of the team logo.

We attended games this past Tuesday and Friday. The stadium was full on Friday's game with awesome spirit including flags, confetti, posters, horns, noise makers and a pep band! The Tuesday game was a "Eurochallenge Game", therefore was less attended with a little less excitement, but still the crowds were loud and proud. The fans love the team here and show great support. It looked like an amazing atmosphere for an athlete to play in. Both games ended in wins and happiness!

!Bonus! : Post basketball games, we were able to enter the VIP area where we were catered to free food and drinks!

Inside the team's arena, "Sportica." 

Ben shooting free throws.

Exercise Errors

New place = new experiences. And many new things to learn...

Just wanted to share a couple of comical adventures we have endured lately while attempting some simple physical activities.

1. Recently, Mike joined a recommended weight room to "pump some iron". During his first visit everything was pretty much the same as anyone would expect. Until...shortly after finishing the bench press, he was adjusting the bar and had the weight clip in hand when a new man just entered the area. The muscular man approached Mike with his hand extended, Mike's first instinct was to hand the man the weight clip. He did just that. The buff man soon was very peculiar, and then Mike was as well. At that moment he chuckled then shook Mike's hand and walked away. Mike was very flustered, but then observed a little more closely. Before long he realized that when a new person entered the facility that person greeted each and everyone with a handshake and "Bonjour". Mike felt pretty foolish post realization, however is now prepared for his next visit.

2. Just yesterday we (Mike and I) attempted an aventure of cardio (run/jog/walking) throughout the town. Though we did not think this entirely through, we simply got dressed and took off.  As you may have already assumed, we could not find our way back as easily as we exited. To add, we were also without any technology, such as phone, gps, etc.  We circled several areas more than once, attempted reading signs (in French), and looked for any recognizable landmarks. We were soon hoping that Ben and Amanda would start looking for us because we weren't very confident being in such a foriegn place to us. Luckily, Gravelines is a small town with few roads and we DID know what street the house lives on. After more than hour of searching, we found our way and paraded into the living room with so much excitement/ accomplishment we also surprised our current roommates. (Whom which we shortly found out were going to start looking within the next 10 minutes without our return.)

Made it to Gravelines

After a very long, embarrassing, sweaty and tiring 8 hour train travel North…we made it to Gravelines, France!

The descriptive words were necessary because this was definitely not the easiest or most convenient way to travel with all of our stuff. We had a BIG load mainly due to accumulating items from the area and a lovely visit from Mike's parents when they brought us a whole suitcase of things from America!
All together we were carrying 3 suitcases with wheels, 2 large duffel bags, 2 backpacks, a computer bag, a yoga mat and a purse. I was able to wheel 2 suitcases, carry a backpack, the computer case, yoga mat and purse, Mike had the rest. Another item of concern was that I could only lift one of the bags up, poor Mike had to do most of the hard work when lifting our luggage. Everywhere we went people were laughing at us. I am sure we looked pretty ridiculous with all of that luggage between the two of us, especially when traveling by public transportation.

Waiting at the bus stop at 7am

And because we were using public transportation we had very little time in between stops. First the bus was short time, Mike was hucking bags through the door and jumped in on the last minute, the very same thing happened when boarding the train in Fribourg. When the final whistle blew I almost thought I would be making this entire trip alone… :/
We had 2 more changes between trains until we finally arrived in Calais where our friend greeted us and lend us a helpful hand. We were so relieved at this point after the very long day. We also concluded that we will be sending much of our stuff home to the states or just leaving it in Gravelines. DO NOT WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS EVER AGAIN!

The train's destination was in Calais, France with just a short drive to Gravelines. Gravelines is a much smaller town than Fribourg, it also has a very rural Minnesota feel if you can believe that? It is located at the very tip of Northern France with the water shore nearby, part of the English Channel actually.
I describe it as "rural Minnesota" because where we are staying there is quiet backyard and patio. And also a beyond that there is a field that houses horses and stables. The neighborhood is small and tranquil with an equally small and friendly downtown area. For any bigger city items such as fast food or Auchans (supposedly similar to a Walmart!) we have to drive a short distance to another area.

Gravelines streets

Clock tower in town.

Au revoir Fribourg!

Fribourg

(Good Bye!) An agreement was made late yesterday between Mike and the Fribourg team. They wanted us out either today or tomorrow! We obviously chose the latter option so we could have a full day to pack, clean and get things done.

So this morning we went to the train station to get our tickets to France, loaded up on Swiss chocolate to bring with us and got all of the money switched over at the bank.

Now we are packing and cleaning all day preparing to leave in the early morning. We have about an 8 hour trip ahead of us to Gravelines!

Blog changes...

Hello Everyone…I wanted to change my blog name to "Shan's EURO Life" because it's a little more broad and this way I can keep it going no matter where we end up.

So the bigger reason for the change is because we may no longer be in Switzerland. The basketball team that Mike was on has decided to release him for business reasons, (the team had an injured guard who just returned and they needed a "big" man.) However, he is still technically under contract so the team and Mike have to come to an agreement in order to end the contract. Currently his agents and the Fribourg team are working on this.

So now Mike is on the basketball job hunt again. His agent informed us that it would be best if we stay in Europe as long as possible, this increases his chances of signing with another team being he is already here.  Fribourg wants us out of our current apartment ASAP, (as soon as the agreement to end the contract is made.)

...Luckily, we have GREAT friends in northern France who have offered for us to stay with them as long as we need.

So that's our current situation, as soon as we get everything squared away here we are headed to Gravelines, France to live with Ben and Amanda (soon to be) Woodside.  Hopefully we won't have to stay too long and we will be off to our next Euro Adventure!

Amanda, Ben, Mike and I in Paris over winter break.

Luzern

Last Sunday we took the train to Luzern for the day! The city is considered the "Heart of Switzerland." It was gorgeous, not only the sights but also the weather. We walked around the city viewing all of the sites.

At Lake Luzern which the city surrounds

"Lion Monument"- A memorial for the heroic death of Swiss mercenaries at the Tuleries in 1792

It was carved right in the side of the mountain/ sandstone formation. It was an amazing site to see!

The Chapel bridge, built in the 14th century

The Jesuit Church, constructed in 1666, the first sacral building in Switzerland.

The Louvre

Our last full day in Paris was spent at the Musee du Louvre! It was so much bigger than we had expected and just so much to take in. We didn't even have time to see it all! Here are some tidbits for you…

The main entrance.

Inside.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo de Vinci (behind a bulletproof glass)

Every room inside the museum had beautiful and great details/ themes.

Captive by Michelangelo

Notre Dame Cathedral

We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral on Christmas Eve…it was magnificent! It was so big and wondrous site to see. Mike and I were in awe the entire time.

Outside the Cathedral.

The intricate details were amazing.

In the center, where the pews are located.

The Nativity scene.

Stunning stained glass.

Beautiful details along a wall.

Happy New Year~2011

This New Years Eve wasn't too eventful for Mike and I, but a still another great experience to spend it in Switzerland! 

We had to go to the grocery 2x yesterday to gather all of the items we needed for the weekend. We were really low on food since we have been gone for a week…and we had to plan out our upcoming meals knowing nothing would be open today (being a holiday) or Sunday (nothing is ever open on this day)!

After getting our shopping done, we did laundry and cleaning around the apartment. After all of that we were pretty tired, and still a little worn out from our travels. So we stayed in to watch a movie, played a game and waited for the countdown to 2011. We found a foreign channel on the TV that was preparing for the New Year, (it was similar to America's "Dick Clark's New Years Rockin Eve"). 

After midnight, there was a lot of commotion outside our windows. We opened them to view fireworks over the bridge, lots of people in the streets and could hear the nearby cathedral bells dinging with excitement! We popped open our bottle of champagne out the window and then sipped as we enjoyed the little festivities out our window in Fribourg.

**Hope everyone had a fabulous and safe New Years! :)