Day Six - Ghent, Belgium

We arose at 10:00 for breakfast at the hotel (boy, do I love how these kids like to sleep late like me!!!!). From there we made our way to the City Center of Ghent, the second largest city behind Paris from the years 1000 to 1550. The buildings, streets, bridges, and canals contain a treasure trove of medieval architecture.

We started by touring the Castle of the Counts, a medieval castle in the city center. Unlike back home in America, you can go wherever you like in this castle -- up the steep, steep, winding stones steps to the room where you can climb out onto the roof, down the slippery old stairs into the dungeon and then into the torture rooms, where instruments of torture are prominently displayed. The torturing devices were donated by the town's last official torturer to be put on display. Here you can view the guillotine, thumb press, body stretcher, and the wheel of pain.

From there we moved on the lighter things by indulging in Belgium frites and Belgium chocolate. From there, we are off to climb the Belfry to climb the tower for view of the city and to listen to the carillon. The folks working there were delightful and invited Roxie to come on up with us and also gave a shout-out to New Orleans and its rebuilding efforts.

From there we headed to S. Bavo's Cathedral, where we froze our arses off, but it was worth the freeze to see this incredible Gothic structure dating back to 1500. The remains of an earlier Romanesque church can be seen in the crypt. St. Bavo's art collection is impressive - a major work by Rubens and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck (1432). Next we dragged the kids (and Roxie) into St. Nicholas' Church, which was begun in the 13th century, a strikingly beautiful "Scheldt" Gothic structure.

After warming up in a pub with a pint, we head over to our restaurant destination and are in for a treat - gourmet pizza. The name is La Mystic and it is on Hoogpoort. I highly recommend it. After we attempted to find the plaque marking the building where the Treat of Ghent was negotiated and signed in 1814, ending the war of 1812. Several important figures participating in the negotiations were John Adams and Henry Clay, among others. The results of the Battle of New Orleans effected the treaty negotiations, and so, upon a suggestion by Randy, we (Rick and I) wanted to find the plaque. We were whole heartedly voted down, much to my dismay, so we headed back to the hotel. From there, I left on a run, determined to find that plaque. It took an hour and 15 minutes of jogging, but I found the plaque! It was placed there in 1964 by the Daughters of the War of 1812. The building now contains an Esprint clothing store. Hopefully I can successfully lobby for riding by there in the morning to get a picture.

Tomorrow, we go to Bruges, Belgium. We'll be back in Amsterdam tomorrow evening, so I should be able to upload pictures then.

Day Three, Four, and Five in Amsterdam (and Ghent)

I'm typing this from Ghent, Belgium, and I forgot my camera memory card reader in Amsterdam, so I won't have pictures for the blog until I get a replacement (hopefully tomorrow). Bummer!!!

Day Three (Wednesday), Amsterdam:

Day Three started with sleeping late (again). Leslie, David, Ann Marie, and I set out that afternoon via the tram for the Tropenmuseum, dedicated to the cultures of the tropics, especially the former colonies of the Netherlands. We especially enjoyed the Day of the Dead exhibit and thought of cousin Alexis while viewing the Couture exhibit.

After spending several hours in the museum, we fed ravenously hungry ducks in neighboring Oosterpark, thanks to the Amsterdamian who gave us spare bread to feed those ducks. We did a good bit of trekking through the snow, and I realized that those brown boots I love so much are worn out, as my socks gradually absorbed melted snow through the worn out soles. We viewed some art sculptures in the park before heading to the tram stop. While waiting for the tram to home, we ran into a former New Orleanian wearing a Saints jacket. He said that living in New Orleans this time of year is a "good idea" and that he returns yearly for carnival. That night Leslie cooked Indian food (delicious!) and we enjoyed watching the movie Bella.

Day 4 (Thursday), Amsterdam

We arose early today (9:30) due to the housekeeper, who saw me in a towel. Our day consisted of a highly successful shopping trip - new Geox shoes, a coat, and the makings of a super special New Year's Eve supper.

I left the house thinking that I would go see the Ann Frank House again, but Leslie convinced me that I should see the Van Gogh Museum again. I did the latter and boy what a treat is was, especially two temporary exhibits on Alfred Stephens and on Van Gogh's letters, and seeing those paintings we constantly see in book and on the Internet and TV - the Potato Eaters, the Yellow House, Bedroom at Arles, Sunflowers, and Wheat fields with Crows. It was superb, and they had to kick me out at closing time.

After, I decided to make my way to the C & G department store to exchange the underwear I bought, which was too tight. They were closed, so now those undies go to to Randy (does that count as my gift to bring back to him?). So I made my way over to the famed red light district to take a stroll. Nuts!! Why? A lot of these women are very hot! Why are the doing this? It was fun but I still felt bad looking at these girls. One thing I noticed is that they all drink red bull, send text messages on their cell phone, and smoke cigarettes, all while they are working.

I made it home via the 51 to help cook dinner - steak, salmon, baked potatoes, mushroom, salad, and apple pie. A movie after dinner and then.....wow!!!!! Starting at 11:30ish, non-stop fireworks for the next two hours. Everywhere you looked outside, in a 360 degree circle was fireworks, on right after the other. This was by far one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. The excitement for the coming new year was palpable and spread to me.

Late-night chit chatting about new years of current and past, and then we called it a night. I set my alarm for 7:00 to call Randy to be able to wish him Happy New Year at midnight in New Orleans, which I did and got....voicemail (!!!!) :-)

Day 5 (Friday), Amsterdam and Ghent, Belgium

A perfect New Year's day.....an entire family sleeping until noon. With everyone refreshed, we lounged around a few more hours and set out for Belgium at 3:00. I called Randy who told me that at the NYE party at our house in NoLa, Todd destroyed a 100 year-old glass window in the process of doing a keg stand.

Our drive to Belgium was scenic. After checking into our Brady-Bunchy era hotel (with a totally tricky renovation), we set out for the city-center, where we enjoyed the beautiful medieval architecture, canals, and squares of Ghent. David picked out our restaurant -- Chinese -- which turned out to be delightful indeed. We are all looking forward to going tomorrow to see the Castle of the Counts, St. Bavo's Cathedral, and the Belfry.

Hopefully, with a little luck, I will have pics to post tomorrow!

xxxxxxx,

B

Day Two in Amsterdam

Today started out with an 11:00 AM wake-up. After a lazy morning with the kids and Leslie, I set out for downtown Amsterdam via the 51 Metro to visit the Hermitage Museum. I got on the wrong train and got very lost upon exiting the Metro. In angst, I almost abandoned the plan for the museum visit to spend a few hours in a coffee shop rather than continue to wander around lost holding several maps. But, I had a Eureka moment and found the Amstel River and from there found the Hermitage only to find......a very long line to get inside the museum! I was shocked that people would be waiting in such a long line in the freezing weather at 2:30 PM to get into a museum that closes at 5:00! I made it inside with freezing feet being the only sign of being worse for the wear after standing in line outside for 45 minutes.

The Hermitage is a first rate museum contained in a 350 year old building. It is an extension of the Hermitage Museum Saint Petersburg and is filled with art and artifacts from the days of Russian royalty.After leaving the museum, I walked around and enjoyed the sites, particularly the bridges. Then I did a bit of retailing at de Bijenkorf then made my way back to Runmoolen 30 and taco dinner, trip planning, and card games. We enjoyed the rest of the wine that the Continental flight attendant sent home with us. We were treated to snow that began falling this evening and continues to fall.

Walking Roxie in Amstelveen

The Hermitage Museum and the long line to get in even at 3:00

Bridges of Amsterdam