Rockin the Kasbah

A morning of chocolate shopping in Bruges and we were off to Brussels. Brussels, like any large European city mixes history and modernism sometimes not very successfully. Still, there is so much to see and do.

November 24, 2006
Back and forth across the streets, we ricocheted in and out of chocolate shops. I'm carrying Stacy's purchases and it feels like about two pounds. We stopped at "The Tea Shop" for the daily hot chocolate break. But they are out of hot chocolate. That's a good thing, because the seasonal Christmas tea is fabulous. Yvonne and I had the black tea version. Stacy had green. Evan passed on the caffeinated drinks and complained of sleepiness.

The Museum of Musical Instruments was interesting. With your ticket purchase, you receive a pair of infrared headphones that activate with sample music when you stand in front of certain exhibits. It's a cool idea, but it was a bit flaky. The sound was staticy. Sometimes you got music in one ear, but static in the other. Sometimes you got the music for a neighboring exhibit. The result was museum-goers articulating their heads arhythmically to try to catch the tune. You would think the sound system at the music museum would have received more design input from audiophiles. The exhibits were great though. The collections of pianos, harpsichords, and violins were my favorites. In those collections, the museum did a good job of showing the heritage of the instrument.

November 24, 2006
Kasbah Restaurant was empty when we entered, but is filling quickly now. We're lucky we got here early (around 7). Brussels is a bit livelier on November Friday evenings than Brugge.
We asked the waiter to order for us. It looked like way too much food when it arrived, but it's gone now.
The highlight was a lamb shank cooked in a clay pot. We also had shrimp skewers, lamb skewers, beef, grilled chicken, grilled sausages, and vegetables cooked in broth and served over cous cous. The Moroccan food was a nice break from Belgian seafood - especially for Stacy who requires cultural culinary temporarily diversity more than most. And she's also sick of crackers.
We're all stuffed from dinner.

So Stacy ordered a pastry for dessert.

November 24, 2006
After dinner, we walked to "The Music Village." They have Jazz on Fridays and Saturdays. Tonight is the Judy Niemack Band. The drummer didn't show, so they substituted a pianist. To me, the pianist and the bass player are stealing the show. Judy uses a digital vocal sampler to create harmonies during some songs. She'll sing a few back-up phrases, play two or three at a time, mute them, then return the volume without a hitch. I thought that was an impressive testament to the group/s ability to keep time without a drummer.
Judy sneers like Elvis at times.
Other than one guest pianist, the band is from New York.

According to the calendar, Django Reinhardt's grandson, David, and David's cousin played here in October. I'll have to let Bill know they're on the scene.

Tomorrow, a pathetic proposal and a not so pathetic ring.

Thanksgiving is such a great time to travel to Europe. There are no crowds and you already have 1-2 days off that week. Plus, you usually get a crazy Thanksgiving meal. I love Thanksgiving food, so I work all my favorite dishes from Thanksgiving into Xmas dinner requests of my mom! Today's installment begins Jamey's move to comic book artist. I don't know why I am portrayed with fangs, but Jamey assures me that indicates something sweet.


November 23, 2006
We went on the guided tour at Huisbrouwery de Halve Maan. Today the beer is made in modern equipment - the type you see on display at any microbrewery/restaurant. But the tour took us through the old rooms that were used for mashing, cooling, and fermentation. The cooling room was a giant wall-to-wall copper basing with open air windows to allow the breeze to pass through. The roof afforded a great photo spot. At the end of the tour, we all had a glass of the Bruge Zot, the same blonde beer Evan had last night with dinner. We learned that herbs and spices play an important role in the secret recipes for beets at this brewery. The only actually brew here three days every fortnight, and they weren't brewing this day. The table by the fireplace at the end of the tour made up for this small disappointment.
November 23, 2006
Between shopping, we stopped at Tongerlo for snacks and beer or hot chocolate - or in Evan's case, beer and hot chocolate. I ordered toast canibal (toast with raw meat) chopped beef mixed with horseradish on a slice of toasted white bread. It disappeared in a flash. In Belgium, each beer is served in a glass from its brewery. Evan's Kwak was one of the strangest of these we've seen so far. It looks like a beaker from high school chemistry lab. It must be painful to clean. If I ever open a bar in Belgium, we probably won't serve Kwak. Even though it's a fine beer.

November 23, 2006
I can tell Verdi is my kind of place, because there is a wealthy man with a top hat on the sign. We stopped in for another hot chocolate break, because the girls felt cheated by the last cup. I'm not sure why the expected hot chocolate from a bar to live up to that of the frou frou tea houses. But Verdi did not disappoint. It was the now familiar hot-chocolate-erector-set. But instead of assorted sugar cubes (which would have been ignored) there were two block of chocolate on stirrers per cup. I had the warm wine. We're the youngest people in the restaurant by thirty years.

November 23, 2006
We played cards at Verdi until time for dinner. It was Evan and Yvonne's first time to play Gin Rummy.
We didn't realize what day it was until we were through the main course. But Thanksgiving dinner included:
Scallop carpaggio
Raw oysters
North Sea fish stew
Beer tartar
Filet of Turbot
Pheasant
Steak with béarnaise sauce
Curry ice cream with pineapple
Crème brulee
Chestnut pancakes with poached apples
Happy Thanksgiving, Brasserie Belge!

Tomorrow, its off to Brussels.

Hats, Sights and Sea Wolfs Oh My!

The sights we saw our first full day in Brugge convinced us its the most beautiful place in Europe. If you look closely, even Yvonne's hair was smiling. I must insert a quick Ruby update. She slept through the night last night. Wonder of wonders!



November 22, 2006
Today we all tried on hats like we were part of a 1980s' American teen movie montage. Evan's head is really big. It's only one US Evan head, but over here it's like 60 or 61 kilo-heads.

November 22, 2006
"It's a matter of taste"

Today we're at tea room-Carde Diem for our hot chocolate & snack break. The hot chocolate employs a method similar to that of yesterday's cup. But this time, the chocolate is a solid block on the end of a stirring stick instead of melted. Stacy preferred today's cup because the DIY step was easier. Yvonne said the solid chocolate robbed too much heat from the finished product, and she preferred yesterday's cup. Stacy preferred her crepe with raspberries and pralines while Yvonne preferred her chocolate slathered waffle. I hope the two ladies end this constant bickering soon.



I ♥ frambozen pannenkoeken
krokante pecannoton, slagroom en vanilla iss
choc-o-lait.be

November 22, 2006
Today we took a boat tour on the canals, so I got the see the men's restroom of the hospital of St John from the other side of the window. It was empty, but I wonder if anyone on yesterday's canal tour was as surprised as I to be looking at each other through the open window.

November 22, 2006
The Trappist beer Orval is one of my favorites tried so far. It’s brown and has a nice bitterness. Evan got a Brugse Zot. It's a nice wheat beer. Both have cool logos.

Jester beats fish in looks, but Orval beats Zot in taste.

Last night, we had the restaurant to ourselves for dinner. So we assumed we could get by without reservations at De Snippe. It was raining, and Stacy and a hard time rousing herself from a nap, so we had the hotel hail a taxi. That was fortunate, because De Snippe was closed for renovations. Our cab driver recommended an alternative, but it was also closed. We told him we wanted seafood, so he dropped us off near the square where the outdoor seafood market is held five days a week. Here there were several restaurants - both opened and closed. We read the menus posted outside and chose Vistro de Mosselkelde. The place was great. They offered five fixed-price menus and a huge variety of a la carte items.

One of the menus we perused that night (but did not choose)had an interesting dish. I don't know what sea wolf is, but any meat raped in bacon would probably be good.


Tomorrow, Jamey draws his first journal comic strip and the journal will never be the same again.

A First Day of Belgium Food

It's interesting to note that all the journal articles for Nov 21 were courtesy of Jamey and revolve around food, beer and toothpaste. I suppose if Yvonne had written the journal that day I would be using this first picture for her subject matter of choice. Disgustingly, this is what Yvonne looks like after an entire day of travel and no sleep. I'm not sure I want to travel with her ever again.


November 21, 2006 - Brugge
"$2.50 worth of pudding"

I didn't pay attention to the label on my tube of toothpaste. It's vanilla flavored.

November 21, 2006
Strijdershuis, Oude Burg, Brugge

The "Oud Brun" is the first dark wheat beer I've had. At least I think it’s wheat beer. It's very sweet and tastes almost like a wine. Evan's "Keyte" was preferable. The "Keyte" has a clear, honey blonde color and a malty finish.

November 21, 2006
Our guidebook's recommendation for "Best cup of hot chocolate" was De Proeverie. Hot chocolate was served as a mug of steamed milk, a saucer of melted, semi-sweet chocolate, a saucer of whipped cream, and a spoon to stir. There was also a saucer with a sample of four chocolates on the side. There were two sugar cubes, but we all ignored them. The drink was sweet and rich enough without.

November 21, 2006
Brugge is so picturesque. On our walk to dinner, we stopped to photograph a building with a Gothic tower and its reflection in the still waters of the canal below. A few minutes later, we discovered that beautiful building was in fact our destination - Kasteel Minnewater. The food matched our surroundings. The specialty was mussels in a cream source. The highlight was a dessert that combines crème brulee with chocolate soufflé.

Tomorrow, more food discoveries and we find out Evan's hat size.

Alright McFly, Let's Fix This

Back in 2006, Evan, Yvonne, Jamey, Ruby (at 8 weeks from conception) and I took a stellar trip to Belgium. We kept a fantastic journal and have some great pictures. Unfortunately, I was too pregnant (i.e. sleepy and nauseous) to update a website with our vacation. Well, now that I have some time, why not fix that? Hop in my DeLorean and let's go.

November 20, 2006 - Jamey
"I love ya, Tomorrow"

Jeff offered to drive us to the airport. He had a 2:00 class at UAB, so our 12:57 departure fit into his schedule nicely. We picked up Evan and Yvonne and headed to Thai Garden for an early lunch.
As we finished lunch, Yvonne retrieved the envelope containing all our travel docs. Jeff commented that Yvonne looked particularly studious as she scanned the travel docs, so she could separate the Taylors from Lo-Kochs. Stacy got impatient and snatched the papers from Yvonne's hands. Now it was Stacy’s turn to stare at the itinerary for an inordinately long time. "These all say, 'Departs Tuesday,' but Tuesday’s supposed to be when we arrive." Remain calm, but do so as quickly as possible. Pay the tab. Start the car. Compare the airline docs to the print-out of the original reservation. Good, we weren't retarded when we made the reservation. Who had the number? Look up the number. Call Gate One Travel.
What if we can't go to Belgium today? What if they have to upgrade us to first class? What if there are only two seats left? Then Stacy and Evan will have fun. Why do I have to sit next to the pregnant lady? Surely there's still room on the flight to Belgium, but what if the flight to Washington, DC is all booked? Who will fetch the saltines from the carry-on if there's a snack-attack? But we're not able to sit together? Why didn't we notice this earlier? Guilt, anger, acceptance, denial, picking-on-Stacy. We ran the whole gamut of emotions while we waited for the travel agency to call Yvonne back.

We were a couple miles south of the airport when Yvonne's phone rang. Our booking was corrected. Yvonne and the Gate One agent shared a long goodbye. The agent lectured that this was Yvonne's fault for not being at the airport two hours before the flight departure time. We're not able to figure out how that makes any sense whatsoever, but whatever, we're going to Belgium. Last minute flight change. Foreign passport. Name on the ticket doesn't match the name on the passport. Yvonne's ticket bore the acronym 'SSSS'. The ladies at the tail of the security queue highlighted the ssses and several other areas of Yvonne's ticket in scarlet. While Stacy and I strolled through the security check-point holding the wrong tickets (I hers and she mine), Yvonne was sent to stand in a queue for
Super
Scary
Special
Security
Ok. So we don't know what the sssses stand for. Stacy and I debated over whether or not one is allowed to photograph their friends who are receiving a full-body pat-down and scan. We debated until our photo-op had passed though, so you'll have to trust me that this story is true.


We are on our flight to DC. Life can't always be beer and chocolate, but for the upcoming week, we'll give it a try.

To be continued...

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

Ruby has successfully learned to scoot with something to push off of, make noises other than crying and pee on mommy's hands every time mommy changes the diaper in the middle of the night. Who knows what she will learn this month!

The Devil Wears Huggies

While I read the book quite awhile back, last night was the first oppurtunity I've had to see the movie The Devil Wears Prada. I remember being horrified by evil boss Miranda's needs when reading the book,so imagine my dismay when I realized that I was underwhelmed by her demands when watching the movie. Now I have a new perpective on demanding bosses. Let's take, for example, a typical workday with my new boss R. R. Taylor.

RR: Person! I will need my formula at 1:30, 4:30, 6:30 and 9:00 AM. Also 12, 3, 6, and 9 and possibly 11 PM. It must be tepid. Not hot and not cold! I will need to be burped each time as well. If not, I will scream until you walk me around the house for 1 hour. That is all.

RR: Person! Are you incompetent? I have wet myself and need to be changed immediately. That is all.

RR: Read to me! Hold the book higher, I cannot see the pictures unless they are 8 inches from my eyes.

RR: You are a great disappoitnment to me. I requested formula at 3 PM and it is now 3:05. Perhaps you never learned to tell time?

Andy got fabulous clothes and trips to Paris. My perks are not apparent yet, but hopefully will surface once I prove myself. I hear my boss might even smile at me one day and know my name. Imagine!