la vie à Bruxelles

Brugge

2009-12-24T06:08:00.001-08:00

We went to Brugge for our anniversary/last hooray of Belgium....It was our most favorite trip we took. The snow made the city so beautiful and christmasy. We enjoyed a very lovely dinner the night before. Max took me to the cutest restaurant! It was a real candlelight dinner, so romantic and so fun. Our amazingly delicious dinner took about 3 hours (the belgians love to just sit and eat so there is never a rush to get food out). We also discovered that this resturant has the best vanilla ice cream in the world..it was to die for!! So good!

here are some pictures from our stay...it was freezing...like -4 degrees celsius...

{the white building is the cute little room we stayed in}

goodbye letters

2009-12-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

dear metro: i will miss your overpowering stench, your germ infested poles, and the occasional drug deal

dear central station: i will miss walking to catch early morning trains and smelling that pleasant aroma of drunken urine

dear grand place: i will miss your grandeur, the feeling of awes you create and having you as a backup whenever there is nothing to do

dear waffles: oh how i will miss your flavor and warmth. my body will miss the gaining ten more pounds directly from you

dear belgian commericals: i will miss seeing the oh so popular U.S. celebrities star in oh so not popular commercials

dear carrefour: i will miss wandering your aisles. searching for items and only choose those things that have cooking instructions in picture format. i will miss our weekly encounters.

dear 5 euro stores: i will miss your clothes and inexpensive prices. i will miss finding a good deal with you.

dear saint-josse market: i will miss spending my thursday mornings with you. looking at the new bags, smelling the fresh bread, and looking for some good deals. i know i am your walking advertisement, but you will have to find someone else

dear brussels 2nd ward: i will miss your mix of people, attempting to communicate with each other in different languages and somehow getting the point across. i will miss your testimonies and your warm welcomings.

dear chocolate: thank you for adding ten more pounds on to me...but i sure will miss the many options i had

dear babies of belgian: i will miss your adorbable bundled up faces that always brighten my day

dear city 2: i am not even going to think about all i will miss about you...if i could i would buy everything you have to offer

dear parks: i will miss wandering around, admiring your beauty and attempting to study

dear europe: i will miss your closeness and how i could visit 3 different countries a day if i wanted

dear martin: i will miss your fries and your friendly face that was always working. i am sure your sweaters all smell of frites.

dear belgium: i will miss your weirdness amongst your normalness

dear weather: i will NOT miss your cloudy skies, with rain everyday, and hardly seeing the sun

dear apartment: you cost a ridiculous amount but you kept us safe and warm. i will miss your odd statues and paintings. and i even will miss that screaming child i hear all day long

dear french: i will miss never ever understanding what anyone ever said...and just pretending like i did.

dear brown shoes: i am sorry i ruined you and have to you leave you behind in belgium

dear dutch: you are such a weird language, but i think max does a pretty good job of attempting it

dear man who wanders the streets daily: i will miss seeing your familar face along the chausse, saying bonjour and pretending like you are a good friend.

snow

2009-12-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

today brussels was transformed into a winter wonderland

it snowed about 6 inches and it was so beautiful

everything was sparkling and i could feel christmas

i could also feel home and realized how much i love snow

i will post pictures when i get home to utah

but tonight is our last night in this apartment which may mean posts might not happen for awhile

we come home in 5 days

i can't believe how fast the time has gone

but it has been one of the best experiences of our lives

we are headed to brugge for our anniversary

then tuesday we fly out...pray for good weather and that everything goes well

christmas in brussels

2009-12-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

it really doesn't feel like christmas here. i need snow. but needless to say i am loving it here. the christmas markets are so fun. last night we went out and watched the lights dance to techno christmas music at the grand place. i realized i love this city. i love everything about it. and i am going to miss it so much. i thought i had seen all it had to offer, but i was very wrong..only a week and a half left...and my to do list is enormous....guess we better get started.{on dec. 5 st. nicholas visits the homes of the children in belgium. they leave their shoes out by the front door. if they have been good they get candy and toys. if they have been bad they get twigs. looks like max has been a good boy}

{a real nativity..well the people weren't real...but they had real sheep}

{the best picture i could get of the christmas market}{yes i love this place. an outdoor skating rink in front of a ferris wheel.} {but a belgian christmas market wouldn't be complete without something totally odd...behold the ICE MONSTER...Enter if you dare..i have no idea..sometimes belgium is weird}{beautiful christmas tree in grand place}

{i love this stuff..reminds of me christmas...and my wedding because it was part of the decoration. i was excited to see it at the house i baby-sat at today.}

we went to ghent...it's in belgium

2009-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

we also visited ghent while lindsey was here. when we told my dad we were going to ghent he told us he knew a poem about ghent, he couldn't really remember the exact words so instead he wrote us this poem

There were two sisters who went
To the lovely city of Ghent
They ate many waffles that didn’t taste awful
And all of their money was spent.
They were escorted by Maximus
They traveled by taximus
All around Belgium they went.

{we really went by train but he needed to include max in the poem}

some more ukraine

2009-12-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

here is the second half of our kiev trip....

{if you look closely at this picture..you might have to make it larger....but if you look you see a beautiful yellow house...it looks like a mansion...but if you look next to it you see a house that is just falling apart. it was amazing to see the extreme poverty, right next to a beautiful mansion}

{{this wall is part of the lavre. it's on the grounds of the russian orthodox church. we had a very different experience here. in the lavre they have what they call "caves". in order to go into these caves i had to cover my head with a scarf, rent a skirt type thing to cover my jeans and purchased a candle. then we climbed down these stairs to these hallways that would've been completely dark, if we didn't have candles. in this area the bodies of some of their saints were kept. it was really interesting the shrines they had to them. they were in glass coffins and the bodies were wrapped up in beautiful clothe. the people there would kiss the coffin as they passed, then crossed themselves. they also crossed themselves everytime the exited a room. it had a very eerie feeling to it. in some of the coffins the hand of the saint was placed outside of the wraps, so we were able to see their actual mummified hand. its a very interesting religion, it felt really dark and cold to me. but i enjoyed seeing this new culture.}

{beautiful colored houses. love that they use all sorts of colors here}

{This was on a street full of awesome touristy gifts...i for some reason get caught in their traps...but anyways this lady was just cookin her lunch here in the street. amazing to see how different someones life is from mine}

{the chernobyl museum was so sad.. the destruction caused when the nuclear reactor exploded was incredible. so many cities were evacuated and most haven't been legally inhabited since. so many health problems occured from the radiation in the air. and so much of the problems occured because the russian president tried to cover up the seriousness of the incident. he hid if for three days, until a nuclear plant in another country reported extremely high levels of radiation, they thought if was from their plant, but discovered what had happened at chernobyl. the people were told to leave their homes, but that they could come back from their things. however they never returned and they lost all they had. some people live illegaly in the area around chernobyl because they are so poor they can't live anywhere else. it's so sad because there is still so much radiation there}
{these two pictures were taken from the oldest orthodox church in ukraine}

{unfortunately this picture also has a sad story. in the the 1930's stalin decided he wanted to destroy the ukrainian culture (which meant people) so the USSR could be completely russian. to do this he caused a famine to occur in ukraine...i can't even imagine how someone could feel justified doing something this awful. but 6 to 7 MILLION people died because of this. we were there on a national day of remembrance for those who were victims to this genocide. the square we went to was filled with candles people had brought to light in memory of those who had died}

{this is the spot where president packer dedicate ukraine for the spreading of the gospel. it was located next to the statue of the man who brought christianity into ukraine. but it was cool to think about that moment, when after years of being controlled by the USSR, ukraine could now be open to the gospel and it's amazing to see how this gospel truly is spreading throughout the world}{this is the white house of ukraine...it's massive...bigger than the real white house...oh and don't worry you can just walk right up to it, no problem...no security, nothing...try doing that at the white house...you would get shot if you got as close to the white house as we got to this presidents house} {the longest escaltor i've ever been on..took like 5 minutes...kiev has the deepest metro system in the world...i think they said it was like 500 feet below ground}

{cute baby nikita}

and that concludes our ukraine vacation...wonderfully awesome experience...

thanksgiving in kiev

2009-12-06T14:35:00.001-08:00

we went to kiev for the thanksgiving weekend. the number one question we were asked before we left....why kiev? the answer is a) doesn't it sound like some forbidden place to visit, wouldn't you want to go b) max speaks russian c) the real reason...max had a missionary companion (well they weren't ever companions it's just easier to say companion) and his name is max also and they were really good friends...and he lives in kiev...and they invited us to come stay with them...so we did..
and that is why we went to kiev...

and i am so glad that we did. it really made me grateful for america and the freedoms we enjoy. ukraine has such a sad history because their government didn't care about them. when it was part of the USSR, their lives and their culture meant nothing to the Russians. they suffered so much and you can still see the effects today.

{independence square..i think...about 95% of the time they were speaking in russian...i have become really good at translating what people are saying into what i think they are saying....and i think they said something about independence and i also think i heard them saying how awesome i was too}

{max and mark...the busiest two year old i have ever met}

{this is where we had our thanksgiving feast...puzata hata..i think..again every name they said was completlyforeign to me...but my good friend katherine recommended it to us and it was a fabulous recommendation...ukraine food is different but oh so good...we ate here twice and i think my most favorite thing i had was pelmeni..its like ravoli but better...}

{mark again...eating a waffle we brought. this kid taught me more russian in three days than what i learned of french in three months...i know how to say thank you, ocean, cartoon, yes, and the one i learned the best...NO...it's his favorite word..}

{the goryachevs in front of the beautiful kiev temple. so exciting for them. as you are driving up on the freeway to get to the temple...it looks as if the temple is sitting on the freeway...it is this huge beautiful building...among so many old apartment complexs...it is going to be the most beautiful thing is kiev}

{baby nikita....he is almost 2 months old...and so dang cute...it was so fun being able to help out and hold him as much as possible. i love the cream thing he is wearing in this picture. all of the babies in europe have them and they make the babies look ten times fatter than they are...and they can't move anything when they are in this warm jumper suits..its darling}

{beautiful colorful church}

{one of my most favorite things....we went to the taping of the Ukrainian So You Think You Can Dance. It was AWESOME....the stage is just like america's and we were right on the floor...it was kinda hard to see but so fun to be so close. the dancing was amazing and i loved being a part of it...the show is my most favorite back home and i felt like i was watching the american version...even though i had no idea what anyone was saying...it was just great...i was so close to the dancers...{sara i was so close to the dancers i could've touched them...imagine what it would've been like going to a taping in l.a. when benji was on the show}

{this giant lady was built in ww2 i think..i am sure i am getting all of these facts messed up..but i don't really know why she was built..probably because this culture loves to build statues...they are everywhere}

to be continued.....

dusseldorf germany

2009-12-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

while lindsey was here we went to dusseldorf germany. you may be wondering why we chose such a strange sounding place to visit. we the reason is this, a few years ago my grandpa was the mission president in the dusseldorf mission. So dusseldorf became part of our family. our family has a love for the city, even those most of has had never been there. So linds and i were determined we would see it.

honestly...not much to see in dusseldorf...lots of shopping....but it was so fun to be there, in this city that had been so unknown to me and yet so familiar at the same time.

it was the first day of the christmas market so we wandered through market after market (some more than once) admiring the uniquly european atmosphere....it was a great start to our holiday season.
{we went to pizza hut for dinner. authentic huh? the did have corn on their pizza though...that's different}

more pictures with lindsey

2009-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

just some more pictures from her stay here....

{we went shopping....a lot....this is only from the first trip...you should've seen the bags from the last trip..}

{we danced with some cows after we went to the chocolate factory...probably our most favorite part of the trip}{usually how we ended our nights...ps notice our blanket...love it...but am trying to figure out how to get it home :(}{when in belgium normal face masks won't do, you must use chocolate face masks...warning they are not edible..lindsey tried}

Funny Story from Lindsey's week here:
Riding on the metro somewhere we took a seat and noticed the boys sitting across from us eyeing Lindsey...before we knew it we heard a "Hello" Lindsey looked over and responded "Hello" and he said "how are you?" "good" Lindsey replied. "Can I have your number?" he asked....{keep in mind he had darker skin and we had just been talking about the overplayed snl can i have your number skit} Lindsey replied with a "What?" (his english was hard to understand) he repeated and she immediately said "no" in a friendly way. this led to more questions.
him: do you live here?
linds: yes
him: do you have a boyfriend?
linds: yes
and the conversation was dropped...
we were forced to keep our laughs in for 3 more metro stops...but finally exploded the second we could.

part 2
linds and i couldn't wait to tell max. we met him at the gb (supermarket) after work and we were standing in line waiting to check out and began telling him our story. we got through the line and stopped to rearrange the groceries in the bag, still talking about the metro encounter...when we looked up and saw the "can i have your number" mans friends that were on the metro with us all. eye-contact was made and the laughs were not held in this time..
we couldn't believe our luck...from the millions of people in the city we ran into the only ones we had had an awkard encounter with.

sisters in paris

2009-12-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

lindsey and i went to paris. and of course we had so much fun. it was fun for me and my little sister to be there.....all grown-up....

{the bus ride to paris is 4 hours..you can imagine the need to use the bathroom after such a ride..however the bathrooms in paris cost 20 cents. and you have to have exact change. so we had to buy these yummy pastry things in the train station...later we realized we just could've gotten the exact change needed by buying our metro passes}

{the crepes are the best}

{my most favorite picture of paris}

netherlands with lindsey

2009-11-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

as posted earlier, we were able to go to the temple in the netherlands. there is a bridge behind the temple that leads to the cutest street full of bakeries, shops and bike riding. we even saw an authentic windmill.
when we got home from the temple we headed to the grand place to show lindsey what it looks like at night. we even brought our ipods along to create some "theme" music for the event

day number 3 {friday}

2009-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

today was major shopping day. we spent the morning searching the mall for awesome deals. and enjoying yummy ice creams cones during max's lunch break. the rest of the day was spent exploring the city.

{had to make a grand place stop}

{our cute christmas craft that cost 1.50}

{being a little weird in front of the atomium}

{spinach pizza for dinner, interesting..}

day 2 with lindsey

2009-11-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

day 2 jet lag set in a little but we managed to have one of the best days ever. thursdays are my most favorite day of the week here because of the market by my house. lindsey ended up with some killer deals....{purse on shoulder: 5 euros. bag in hang containing new coat: 10 euros. dessert that ended up being really good: 2 euros. only the beginning of what was to become much more shopping}

{best frit shop in brussels. conveniently located on the street where we live. martin is the man who makes the frites, everyday during lunch and at night...and he always has a smile on his face}
{the intersection close to our house}

{i took lindsey grocery shopping at lunch because it's one of my most favorite things to do here. this is me in the chocolate aisle....so much to choose from...and i am just struggling having to try it all to find the very best :)}

{the only bad thing about grocery shopping is the carrying of the heavy shopping bags back to the apartment...its about a 20 minute journey}

{signature pose}{us at the park by my house}

{lindsey took a picture of every meal we had. i don't know why cause they really are nothing great. but this is our favorite. curry chicken. french bread. and rice with some sort of yummy chinese sauce we miraculously found}

{she is such a good hairstylist we just had to fly her all the way out to brussels to give max a MUCH needed haircut}

the week and 1/2 of lindsey

2009-11-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

lindsey left this morning...it was a very lonely ride home from the airport...i quite enjoyed having some to accompany me everywhere i went...but now it's back to the books for some serious studying..

she arrived about a week and a half ago. max and i had to race from the charleroi airport (about an hour south of the brussels international airport) to pick lindsey up....we were traveling home from barcelona and we were worried she would get lost...or need something...she had to wait two hours for us...but everything was a success...i almost cried when i saw her. it felt incredibly good to be able to see my best friend/family/someone who had just come from home....

this is what we did on DAY 1:

{airport pickup}

{parc de bruxelles}

{so happy to be together. and i know my head thing and scarf don't match..but i was pretty tired}

{she was pretty awstruck by our favorite place: grand place}

{the first waffle, always the best}

{making our favorite treat. crepes with speculoos...}

possibly having too much fun

2009-11-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

this occured after the chocolate factory....apparently we had a little too much sugar

christmas is here

2009-11-17T11:07:00.001-08:00

the stores are glimmering with the sights, sounds and smells of christmas
i guess there is nothing holding me back from celebrating this new christmas season

i love to see the temple

2009-11-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

we went to the hague netherlands temple today. it was absolutely wonderful. one of my most favorite things we have done and lindsey got to come with us. it really made me appreciate having at least 5 temples within a 1/2 hour range. we were able to see a couple sealed who had been married for 39 years and were baptized a year ago. it was a very neat experience to see the joy on their faces as they were sealed for not just time but eternity....what a great blessings temples are.

barcelona trip

2009-11-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why I can't write above the picture for a little introduction..but i am too tired to figure it out. these are just some of the pictures from barcelona. it was fabulous. we went with two other couples we met here in brussels. also because i am tired i am not even going to attempt to put the pictures in pleasing order.

cool castle on top of a beautiful hill. the jews used this to defend themselves against the christians

beautiful barcelona sunset

the bike gang again

beautiful church again on top of a hill...with a HUGE Jesus statue on top.

our "borrowed" garbage sacks. we used these in the hostel showers so we wouldn't have to step on the shower floors.

some gaudi

me sitting on some gaudi

loved seeing palm trees

more gaudi

view of barcelona with sagrada familia

sagrada familia

our bird friends

barcelona preview

2009-11-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

we just got back from barcelona! had so much fun enjoying the mostly warm weather, beach and biking! i will post more pics later, but LINDSEY is HERE in BRUSSELS with me....and that means we have lots to do {really everyone is sleeping right now...so i am just sneakin this post in real quick}

{just some gaudi}

{awesome ferris wheel on top of a mountain}

{the bike gang}

{beautiful barcelona..ps bryson and jacob...somewhere in this picture is the soccer stadium}

{and this was the picture max took....enough said}

discovering the country

2009-11-03T00:35:00.000-08:00

on our quest to find the chocolate factory we got a little lost. we had to ride a metro all the way to the outskirts of the city and when we got off we discovered we weren't really in the city anymore, in fact we weren't even in brussels....as we looked for this factory we took the wrong road which ended up being this:

it was so nice to be able to walk and see newly plowed fields and be able to look for miles around you...it felt a little like home, which helped to cure the homesickness

the day i discovered belgian chocolate

2009-11-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

you know the german kid from willy wonka, that is constantly stuffing his face...and when he gets to the chocolate factory he totally pigs out...drinking the chocolate lake...getting sucked up into the pipes..etc...well today i kinda felt like him...

we went to the neuhaus chocolate factory to find some chocolates for caprice and jason...being the good brother and sister-in-law we are we had to find them the very best chocolates...so we took full advantage of the samples they had for ALL of the chocolates they were selling....the thing was each chocolate just kept getting better and better...

as we kept moving from sample to sample pictures of that little german boy came into my head...i was turning into him...i couldn't keep my hands off the chocolate...but i now understood why he was the way he was....he was eating european chocolate....and how can you say no to something so delicious...sorry hershey's but you will never compare.

disclaimer: i really wasn't that bad...i do have some self-control...and there weren't that many samples...i maybe only had like 10 different kinds..maybe a little more....but don't think of me less...you will understand next time you eat belgian chocolate.

halloween in antwerpen

2009-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

today we ventured out to antwerp

{the train station}

{most of you may have heard the name antwerp from "the shane company" advertisements on the radio...it's the place he goes to get diamonds}

{cool shopping street. notice the pizza hut}

{the best market in brussels. it had everything. we bought dried apricots. discovered a new fruit called kaki which is a mixed of mangos and peaches. tried yummy crossiants.}

{have to have a map picture from every city we travel to}

{we were very excited to see this}

{can you tell which one is real? this seems to be the big thing here in europe. everywhere we go we see people dressed up like statues or other things that don't move and they just stand there. kinda weird}

{me in front of "the stone" a small castle here in antwerp that used to be used for torturing, we thought it would be the perfect thing to see but unfortunately it was closed...until 2011}

{probably the coolest piece of art we have seen}

{the garden at rueben's house. we were able to tour it. while he was alive he was one of the most famous artists in europe}

{okay and this is our halloween picture for the day. it's a bad picture because we took it while we were on the train, but click on the picture and what you are looking at is a cemetary. it was so crazy to see how all of their gravestones are right next to each other, no grass. kinda crazy..}

ps: in one week we are going to BARCELONA!

today me, my book and my camera went to the park

2009-10-27T07:32:00.001-07:00

my most favorite park in brussels got a visit from me, my camera and my adolescence psych book today. the sky was blue today and the wind wasn't bitter cold, so i took advantage of it.

and this is what we saw...

{my book wanted to make an apperance

{a lady bug decided to join us}

{my most favorite picture of the day. no editing, just natural}

{you can laugh at this picture. cause i do}

a fall day in brussels

2009-10-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

today was the most perfect fall day. we were going to go to antwerp but the rain kept us home so we decided just to explore brussels some more. the weather was perfect fall weather and the leaves are all falling. i loved it.

we also tried some new food today. gyros and durums are really popular here. The gyros have this shaved off meat in them and the durums have your choice of meat, lettuce, tomato and french fries. they are actually pretty good.

{the gyro}

we also designated saturday as waffle days so of course we had to get a waffle. the liege waffles are the absolute best.

{the liege waffles are the circle waffles...and they are to die for. totally unlike the waffles in america. they are made from dough, it's not batter like our waffles..and they are heavenly}

it's offical

2009-10-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

max is truly an intern

he was asked to make his first cup of coffee at work today

can't be an intern without that request

too bad he had never made a cup in his life

but other than the coffee just an update on the internship. he is really enjoying it. he has been working with all sorts of industries and is really enjoying the different things he is learning about them. They have a big conference on Thursday that he is getting ready for and in a couple of weeks he gets to go to luxembourg (a very small country right below belgium) and do some work there. I am super proud of him for all of the hard work he is doing!

I would post a picture of him in front of his office...but I am scared if I take the picture then the guard will chase me down or something and destroy the pictures i took..

How to see Paris in a Day

2009-10-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Max had Colombus day off {who even gets that day off in America} and so he decided he would take me to Paris in honor of my birthday!

Here is how to see Paris in a Day {actually 8 hours}:

Board a Bus at 6 a.m. and drive for 4 hours to Paris through France's beautiful countryside {not really as bad as you think, minus the loud snoring man..that snored that whole drive}

Arrive at 10 a.m., get on the metro, have no idea where you are going, somehow get into the city right in front of the Opera de Paris Garnier, the Opera house used in Phantom of the Opera

Walk down the Champs de Elysees and admire all of the pretty buildings, restaurants, parks, leaves falling, and crepe stands

Arrive at the Arc de Trimophe

After admiring it's beauty make your way to the Eiffel Tower. Once you get there take as many pictures as possible, and enjoy walking around the tower and in the parks {just ignore the extremely many guys trying to sell you minature eiffel tower statues...they can be pretty persistant}

Stop and have lunch in front of the Eiffel Tower...{something i have dreamed about doing}

After eating walk slowly away from the Tower as you continue to admire it

Continue your walk through the beautiful city of Paris {really it's the most beautiful city}

See the Les Invalides a group of beautiful buildings where the real Napolean is burried

Make your way to Place de la Concorde. Here there is an Obelisk that was erected in the 19th century and is a 3200 years old obelisk from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes. Also this square was also the location of the guillotine during the French Revolution. 1119 people were beheaded here. King Louis XVI, Marie-Antionette, and Robespierre all were placed under the guillotine. Kinda gruesome I know.

After viewing that lovely place make your way to the Tuileries. A beautiful park with fountains and statues and my favorite falling leaves.

The Tuileries lead you right up to the Louvre.

This museum must be the one museum you visit in Paris. It is huge but holds some of the most famous and beautiful works of art

{yea i saw the mona lisa..}

{max in front of the painting he knows best. oath of the horati}

After spending about 2 hours there begin your walk to Notre Dame. On the way you will cross the beautiful Seine river via the Pont Neuf bridge, Paris' oldest and most beautiful bridge.

Look at the darling bookstands.

After admiring all that you will arrive at Notre Dame...walk inside then make sure you walk around the whole building. The back is my most favorite part of the building.

After Notre Dame you should have about an hour left. There are lots of Paris souvenir shops so buy a magnet or keychain something to remember Paris by. Then make sure you eat a crepe. This must be done while in Paris. Why? because they happen to be quite amazing. If you have sweet tooth i would recommended a cinnamon sugar crepe. If you want dinner get a ham and cheese one {the are the best tasting things in the world}

{an awkward picture of me eating a crepe}

Next find a metro stop...get on the metro...ride to the bus stop...hop on and totally crash...your legs are pretty sore after a whole day of fast walking...

And that is how you see Paris in a Day! It was the greatest day ever!

belgium vs. turkey

2009-10-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday night Max and I went to a soccer game in Brussels. It was Belgium vs. Turkey and it was so awesome.
We rode the metro up to the stadium and at the stop before ours there were police officers lining the tracks..it was because that was where the Turkey fans had to get off. Then at our stop it was the same thing. It was crazy. There were Police men everywhere...and i think you will understand why after watching some of the videos!
It was so much fun though, we had no idea what was being said or what was being cheered..but we cheered along with everyone else...
Also there were only two places to buy food..you could get like a waffle, hot dog, or hamburger at one..or coke and beer at the other stand. So not like America at all!

the stadium

singing of the national songs..we could barely hear turkeys cause the belgian fans were so loud
and this is why they need police. this is the turkey section...they got a little upset at one of the calls...and this is what happened. what the movie below its awesome. they were throwin flares as far as they could.
we totally won..it was so awesome..and the goals made were so cool.

really watch this movie...nothing like this would ever happen in utah

we totally loved it...so wished my brothers could've been there!

a saturdays exploration

2009-10-11T08:20:00.001-07:00

saturday morning we headed out to the market at stockel. it was a rainy fall day. the leaves were falling and changing colors. the flowers were so beautiful and they even had pumpkins there! they also have the very best waffles there...and I can't stop thinking about going again next week to get some more.

we were very excited when we saw this FroYo sign because it reminded us of back home. FroYo is our most favorite frozen yogurt shop.

the old bourse (stock exchange) in brussels
cutest chocolate shop
loved this park. in back of me you can barely see a church. it's the 5th largest in europe

the interns

2009-10-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

friday night we had a fun dinner we all of the interns. after we walked to the grand place to see it at night. the other interns are so much fun and hopefully we are all planning to go on a few trips together while we are here.
welcome to walking the streets of brussels...it's usually accompanied by rain

and this is us on the metro

and this is why i love this city

2009-10-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

discovered handbag heaven today

i got an email from max stating that i urgently needed to bundle up and head out to the town square ( a few blocks away from our house) because there was a market...with lots of bags

so i quickly threw on some warm clothes and headed out.....to literally handbag heaven...i about died...especially when i found out they were all under 20 euros!!!! it only took about 45 minutes to decided which one i wanted...but i got one...the bad part is it's for my birthday so i have to wait.

also at the market they had lots of clothes. hair accessories, jewelry, food and just everything. i spent about 2 hours there and just loved it...i love seeing the things that makes brussels so different...i love seeing the different people...i love looking at the different pasteries...i love seeing the different candies and cookies they have...i love exploring the shops here and just looking at the different things they have. i LOVE this city.

we haven't really gone out exploring lately because it's been raining (last night the streets literally had turned to lakes...we had to go to the church for a missionary discussion and came with wet clothes and very ruined shoes...) anyways today was finally sunny so we decided to take a walk before institute and discovered this beautiful view of the city......

{click on the pictures so you can see more details...it is so beautiful...i love looking out and seeing the red roofs...the cathedral spires...it's beautiful..}

the internship

2009-10-06T11:09:00.001-07:00

husband officially started his internship today! he looked so dashing in his work clothes...but he wouldn't let me take his picture!

he is already really enjoying it. the people he works with are really nice and good to work with. he works for the U.S. government and on embassy grounds. they have a store downstairs with american food, which is awesome for when we get homesick.

he has already become the excel how-to guy. his co-worker will yell his name across the office for help printing excel documents.

yesterday in front of his work there was a huge protest demonstration of dairy farmers protesting milk prices. they had traffic backed up so bad, and Belgian drivers are the most impatient people ever, so you can imagine the chaos. the demonstration was filled with tractors and even a lone cow, that happened to get loose. they also were pouring gallons of milk all over the streets. max filled our milk jugs...saved us 3 euros....

click here for a link to the story

also yesterday we bought tickets for a world cup qualifying game this saturday..belgium vs. turkey...we are so excited!

the eu

2009-10-06T06:09:00.001-07:00

max and i explored the european union the other day. the european union is like the united states of europe and the capital of the european union is in brussels.

this arch was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of belgian independence. this and the park around it were commissioned by King Leopold II.

the belgian flag

picture from my favorite park
this is the european parliament building. its comparable to the capitol building in washington d.c.a random cottage in the middle of a park

the food of belgium

2009-10-05T05:49:00.001-07:00

here literally all the eat: waffles and fries...

i thought they were just kidding when we were reading about belgium and they would talk about how popular the fries and waffles...but they so weren't

fries come with everything. every meal you order has fries. even a salad. we finally tried some the other day and they were pretty good. the thing that makes them good however are the many many sauces they have for fries. mayo and curry ketchup are really popular here.

waffles are the other big thing here. which they should be given that belgian waffles is such a familiar term...i had heard they were good...but now i know...they are FABULOUS...i am always craving them. crispy on the outside...but soft and warm in the middle...topped with powered sugar and strawberry syrup...oh my gosh...they are to die for. they also sell pre packaged waffles in the supermarkets that are actually quite good and quite inexpensive.

our flat

2009-10-03T23:32:00.001-07:00

the outside of the flat. there are four other flats in the building. oh and thats only half of the building. thats our window
our living room
our kitchen with the fabulous huge window. my favorite part.
our kitchen that thankfully has a stove.
and our bedrooma view of our street. my sticking my hand out the window with the camera...hence the crookedness.

we really like it here a lot. there are lots of fun shops and restaurants around us. it's about 15 minutes to max's work. and we have the nicest landlady. we were really blessed to get this flat.

bruges...the northern venice

2009-09-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

husband and i took a day trip to the city of bruges. it's in the northern part of belgium, close to the north sea. the thing that is awesome about europe: the train system, you can get anywhere without a car.

we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing all of the cool things in this city. three words to describe the feel of bruges: 1800's, lace and old tourists. the city has a very old european feel to it due to the cobblestone streets, old cathedrals, markets. it's also the biggest exporter of lace, 83 shops just in the city, and there were gobbs of groups of older tourists...but it really wasn't bad, i just think me and max were the youngest tourists there:)

church of our lady. they were doing work on it hence the white wrap around it

a real Michelangelo. the only piece that ever left italy while he was alive

the belfry. we climbed the 366 stairs to the top.
totally worth it because this is the view we had from the belfry

i am so in love with the flower markets

my awesome tour guide

these posts are going to be long

2009-09-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

i am afraid that these brussels blog posts are going to be long ones. this is pretty much the only place i am documenting what we do each day so be prepared....

sunday
yesterday we got up bright and early and walked to church {45 minutes}. we wanted to explore the city, but i think i would recommend not walking that long in church shoes. anyways got to church and it was fabulous. everyone was so nice and helpful. one lady said everything i hoped the people would say to me like "i will have you come over and show you where to shop" and " i am glad your here i need babysitters". all of my worries were washed away :) the services were so fun. in relief society the sister conducting would switch from english to french...i loved it. they do have english classes so thats good. in my relief society class there were 8 sisters. it was so different than utah...and i loved it. sacrament was so fun, there is a huge mix of people in the ward, africans, russians, belgians, americans, asians. i love it, again so so different from utah. and the meeting kept switching from french to english...plus we got out 20 minutes early! i love the ward and am so excited to be a part of it for the next 3 months.

monday {today}
we still are having sleeping issues...so we got off to a late start. but we decided to just walk around and explore....on our exploration walk we found this:

it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. it was so beautiful and just HUGE! i couldn't imagine how anyone could've built that, let alone built it in the 1400's. it is so amazing to me. it is saint michaels cathedral {i believe...everything is in french and dutch}..

after the cathedral our walk led us to my most favorite part of town, Grand Place....

{remember this picture from the blog i posted announcing we were going to brussels..well i actually took this one}

we went and saw the very famous Manneken Pis.....{max had to for school}...well lets just say it wasn't that great but gave us an idea of the belgian culture

{the statue really is doing what you think its doing}

next we continued our walk...wandering through many different streets and always being astonished at what was around the corner

we explored a fun shopping area near our church...ate at a mcdonald's {sounds lame i know...but max wanted to show me how different they are from american mcdonals}

then we stumbled upon this
i call it my castle, it's right across from church, it really isn't a castle...it's the remenant of the wall that surrounded brussels a long time ago. after it was part of the wall it was a prison...and now it is a museum...

tonight we went to fhe at the church. we love it there. it feels like home. the members are so kind, we have a family home away from home.

today's firsts and learned new things:
i had my first bowl of cereal with lait {milk} and it is going to take SOO long to get used to their milk
i made my first purchase...it only cost a euro...but i was so proud of myself for doing it.
max made a purchase without using any english..he was pretty proud {he did only have to say bonjour and merci...but still...he is improving}
we rode the metro and discovered {awkwardly} that the escalators are activated when you step on them
and i discovered that my straightener is useless here...so needless to say for the next 3 months my hair will be in a ponytail...sad i know...

and as a side note Max is watching lost. we were flipping through channels and found lost...and it's in english, one of the only channels..life couldn't get better.

day one in bruxelles

2009-09-26T13:20:00.001-07:00

after sleeping in until 11, due to jet lag and colds, we ventured out into the city of Brussels and fell in love fast!

on our walk to the Grand Place we saw beautiful flats, eu buildings, the U.S. embassy {where Max will be working}, the park of Brussels and lots of other european things
{place royale, which we think is like the headquarters of belgian government}

{embassy row as we have nicknamed it. in about the middle of the picture is the us embassy}

then we arrived at the grand place and it was fabulous...there was a market outside selling all sorts of jewelry and clothing and knicknacks. the streets are cobblestoned and no cars are allowed. the stores are so fun, the chocolate stores and candy stores have the cutest window displays. they have clothing shops where everything is 5 euros and the clothing they have is cute! they have waffle shops and fry shops everywhere. people walk around with their funnel shaped fry holder, with fries topped in mayo. the buildings in the grand place are so old....it's so cool to see them. i can't wait to learn more of their history. and this is all within a 20 minute walk of our flat.

{rue de bouchers}{candy shop that was glowing pink}

we found an awesome supermarket on our way home, the biggest we have seen in brussels...two floors even.....but about the size of the first floor of my parents house...we bought a pretty loaf of bread and they even gave me a free flower...what could be better....
{my loaf of bread that was AMAZING and my free flower}

we are just loving it here already...the people are so nice here and i just love the european feel...max and i are having so much fun and can't wait to tell you and show you more about our adventure..