Its All Bruges To Me

I know what you must be thinking....What is Bruges and how do I get there? For those of you who fail to come and visit us, getting to this charming little town would be quite the problem. However, when you have the luxury of being a stone's throw from various attractive European destinations, driving 2 and a half hours to Bruges, Belgium is not such a bad deal. Not to mention easy access to one of the finer aspects of German culture: The Autobahn!!!


Bruges is a very small town on the northwest side of Belgium and about a 15 minute drive to the English Channel. The beauty of this city lies in its ability to convey a sense old European charm that has been spared being damaged from the many wars that have been through this region. Many people refer to it as the "Venice of the North" because of the many canals and style of architecture. In an effort to keep dentist's in business world wide, Bruges has taken the claim of being the chocolate capital of the world. Also, being in Belgium, waffles and "pommes frites" are mandatory. Finally, Bruges is a very romantic setting for enjoying while with your loved one.

Day 1
We spent the day walking around the city and stopping in some of the shops. One of these fine establishments was called the Chocolate Line. This was just one of the gazillion chocolatiers flooding the city. Seriously, its like Starbucks in Seattle, if you blink you might miss one. The Chocolate Line is famous for one very peculiar reason. The owner had the bright idea of creating a machine, as a gift for Mic Jagger of Rolling Stones Fame, that would pulverize cocoa into a very fine powder....as if its not already. This would then be sniffed and used in place of a more traditional drug. All we can say is: Weird. We took a multitude of pictures which we conveniently posted on smugmug (link to the right) for your viewing pleasure.



Day 2
Elizabeth saved the day by booking a fabulous 3 hour bike ride with Pink Bear Bike Tours. Yes, that was a plug because the tour and the guide were excellente (as they say in the spanish). We were outfitted with some sweet mountain bikes and some gloves because Rob was not prepared. Elizabeth actually was able to experience life on an adult bike without an accident. Nice!!! The trip went through some of Bruges, but mainly the Flemish country side surrounding the city. We were able to see some windmills, a variety of animals in their natural setting, and the historic village of Damme. While in Damme, we stopped at a nice little cafe for some famous waffles and beer. Elizabeth wimped out and had a plain waffle with some sugar on the side. I at least asked for some whipped cream on top. I mean if you're gonna do something, you might as well do it right. Both waffles were delicious. Elizabeth claims the beer was good too. Although, I have my doubts. After the bike tour we didn't have much time before heading back so we walked around the city some more and stopped in one of the many Markt Square eateries for some local cuisine.



That was our trip.

Stayin Alive...

For those of you who read this you probably think we are dead, but we are ALIVE and well. We have a lot of updates so we will start with a couple and continue to write more as we have time.

First things first, we have landed on the moon, aka, our internet is connected. This is our only means of communications as well as our one method for conducting shady business operations. Needless to say, we were lost without it (Rob was crying in his cheerios because he almost missed some deadline for fantasy hockey)! The internet company had us on house arrest because they said they would come to our home and install it but never showed up. This was a major problem because we could not just call and complain because nobody speaks english and if they do, they hang up on you. Luckily, we had our main man, Gungor, at Media Markt (BestBuy Germany), was able to help us out by calling and yelling at the internet company. He also hooked us up with a 200 Euro gift card which helped us purchase our Speed Link Speaker System and a Blender, which does not fit in our kitchen. Speaking of kitchen...

Secondly, we are finally settled in our new place. The place is OK but has some major flaws.

1. Shady construction--the place was obviously rehabbed by a blind man. We have random holes in the middle of walls and if Rob gains anymore weight he will fall through the floor by the end of the year. Disclaimer: If you come to visit and weigh more than Rob we are not responsible for any injury that may happen while being here.

2. Ceilings--we are on the top floor of a building that is shaped like an A...so, our ceilings are majorly slanted. This would not be a problem for Scott Wendell or Johnny Ballgame but the entire Globke crew would have dents in their head from bumping it on the ceiling every single day. To make matters worse, anything used frequently in the kitchen is placed under the lowest part of the ceiling. Rob is left with two options: a. double his arm length or b. ruin his back by crouching down like Montgomery Burns.

3. Bathroom--one word...bushleague. It's hard to explain without actually being able to see it or be in it, but let's just say only one person who is 4 feet tall can fit in there comfortably. The space is awkward at best and more confounded when you throw in a washer and a mirror system in a random corner behind the door.