Week 48 - March 4-13 Part 2

Picking back up in the good ole US of A, we started our trip down to New Orleans early Thursday morning.  We had tricked Karen and Steve into being our road trip partners for this long haul.  Good conversation and good driving made the trip fly by.   Once in New Orleans, we dropped our luggage at the Airbnb, and we were ready to start the fun-filled weekend.  Jessica and Mary Lee had organized a series of events to take place over the coming days that would allow their guests to each get to spend some time with the brides and to get to appreciate the wonderfully unique city that is New Orleans. Thursday's night activity: The Rock and Bowl.  This hip joint featured 18 lanes of the classic American pastime as well as a rocking Zydeco band (Chubby Carrier on the mic and accordion this particular night).  If people weren't bowling they were dancing, and if they weren't dancing they were drinking.  It was a good way to warm up the whole crew for a fun weekend.  Turns out, not having bowled in over a year does not make your bowling game better.  We had fun all the same getting to catch up with family we had not yet seen while in the US.

Friday was devoted to playing the role of tourist.  This was Tyler's first time in New Orleans, so we had to hit all the traditional spots.  First order of business: beignets.  According to some, Cafe de Monde in the French Quarter is the ONLY place to get your beignets and chicory coffee.  We went through the To-Go line and stood under the eaves while the rain came down, devouring the fried treats and getting powdered sugar all over our faces.  From there, we had planned a casual tour of the French Quarter on foot, but the rain just wasn't letting up.  So we opted for a driving tour of the surrounding neighborhoods instead.  This included the 9th Ward, the neighborhood known for the tragic and devastating impact Hurricane Katrina inflicted upon it.  Still today, many square blocks lie completely devoid of homes or in utter ruin.  To see this area of natural destruction, was certainly an impactful and unforgettable experience.

Our beignet breakfast was wearing thin, so it was time to hit a local lunch spot suggested by the brides: Juan's Flying Burrito.  Yes, we were eating Tex-Mex yet again (don't judge).  This place delighted by offering all the expected mexican dishes and by taking advantage of the regional delicacies (crawfish and shrimps) on the specials menu.  This tasty lunch fueled us up for an afternoon of bar-hopping and basketball watching.  Later, the rain mercifully let up for an evening Ghost Tour in the French Quarter.

We started Saturday off with a big breakfast with Jessica at a spot just around the corner from our Airbnb.  From there, we moved to the Garden District to try to catch some of the St. Patrick's Day parade.  It looked like the whole neighborhood had put on their green and lined Magazine Street, but the parade itself wasn't quite as organized.  The whiskey and Guinness had gotten the better of some parade groups.  Some were merging with others behind them.  Others seemed to have disappear completely, as there would be long gaps of occasional empty space.  It was enjoyable to watch all the same, and the sense and community and neighborly friendship was evident.  Long before the festivities were over, we headed back to our place to get ready for the wedding celebration.

Jessica and Mary Lee hosted a lovely reception on the cozy back patio of The Bulldog Bar.  As if they had planned it, the rain stopped completely just as the party was about to begin. After all guests had arrived, a close friend of the couple MC'd an official welcome and kicked off several heartfelt speeches.  As sister of the bride, Molly was one of those invited to speak. After weeks of needless fretting and hand-wringing over preparing for this event, she brought down the house with a touching, funny, and sincere toast to the brides.  There wasn't a dry eye in the house (or that is the way it looked to Tyler through his crocodile tears).  The brides took the mic in turn to thank the guests and even gave an impromptu acapella performance of "Tennessee Me" by the Secret Sisters.  The rest of the night was a blur of delighting conversation and wedding revelry.  Jessica and Mary Lee were fortunate to be born into very loving families and have done an amazing job of surrounding themselves with engaging and loyal friends.  We had an absolute blast chatting with those we knew or getting to know the ones we didn't.  Too soon, the celebration was over, and we were Uber-ing back to the Airbnb for a few hours sleep before getting on a plane first thing the next morning.

And just like that, our great American vacation was over.  After almost a complete year in Europe, we knew we were missing family and certain foods, but the experience of going home was even better than we had anticipated.    

Week 48 - March 4-13 Part 1

As has become the recent trend, we are very far behind in our blogging efforts.  January and February were a bit of a grind for us.  At our Northern latitude, few hours of sunlight were made fewer by the constant presence of dreary, drizzly clouds.  Couple that with our continued-three-time-per-week effort to master broken Dutch (and therefore little time to explore more of Europe).  In short, we finished the winter months feeling a bit worn down.  A trip home to the U.S. at the beginning of March was just what we needed to pep us back up.

We planned the trip around the much anticipated celebration of Jessica (Molly's sister) and Mary Lee's (Molly's now-sister-in-law) union in matrimony!  But before we got to that exciting weekend in New Orleans, we had a little less than a week to spend time with family and friends in Tennessee.  Arriving into Knoxville on a Friday night, you may well be able to guess our first priority: Tex-Mex food!  In this case, the best spot in Knoxville for this fix: Chez Guavera.  Seriously, this place has the best margaritas and tostadas in town.  After this lovely dinner with Mandy, Jessica, and Mary Lee, we were ready to crash and try to get adjusted to local time.  On Saturday morning, we decided the best method to feel at home was to punish ourselves with a run on the Cherokee Boulevard.  It seems Knoxville has a bit more elevation change than Antwerp, and we were just short of passing out at the top of every hill.  Saturday evening brought more valued time with family/friends and another opportunity to stuff ourselves on local cuisine.  Karen, Steve and Allison hosted us with a dinner of mouth-watering ribs and other delicious fixins.

Our packed agenda put us on the road Sunday.  Molly went to see her Granny and Aunt Syd in McMinnville, and Tyler headed home to Kingsport.  After a delicious lunch and pleasant visit with her family, Molly then made her way over to Kingsport as well.  In addition to family time, the other key priorities in Kingsport: Pal's Sudden Service and a trip to Bays Mountain Park.  In you aren't from the area, you are forgiven for not knowing the best burger joint in East Tennessee.  With an expanding network of stores in the region, Pal's has received national recognition for their quality and service.  If you ever get a chance to drive though or stop in, you can't go wrong with a Big Pal or Big Chicken, Frenchie Fries, and Sweet Tea.  On a healthier note, we took advantage of the beautiful spring weather to take a journey up to Bays Mountain with Tim and Robin.  This was Molly's first time to the park, so we did the full tour of the animal exhibits.  The main attraction is the enclosure for the Grey Wolves, which seemed like it was going to be a bit of a disappointment as the wolves were sleeping.  However, a few minutes later, a couple of rangers came by with a group and tried to howl in a way to communicate with the wolves.  At first, it seemed the wolves didn't have much interest, then the alpha male lifted his head and gave a howl.  The whole pen exploded with activity: howling, playful biting, and more howling.  It was quite a show.  As soon as the howling stopped, they went right back to napping. After our brief stay in Kingsport, we left early on Tuesday to head back to Knoxville (stopping for some breakfast Chedder Rounds at Pal's on the way out of town of course).

A Pals milkshake stop

Bays Mountain selfie

Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with more opportunities to see family and friends, shopping for items only found in America, and more scrumptious meals.  We had great meals at Tomato Head, the new Balter Beerworks, and the Otten homestead (Bronco Burgers for the win).  A very big Thank You to everyone in Tennessee!  It was great to see all y'all, and we really appreciated coming home to good times and good meals.  Although we took a special trip to the Netherlands to buy a new camera and Molly made a big show of carrying it across the Atlantic, we took embarrassingly few photos!

        

Week 39-Week 42 Jan 4-Jan 31

Yet again, we are a few weeks behind!  Welcome 2016, better late than never!  So far it has been a very busy year.  Molly is back to working 5 days a week, and we are both still taking Dutch classes three nights a week.  On top of that, we had a few holiday parties in the first few weeks that occupied our weekends.  At our offices here in Belgium, it is customary for each department to have a twice yearly get together or a Summer Drink and Winter Drink as they call it.  Since Tyler is on the management team, he not only goes to the management drink, he also holds one for his team.  Molly got to attend the Quality department drink.  On top of all of those activities, there was a company wide New Years party as well.  So if you are counting, 4 parties!  And since there is so much vacation during December, all parties were held in January.  

New Years fireworks

Ringing in the New Year with friends (and Mom not pictured!)

The most interesting part of the Winter Drinks, was that they were much more than just a drink!  Tyler and his team went karting (high speed (40mph) go-karting) and Molly got to go to the driving range.  After the activities of course, there were dinner and drinks.

Other than that, we haven't had many adventures as it has been cold and rainy for most of the month.  We did get out a few weeks ago to go to an Antwerp Giants basketball game.  The Giants are the local Belgian basketball team.  It was fun to watch as the level of play was fairly high and the crowd was pretty into the game.  Also, we recognized a couple players from the US.  

This past weekend we ventured out in the rain to the Red Star Line museum.  The Red Star Line was a passenger line that went from Antwerp to the US from the 1850's to the 1920's.  Over 2 million immigrants came to America on the Red Star Line.  The museum is located in the same building that all immigrants came through to board the boat.  It was fascinating to see the process that was required for them to be allowed in the United States.  At the end of the museum, you can search names and pull information if you had a relative on the ship.  We tried all the family names we could think of but either we weren't spelling correctly or our ancestors choose a different method of travel to cross over to the new world. 

The original Red Star Line building

Week 37-38 Dec 21-Jan 3

We had a great visitor over the holidays: Mom Mandy! She touched down in Belgium on the Tuesday before Christmas. We toured her around Antwerp for the day, doing our best to keep the jet lag from winning. We had fun exploring the Christmas markets and the local shops decorated for the season. She got a solid nights sleep before we made her go right back to the airport so we could all board a plane to Croatia! We landed in the evening in the capital city, Zagreb. However our first destination was Ljubljana, Slovenia. We collected the rental car and started driving towards the border. The border crossing and 2 hour drive went smoothly except for a bit of trouble finding our AirBnB in the city. Once we got checked in and settled, we headed out to find some dinner. The part of town we were staying in was a bit quiet, but the city came alive as we walked toward the center.  Presernov Square displayed a veritable explosion of Christmas lights in many forms. Some were the traditional string or icicle shape, but others tried to impart a message or educational statement. 
There were math formulas, planets and galaxies, and our personal favorite: a startlingly vivid depiction of sperm attacking an egg, an embryo growing, and DNA being formed. Surprisingly, these topics make for beautiful Christmas decorations. We were quite hungry after our travels and settled for a Mexican restaurant with local Slovenian beer. Not the best Mexican we have ever had, but not the worst either.  After dinner, we took in a few more Christmas decorated streets before heading off to bed. 

Ljubljana's take on Christmas lights

Yes, that is what it looks like...

The next morning we poked around town a bit before heading to our food tour.  We joined a British family of three and our local guide. The tour was structured with the idea that we would try food and wine from all the various regions of Slovenia. The food ranged from sardines and squid to pasta and potatoes.  The wine ranged from dark and sweet to light and dry. During the tour, Tyler began to realize that this part of the world made delicious desserts catered to his deficiency (chocolate allergy). We tried several dessert specialties with the best of the tour being a layered cake of filo dough, apples, poppy seeds, ricotta cheese, and cream. The tour concluded on top of the tallest building in town, offering a great view of the city below, the Alps in the distance, and the city castle. After all that food, we decided we needed to walk it off by trekking up to the top of the castle. It is gorgeously set on a steep rise in the direct center of the city. The tough walk up took about twenty minutes, and we were rewarded again with great views. The audio tour of the castle was a bit of a bust, but we were able to access the majority of the rooms and peer off the tallest points.  A ride down from the castle in the funicular and a giant pizza topped off a pretty spectacular Christmas Eve.

Ljubljana Triple Bridge

She found her dream.  A knitted bike!

Dragon Bridge

The castle

We might have over ordered...

The next morning, we packed up and drove to the picturesque little town of Bled.  This tiny resort town is about an hour north of Ljubljana, not far from the Italian and Austrian borders.  We spent the day getting settled at our AirBnB and exploring the town.  Bled sits around Lake Bled, a small lake formed by the crystal clear snow-melted waters from the Alps.  And of course there is an old castle sitting on a cliff overlooking it all.  We ended up walking the 3.3 miles around the lake twice that day, just to take in the beauty.  It was here in this small town that Tyler found the best dessert of the region: cream cake.  A deep layer of fluffy custard, with a layer of whipped cream, all topped with filo dough and a sprinkle of powdered sugar (hence all of the above-mentioned walking...).  We all had a delicious Christmas Day dinner at a local restaurant, topped off by more dessert and more walking!

Bled and the castle

Cream cake

During our travels in Europe, we often take the recommendations of Rick Steves.  This trip was no different.  He highly recommended a daylong driving route though the Julian Alps, starting from Lake Bled.  Normally, this drive would not be possible in late December, as the mountain pass would be under serious amounts of snow. But due to unseasonably warm temps, we had no concerns about taking the drive.  We stopped at the market on the way out of town to buy a map and provisions, and we headed up into the hills.  The route took us along a scenic path towards Triglav National Park (the highest peak in Slovenia - you can see it featured on their flag).  Before entering the park, we took a detour to see "Planica," the largest ski jump in the world!  Even though the weather was a bit warm for skiing, jumpers were hitting the slopes.  It is hard to appreciate the height of these slopes until you are standing right next to them.  These ski jumpers are a daring breed.  We watched in awe for about an hour and then got back to our drive.  The route through Triglav park was originally built during WWI and features 50 switchback turns.  Each turn was constructed of cobble stones for traction and is labeled with the number and altitude.  Along the route, we stopped several times to take in breathtaking views.  At the summit, a short hike took us up to an old WWI bunker with stunning views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below.  After winding down the back side of the slope, we entered the Soca River Valley. The road followed the clear turquoise-blue waters through tiny villages.  We did not get to enjoy the Soca River in all of its glory because of the lack of snow this year.  For lunch, we stopped in Bovec for some traditional Slovenian cuisine. Our route back to Bled actually took us across the Italian border and through an abandoned mining town.  We all agreed that the beauty of this region was a wonder to behold.  Back in Bled, we had another filling dinner (with more cream cake of course), and we took a final lap around the lake before calling it a night.

Spik Mountain

Planica

A jumper!

Triglev

Cinque Punte (from the Italian side)

We got an early start the next morning to hit the road back to Zagreb, Croatia.  It was great to get to drive the stretch we had completed several days before in the dark, this time in the light of day .  Our AirBnB was in the very city center, and our practiced European driving skills of avoiding trams and pedestrians came in handy.  Zagreb center was alive with people going to shops, cafes, restaurants, or Christmas markets.  After a late lunch, we took off on a self-guided walking tour.  The center of Zagreb is divided into "lower" and "upper" sections.  The "upper" section is more historically interesting as it was the original site of the Roman walled city, and continues today to be the location of the Croatian parliament.  We also enjoyed the extremely colorful roof of the Church of St. Mark, the cute chapel tucked in the Stone Gate, and the old homes that housed the original red light district.  The "lower" town is the commercial center of the city, with great shops and restaurants on every street.  After a bit of looking around the "lower" town, we had our first of several great dinners in Croatia at Vinodol.  We all enjoyed our meals under the beautiful brick vaulted ceilings.  And for such a nice place, the prices were easy on the wallet.

The market

Retired Red Light district

Church of St Mark

Jelacic Square

It can be tough traveling with the Smartt ladies

Parliament

We used our final full day in Croatia to explore another area of natural beauty: Plitvice Lakes.  The drive from Zagreb took about 2 hours, most of it on a winding two-lane road.  Sadly, several of the villages we drove through still showed the scars of the all-too-recent war.  Arriving at the lakes, we found that most of the amenities were closed for winter.  This felt a bit strange since the weather was so beautiful, but understandable nonetheless.  The entrance to the park starts at the biggest waterfall of the park and the lower lakes, which are fairly small, but offer close-up views of the intensely clear-green water. It was unbelievable to see straight to the bottom of the lower lakes and watch trout of all sizes darting towards the sunlit sections.  We took our time strolling along the boardwalks, admiring the small sections of falls cascading between each lake.  As we walked on, we were getting pretty excited about seeing the upper lakes.  They are supposed to be similar to the lower falls, but with greater height and volume to achieve even more natural beauty.  However, as we found out the hard way, the upper lakes are "closed" during the winter.  We say "closed" because there is nothing actually preventing you from walking up there, except for the miles of distance to cover, but no boats or shuttles are running up to the higher points.  Running out of daylight, and a little disappointed, we piled back in the car.  We all left with a sense amazement at what we had seen and of wanting to return and see the park at the full height of its beauty during spring or summer.

Welcome to Plitvice Lakes

The view from above

Safety is your own responsibility

Trout everywhere!

The next day, we did some last minute exploring of Zagreb before heading to the airport for our flight back to Belgium.  Mandy had a few more days in Antwerp with us, which we used to enjoys the sites, sounds, and tastes of the city (including some pretty spectacular New Year's Eve fireworks).  Too quickly, we were dropping Mandy at the airport for her return to the US.  We truly enjoyed a great visit with her.  Mandy was a fun and adventurous travel companion, a great cook, a giving Santa Claus (thanks everyone for the gifts!), and a loving mom.  We were so happy to spend the holidays with family and have such a grand adventure to boot.