Part ONE...

Happy Holidays from Amsterdam!


Gary & The Manneken Pis in Brussels


On the endless ferris wheel in Brussels


And the Christmas Market we traveled all the way to Brussels to see!


Bruges Market Square & Government Palace at night


Entering the "Ice Palace" ice & snow carving exhibition in Bruges


Us at the ice bar, Absolute shots in hand!


How do I look?!?


One of the many beautiful canals in Bruges


The Belfry bell tower


Getting caught in the tower when the bells toll!


Good-bye Bruges!


Off to London!


WOW! This has been an amazing and crazy two weeks, I barely know where to begin. Even though we were home for part of our holiday, it had four very distinct phases (Kevin came up with that!) So, I have decided to break this adventure down into four chapters (not too long of course). Let's break it down...

Chapter I: Gary & Debbie take on Amsterdam & Belgium
Chapter II: England for the holidays
Chapter III: Kevin & Pat meet us in Switzerland
Chapter IV: New Years in Paris

So let’s begin...

Chapter I: Amsterdam is a flurry of activity, even in the winter. The first day (Saturday) we were constantly trying to get out of the freezing hail/snow that was pelting us from above. We found a lot to do! We went on a very scenic canal tour, visited the Rijks Museum (one of my favorite museums so far!), the Van Gogh Museum, and the Dutch Resistance Museum. After a nice dinner we decided to brave the Red Light District! We went on a tour led by "ex-professionals" that started at the Prostitution Information Center. We proceeded to be led through narrow streets lined with bikini-clad girls lit by lurid neon lights, stopping here and there for tid-bits of information. It was actually pretty interesting and the district itself is very safe, with more tourists than actual "clients".

The next day, we slept in and since the weather was better, we had more time to just wander around and spend time outside. We also visited the Anne Frank Museum. I just finished re-reading her diary and the experience was very moving. Amsterdam is such a diverse and interesting city, there is the very sad and moving history from the war, the rich cultural history including Van Gogh & Rembrandt, the beauty of the city itself, and then the culture of coffee shops and window shopping! The harmony of the city is so fascinating to me, and I hope to return when the weather is warm so I can explore this wonderful city and the surrounding countryside by bike! We wrapped up our Amsterdam experience with a hilarious comedy show called "Boom Chicago". A lot of improv and poking fun at European life, it was fantastic!

Here we were, at 6 am the next morning on a train headed for Brussels, Belgium. We arrived to a very grey city and completely dead! It was Monday, so as in much of Europe, all the museums were closed (much to Gary's delight). The whole reason for our decision to come to Brussels was for the GIGANTIC Christmas Market that is held here every year. We stumbled across a small square with about 15 vendor booths, and Gary declared "Here it is!" I hate to be rude, but we came all the way here for THAT?!? After warming up (another very cold day) we walked all over town, seeing the sights (including Gary's highlight, the statue of the Little Boy Peeing or Manneken Pis), and found the REAL market. It wasn't bad, but not worth a special visit to Belgium! The highlight was a huge (and very fast) ferries wheel at the end of the market that Gary and I rode around and around. I think since we were the only ones on it, they gave us the extra-long ride. I never though we would get down!

Brussels is a great town, but a day is plenty to see it in. So, on recommendation of our Swiss friends, we headed to Bruges to spend the night. Now this place is worth a visit to Belgium! It is by far the most beautiful town we have seen so far. Picturesque canals (complete with swans) wind by medieval buildings and market squares that are filled with activity! Be ate wonderful chocolates and indulged on the marvelous local Belgium beer. We also came across a traveling exhibit of ice and snow sculptures. It was amazing and it also had an ice bar (yes, trendy and touristy, I know), so we had to have an obligatory shot of straight up Absolute Citron right out of a cube of ice!

We were sad to leave Bruges, but we had hotel reservation in London that night. So after a morning of local sightseeing we caught the train back to Brussels and on to merry Old England to begin the next phase of our journey...