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A Semi-Restful Day
May. 23rd, 2007 05:12 pmWell, the whirlwind tour of the Benelux and Germany is at an end. Tomorrow, they leave. Today is kind of a free day...we went to Sittard this morning so they could spend some of their remaining euros. We had breakfast at Bakkerij Bart and took a peek in two of the churches. One of the churches in Sittard is far and away one of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen, and I had no idea! I go to Sittard a lot, and I never bothered to look in any of the churches until today.
Lori had been looking out for a dress to wear to a wedding this weekend, so today she was determined to get one. She found a few cute dresses at C&A and modeled them for us, but we all (Sue, Lindsey, and I) loved a really particular one that looked very 40's with a flouncy skirt...it was halter style and black with white polka dots. She seemed a bit skeptical, but we talked her into buying it. It looked really fabulous on her.
We left Sittard around 12:30 and I took them to the grocery store to buy some cheap bottles of wine. Then we came back here and I put out cheese, crackers and smoked sausage. Sue went through her pictures from this trip...440 now remain, not counting what she took in Sittard today. Lori busied herself with laundry. Lindsey took a nap. I made potato salad and baked beans for our barbecue tonight. Lori and I walked down the street and fed the horse with some of my remaining celery, and then Lori went off on a run. I thought I would follow her on my bike, but it has flat tires at the moment.
Right now, Sue is out cutting some flowers from my garden to make a bouquet for me. She offered to mow the lawn, but I think Lance will probably do it tomorrow.
***
Anyway, Monday was spent in Brussels. That was fun. The art museums were closed, but we just walked around the city and admired the sights and ate a lot of chocolate in the chocolate shops. Devina (where I bought my chocolate on my first trip to Brussels) is still fabulous...the girls behind the counter were very friendly and funny, and gave us a lot of free samples. We bought a lot from them.
We stayed overnight in Brussels at a shabby and cheap hotel. It was clean, at least. We stayed on the very top floor and the elevator was a bit dubious, so we had to go up and down 8 flights of stairs.
Yesterday, we were in Delft. We went to the Vermeer Center, which just opened last month. They're not even done with it yet...they were still working on it when we were there, so we got admission for half price. We went to the Oude Kerk to see Vermeer's grave. And we visited a couple of porcelain factories (not the two main ones) and talked to the artists and got to see one of them at work. There was one particular shop where we did most of our Delft porcelain shopping. I only got one item...Sue and the girls got a lot of stuff for gifts.
We had lunch yesterday at the Leonidas Tea Room. This is the Leonidas of Belgian chocolates fame...they have a cafe and tea room in Delft. So we ate there. It was really good. I ordered the "Luxe Mushroom Soup," which was "luxe" because it also came with fancy bread. Well, my fancy bread was a big baguette smothered in baked mushrooms and herbed cream cheese. So I had mushrooms in my soup and on my bread. It was overkill, but it was also delicious. I couldn't eat it all, though.
Anyway, I will try and get to a trip report at some point. There is too much to even write about, and I have no idea where to start. And I'll have to go through all the pictures and decide which ones to post. I've already been to all but two of the places we've visited, so I'll try and post some stuff that's different from what I've posted before. I'll definitely be posting a couple of Knut photos from the Berlin Zoo. We were looking at them today...thank goodness for the extra zoom on my camera...they turned out to be very close-up, but we only got a couple of photos of him that are actually any good. Most of them are of his keepers.
I'll probably start posting again regularly tomorrow. For now, if I've missed something, please tell me in comments.
Lori had been looking out for a dress to wear to a wedding this weekend, so today she was determined to get one. She found a few cute dresses at C&A and modeled them for us, but we all (Sue, Lindsey, and I) loved a really particular one that looked very 40's with a flouncy skirt...it was halter style and black with white polka dots. She seemed a bit skeptical, but we talked her into buying it. It looked really fabulous on her.
We left Sittard around 12:30 and I took them to the grocery store to buy some cheap bottles of wine. Then we came back here and I put out cheese, crackers and smoked sausage. Sue went through her pictures from this trip...440 now remain, not counting what she took in Sittard today. Lori busied herself with laundry. Lindsey took a nap. I made potato salad and baked beans for our barbecue tonight. Lori and I walked down the street and fed the horse with some of my remaining celery, and then Lori went off on a run. I thought I would follow her on my bike, but it has flat tires at the moment.
Right now, Sue is out cutting some flowers from my garden to make a bouquet for me. She offered to mow the lawn, but I think Lance will probably do it tomorrow.
Anyway, Monday was spent in Brussels. That was fun. The art museums were closed, but we just walked around the city and admired the sights and ate a lot of chocolate in the chocolate shops. Devina (where I bought my chocolate on my first trip to Brussels) is still fabulous...the girls behind the counter were very friendly and funny, and gave us a lot of free samples. We bought a lot from them.
We stayed overnight in Brussels at a shabby and cheap hotel. It was clean, at least. We stayed on the very top floor and the elevator was a bit dubious, so we had to go up and down 8 flights of stairs.
Yesterday, we were in Delft. We went to the Vermeer Center, which just opened last month. They're not even done with it yet...they were still working on it when we were there, so we got admission for half price. We went to the Oude Kerk to see Vermeer's grave. And we visited a couple of porcelain factories (not the two main ones) and talked to the artists and got to see one of them at work. There was one particular shop where we did most of our Delft porcelain shopping. I only got one item...Sue and the girls got a lot of stuff for gifts.
We had lunch yesterday at the Leonidas Tea Room. This is the Leonidas of Belgian chocolates fame...they have a cafe and tea room in Delft. So we ate there. It was really good. I ordered the "Luxe Mushroom Soup," which was "luxe" because it also came with fancy bread. Well, my fancy bread was a big baguette smothered in baked mushrooms and herbed cream cheese. So I had mushrooms in my soup and on my bread. It was overkill, but it was also delicious. I couldn't eat it all, though.
Anyway, I will try and get to a trip report at some point. There is too much to even write about, and I have no idea where to start. And I'll have to go through all the pictures and decide which ones to post. I've already been to all but two of the places we've visited, so I'll try and post some stuff that's different from what I've posted before. I'll definitely be posting a couple of Knut photos from the Berlin Zoo. We were looking at them today...thank goodness for the extra zoom on my camera...they turned out to be very close-up, but we only got a couple of photos of him that are actually any good. Most of them are of his keepers.
I'll probably start posting again regularly tomorrow. For now, if I've missed something, please tell me in comments.