Getting ready for the holidays...

Since the German Christmas markets, Jay and I have been getting ready for our big trip back to see our families.  We had one little glitch, somehow we both got food poisoning and had quite the battle with it.  It was bound to happen with all the new food that we've been eating!  A good, not feeling so hot activity is going to the movies!  What's great about Brussels is b/c so many people speak English, they had a lot of movies that were still in English with French subtitles.  We went to see Fair Game, which really good - I highly recommend it :)  What we noticed the most is that people actually were quiet in the theatre - no one was trying to talk, make noise, have cell phones going off, it was quite relaxing!

Last weekend we decided to stay put and get some more Christmas shopping done.  We had heard that the Brussels Christmas market was pretty cool so we decided to check that out too.  Turns out, it was amazing!  They did a really great job at organizing it and by the Grand Place, there was a light show and a beautiful opera singer singing next to the giant Christmas tree.  By far, the coolest experience I've had in Brussels - I think Jay would beg to differ, Delirium probably takes the cake for him ;)

And yes this week was also the celebration of my big birthday.  I now belong to the 30 club.  Jay made my birthday an amazing day to remember, he made me breakfast before work, took me out to a great lunch that day and then later that night cooked his famous lamb chops and had flowers, a bath running and a birthday cake to end the night.  Best birthday ever!  The next night we went out for an incredible dinner at Comme Chez Soi (on the places to hit before you die list), the food was excellent, service was amazing, I felt like the most special girl in the world!

Friday night was the Brussels Bain holiday party which was held at a castle just outside Brussels.  The party was amazing, they had a "movie awards theme" to honor the movie that everyone prepared just for the party.  It was a great time to celebrate with my Brussels colleagues.  And yes - I got my hair done, I have no idea how but the curls actually stayed in through the next day!

The next day we took off to Antwerp to spend the weekend and hit up the Winter Beer Festival in a nearby town.  Jay joined our friend Taylor and some of his guy friends for the beer festival, and I skipped out so I could get some more holiday shopping in the best shopping city in Belgium!  The hotel had an indoor pool and sauna/steamroom which was just the relaxation that I needed. 

I then joined the guys out at a famous beer bar in Antwerp that had "aged beers" called the Kulminator.  Sounds weird but beer ages just like wine does, we ended up trying a 1983 Chimay beer which was very very good!  From there we hit up a cool Tapas restaurant and had some paella and finished off the night at a very interesting bar by the Cathedral.   We spent the next day exploring Antwerp and then headed home on the train back to Brussels.

This week we'll be getting ready for our big trip home, packing up the gifts so we're ready to go for our flight Thursday morning.  I've never been so excited for Christmas to come, we can't wait to celebrate with everyone!

Germany Christmas markets

This week after Thanksgiving we saw something a little different from Belgium - not rain - but snow - and TONS of it!  I think the weather shocked every local here.  It snowed for about a week straight.  First day was very light (on Thanksgiving) and then it snowed heavier into the week.  I have to say, if its going to be cold, it might as well be snowing!  The snow has really gotten us into the holiday season spirit.

Thursday night we ended up particpating in the Brussels version of restaurant week and tried a cool new Belgian restaurant a few tram stops from our apartment.   Friday after work we relaxed and tried a new recipe out of Jay's new "French market cookbook" and we cooked Magrite Canard with Port wine sauce and bacon mashed potatoes.  What is so nice is we're now able to buy food from our local market and then try out all of these cool local recipes.  We're still waiting to get our hands on another Belgian style cookbook.  Anyways.... turns out we're pretty darn good cooks and it was amazing.  When I get home we want to try out all of these recipes on you guys!

Saturday morning we left to head off to Germany for the Christmas markets.  Our first stop was Cologne.  Jay rented a "nice ride" for us to make our way to Germany in - its kinda like when in Rome right?  When in Germany, we must drive a Mercedes :)  For those that know me well, my Honda Accord would have done the same job, lol, but it was nice to ride in style.  Luckily the snow let up for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Germany.  We checked into our hotel and then went out to get started on one of the many Christmas markets in Cologne.  The first market was right on the water, and had a "midievel" theme.  We tried "Love Potion" watched some local craftsmen make swords, watched an acting group "duel it out" and tried the local grub, the bratworst, the spaetzel and so on.

From there we made it over to the next Christmas market where I tried some of the Gluhwein (hot red wine spiced wine) and a drink that I'm going to have to try to find the recipe too, a spiced eggnog, way better than we make back in the States!  At that point it had already started to snow again, but that just added to the special ambiance of the Christmas market.  We shopped around, bought some fun Christmas gifts and then decided we needed a break to get warm again!  It ended up being a very long break, and an amazing time...

Jay found the closest bar and we quickly walked in and joined some folks at a table.  The bar was called Papa Joe's and it was an amazing fun German bar, with loud music and everyone singing along to the music.  We made some friends very quickly and every time we went to get up, they had bought us another round.  This was by far the best part of the weekend, the family that we had met had traveled 90 km to come to Cologne to meet with their other friends from Dusseldorf.  They made us feel like a part of the family and although only a few spoke good English, they all tried their best to make us feel welcome.  Three hours later, it was time for them to catch their train home :(  And we hadn't even made it yet to the biggest market, the Cathedral market.

We headed over to the Cathedral and its funny how much easier the euros get spent after a few drinks.  We found a lot more goodies to bring home for Christmas!  The view of the Cathedral was absolutely beautiful, we had heard that it was spectacular, but I didn't know how amazing it would be.  The market closed up shop at 11pm and we had to make our way back to the hotel.  It was an amazing day and night in Cologne.

We slept in a little the next day and then made our way back towards Brussels with a few scheduled stops.  The first was in a smaller town in Germany called Aachen that also has a very famous Christmas market.  This Christmas market was much less touristy and the town of Aachen was very quaint and beautiful.  We walked around the town and found some more unique gifts to bring home to our friends and family.  It was still snowing so we decided we better start to make the rest of the journey home.

The last stop was in a small town called Maastricht, in the Netherlands right on the border of Belgium and Germany.  The town was very cute and the Christmas market was quite nice but by this time, we were pretty tired and ready to head home.  We then got back on the road and Jay got us home safe and sound.

What we did miss this weekend was my office's children's St. Nicolas party which was on Saturday.  In Belgium, and in many countires in Europe the children celebrate St. Nicolas day on December 6th every year.  In Belgium, the kids put out a little shoe and the next day "St Nicolas" fills it with chocolates and goodies.  I got some chocolates and goodies on my desk before I left on Friday, so I'm pretty cool with the holiday myself :) 

I promise to keep updating you all, I think the next blog will cover the rest of the month of December and the holidays.

Happy Holidays everyone - I know that Jay and I can't wait to go home and see our family and friends!