Birthday and Resurrection Day!

Happy Belated Easter and Birthday! During the last weeks of April we have had the best weather! Dior and I have been taking full advantage of the sunshine and have been spending most of the days walking around town. We discovered a new coffee shop that makes yummy iced drinks so we usually head there in the morning before Dior has practice. While all of you Americans were paying your taxes we spent our April 15th celebrating our birthday! We went to see a movie for our birthday and the next night I had a girls night out!

Malu and I.

Jamie, Hailee and Malu :)

The night before Easter we spent time hanging out with the Tofi family. The Tofi family is from San Francisco so I’m very much looking forward to seeing them back home in our natural habitats! Easter Sunday Dior and I spent a relaxing day together with a good meal and movie night. However, Easter Monday is also a holiday in Belgium so we headed downtown for dinner with Dior’s teammate Cass and his girlfriend Hailee. We had the biggest sushi dinner imaginable!

Round 1 of the endless sushi!

Hailee and I look tiny.

Dior’s team is neck and neck with a team named Pepinster for the last spot in the playoffs. The anticipation is killing me! Interestingly, our last regular season game is against Pepinster so I’m hoping the playoff spot is decided before that final game. Before I forget, I would like to say that in America I had never been alcohol breathlyzed and in Belgium I’ve been breathlyzed SEVEN times. The drinking age in Belgium is 16 so perhaps that has something to do with all the testing. hmmmm.

Oh the Places We'll Go

After a whole season of waiting for their visit my parents arrived in Brussels! Dior and I couldn’t wait to take them everywhere and anywhere. Their visit was for two weeks so I pre-planned our trips to make the most of every day. My mom fell in love with Paris and surprisingly my dad loved Amsterdam!

The three of us flew to Milano and took a city tour that included a visit to the Last Supper by daVinci...

From Milano we took a train to Rome where we spent three days walking every inch of Rome.


Trevi Fountain



Vatican

We visited several cities in Belgium: Antwerp ( the diamond capitol), Brugges (the “Venice of the North), Charleroi and Brussels. Of course they spent a lot of time in Leuven (where we live) and said it was definitely one of their favorite cities.



Brussels

I loved all of the sightseeing but (so cheesy) more importantly I enjoyed spending quality time with my parents. We were only missing one thing... TURI!

James and the Red Light District.

Our friend James (he's a lawyer at the office I used to work for) came to visit! He traveled to Wales with a couple of his friends and decided to take a quick flight over to see us :)  Having James around really made me miss my old coworkers... wondering what crazy shenanigans their up to. James used to live in Amsterdam so we decided to take advantage of our free tour guide and take a day trip. Dior had never been to Amsterdam so I was excited to show him a city that I think tops Paris. Amsterdam has a reputation for being just a weed/hooker city but its so much more than that. The city of Amsterdam is full of so many things to see that I can't wait to take my parents there when they arrive.... THIS MONTH! :)


James and Dior in Leuven Center.

Having dinner in Leuven.

Amsterdam.

James' first Belgiuan waffle.

James and I in Brussels Grand Palace. (my crazy earwarmers)

Familiar Faces

My friends Jessica and Kim had been telling me they were planning to visit me in Belgium for about a month. I tried not to get my hopes up because I know a European flight is not the easiest thing to attain. I was surprised to receive an email from Jessica letting me know their flight number and if I would be able to meet them at the airport. I woke up very early and had one of the other girlfriends here drive me to the airport to pick up my friends. As I stood waiting in the airport with my Starbucks in hand I still really didn’t believe they’d actually be walking out of the baggage claim. It was the best feeling ever to see their smiling familiar faces!

Right off the plane we started sightseeing, first stop was Brussels where we visited the giant Atomium.

After I showed them the Grand Palace in Brussels…. Then we visited St. Michael’s Cathedral in Brussels.


Once we finished up in Brussels we came home and dropped off their luggage. I could tell Dior was also really happy to have familiar faces in Leuven too. Next we drove to a city called Liege where we went into St. Paul’s Cathedral. There a million cathedrals in Europe to visit.

Having macaroons in Liege!

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year!! After a much needed trip home for the holidays we are back in Leuven. I am so happy I was able to spend the holidays with my family. The best part of my trip home was baptizing baby Sofia. I love her so much!

Dior and I spent New Years Eve in the center of Leuven in "old market." We met up with Dior's teammate Ade there. There was a DJ and the center was packed with people dancing. At midnight there were fireworks but they were a little hard to see through all the clouds. Lucky for us it didn’t rain that night! :) We tried to go into the bars/clubs but since smoking indoors is legal here it was difficult to breathe in there.  This was definitely my best New Years, it felt surreal to be experiencing it in Belgium.








I am planning to go to the coast of Belgium this week but still not sure since there has been a lot of rain. We are now in the second half of the season and have so much to look forward to! My parents are coming to visit, my friend Jessica is coming to visit, Uncle William is visiting and with these visits comes a lot of traveling! (Plus in 4 months I will be home sweet home!)

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…..

It has been years since Belgium has experienced this much snow so early in the winter. November is usually not the month for snow, but lucky for Dior and I we are able to enjoy it before we get ready to head back to California! We really wanted to visit a Christmas market in Germany but with the snow, rain and ice it was too dangerous to drive. I tried looking up trains to Germany but most of the trains were either sold out or canceled due to weather. Hopefully we will try to go this week.  We did however visit a Christmas market in Brussels! Christmas markets are very popular in Europe, they are made up of tons of stands selling an assortment of things like hats, watches, candles, lamps, Russian dolls, candy, dried fruit (even apricots!) etc… What we loved most about the market were the BEST waffles… covered in melted chocolate! Yum!  Now to update you on Dior's basketball team: The Bears have won the last four games! This Saturday they play an undefeated team named Charleroi... I'm hoping for a huge upset!  Go Bears!

My snow angel!

Our "sidewalk" covered in snow!

Christmast Market at Place Saint Catherine. Brussels, Belgium.

In front of the ice skating rink.

Whole apricots dried!

The biggest ferris wheel we've ever seen.

Top 5 waffle in Belgium.

Waiting in line at one of the little house stands.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Thanksgiving away from home! I cooked a special meal for just Dior and I on Thanksgiving. I baked a whole chicken.. my version of a mini turkey :) We had mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, sweet potatoes and creme brulee for desert! Very simple but lovely evening.

Then on Sunday we had a big Thanksgiving dinner with Dior’s teammates and the other girls here.  Malu, Monica, Marine and I divided the cooking tasks… Monica was the brave one who baked our turkey. She kept telling Malu and I how easy cooking a turkey is but I was afraid to ruin it so I steered clear of that job.   The food came out amazing!



John Tofi led us in prayer before our meal then we went around one by one saying what we are thankful for (just like we do at home).  For some reason I got really choked up when it was my turn, I didn’t cry but I definitely was on the verge of tears. I know traveling Europe is what many people dream of doing but on days like that I just wish I was home in Hollister.  Thank goodness we are surrounded by such wonderful people here in Belgium.


Finally, one of Dior’s teammates named Cass entertained us with the best magic card tricks! I’m still trying to figure out how he pulled them off!