Belgium Visit - November 8-9

The weekend of November 8th we headed to Belgium to visit with our friends Sarah and D. I met Sarah while she was on an 18 month rotation in the Baltimore office a few years ago. It was about a 4 hour drive to their house (about 45 minutes past Brussels). We enjoyed a delicious lunch of Spaghetti Bolognese upon arriving. We also met Sarah and D's 4 month-old son, Arthur who is SO cute! It's amazing how big they get in only 4 months! After lunch we headed out with D to the down of Bruges. Bruges is an adorable town right on the water. We enjoyed a stroll around the town, a nice cup of coffee (read: apple juice for pregnant lady), and a brief walk around a beautiful convent that is still inhabited by nuns. By then it was getting dark and we headed back to Sarah and D's for dinner. Sarah and D prepared a delicious dinner which included a tray full of raw meats fresh from the butcher (everything from steak, pork, sausages, and even eggs!) that we cooked on a small grill in the center of the table. Throw in some tasty dipping sauces, fried potatoes, salad and a bottle of red wine and you have a great meal! Shaun and I had a lot of fun cooking up our dinners. Shaun especially enjoyed the eggs and I enjoyed the bacon-wrapped cheese. Not too long after dinner I was exhausted and we called it a night.

Sunday morning we had a breakfast of pastries and juice with Sarah and D and then we decided to head home. On our way out of their neighborhood we noticed signs for an American Cemetery so we decided to check it out. Flanders Field is the smallest American military cemetery in Europe with around 368 buried and is from a battle fought during WWI. After paying our respects we hit the road for the journey home. The ride home was not as quick as the way up as we hit a lot of heavy rain once entering Germany. We were also pulled over by border control as soon as we crossed into Germany from the Netherlands (by a German police car). Luckily this was just a routine stop, we had all of our travel documentation, and we weren't transporting any weapons or drugs. The officers were actually very nice and after some inquiries and a short search of the car we were on our way.

Note to self: Put Belgian chocolates purchased as souvenir in trunk next time! We were almost done the box by the time we arrived at home!

Note to others: If a German police car is driving in front of you with a blinking sign on the roof that reads "Bitte Folgen" this means "please follow." Best to follow those officers wherever they want you to go!

Click here to see all of our pics from the wekeend.