The Only Nice Ice

That's right - the ice that's found indoors is the only nice ice. And in the fantastic village of Bruges, it's an annual tradition to show off dozens of ice sculptures all under a single roof, at a toasty temperature of about 20 degrees. What the sculptures lack in size (they are no more than about 20 feet tall) they more than make up for in artistic skill and variety. This year's theme was "Around the World." Here are quick views of England, Russia, and the U.S.

No Need to Dream: It's a White Christmas!

Snow is one thing there is no shortage of this December! It looks like records are being broken, even as we speak. It's beautiful to look at and certainly in keeping with the season. But the roads... A true Nightmare Before Christmas. And during. And after...

To Those We Miss and Love

To our friends, so far away, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that your Holidays are filled with love, peace, and serenity.
For our family, seemingly even farther away, we wish you .... were here. But we also wish you great times with the "extended family" and hope that you will take away nothing but loving memories from your Holidays. We miss you all so very much but know how excited you all must be to visit each other again, after such a long time.

Subterranean Christmas

Nearly every city and town in this part of Europe has a Christmas market, so it's obviously a good idea to have some sort of niche or trademark or oddity to set your town's apart. That's just what Valkenburg has. This cute little town in the extreme southeast corner of Holland, only minutes from both Belgium as well as Germany, has long held its Christmas market in an odd location: underground.
Some of the caves this town is famous for date back to Roman times and in summer the tours of the catacombs are very popular. But nothing matches the draw of a holiday market held entirely in caverns.
Now, no one will confuse these caverns with Luray or Carlsbad, but it still is interesting to wander among the stalls about 100 feet under the ground. They sell everything from traditional creche sets to tree decorations to more unusual things, such as African art. And, of course, awaiting all shoppers as they return to ground level are the ubiquitous sausages and marvelous mulled wine!

This is SO Not Cool!

Alright, this is not funny! Who's got my summer and warm weather? Have you seen it anywhere? Who's taken my summer? I'm not leaving here until someone fesses up! Please.

Maybe That's Why Stores Are Now Open on Sundays...

It wasn't all that long ago that almost no stores were open anywhere in Europe on Sundays. Now that has all changed. No, it's not like the U.S. where everything is open, but it's moving in that direction.
Why? Well, here is one possible explanation: a recent poll in northern Belgium showed that a whopping 5% of the residents go to church regularly on Sundays. What are the other 95% supposed to do all day? Ah, they are learning American ways over here...sadly.

As Beautiful As Everyone Says...

The tour books all said that Florence was special, that it was
the "capital" of the Renaissance, that it was an artistic jewel,
that the architecture was memorable, that the sights were
unique, that the food was to die for.
And guess what - they were right on all counts!