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!

Dangerous Fields of Flanders

The last bombs of World War I fell in Flanders, in western Belgium, 92 years ago. But they're far from forgotten. Police in the tiny village of Westhoek responded to 3,000 calls in 2009 - over 8 each day - from residents who had uncovered ordnance from the Great War. Over 200 tons of unexploded bombs, shells, mortars, grenades, and even gas canisters were disposed of. This certainly seems like a huge amount, until you realize that about 720 million shells and mortars were fired on the western front in the four-year war. It is estimated that as much as a quarter of all of these never exploded. In the district of Ypres, scene of the most famous trench warfare, nearly 600 people have died since 1918 as a result of still-deadly ammunition; the most recent, only 2 years ago. In northern France they have similar experiences: just last month an entire village had to be evacuated for a week when someone stumbled onto a huge German munitions depot, where 30 tons of shells were removed in what around here is often called the "Iron Harvest." Now there's something you don't see in the States...

Siena...But Not Burnt

Ever wonder where the name of that weird brown Crayola "burnt sienna" comes from? Well, as a kid, I did. And now, here's the answer: from the fantastic Italian renaissance town of Siena. Where the 2nd "n" comes from in the crayon will have to remain a mystery for other scholars. In any case, this town lived up to all its hype and then some - it is truly a jewel in Tuscany. Smaller and not as loaded with art treasures as Florence (the post from there will be coming in a couple of days), Siena manages to maintain that 15th/16th century flavor better than her rival to the north. The view from our hotel room, for example, was of a block of houses at least 350 years old, towered over by a side view of the massive cathedral, or Duomo. There was only a handful of tourists here, making it even nicer. Evidently you do not want to be here in mid-August, with the overpowering heat and crowds. As for food: nothing short of spectacular. For dinner we had a boar stew with spinach cooked in olive oil. I tried the famed local wine, Chianti, and found it a bit powerful. One glass was more than enough. For lunch the next day, before catching the bus north to Florence, it was pizza. Like almost all pizza in Italy (and in most of Europe for that matter), thin and crispy is the rule. Not much tomato sauce and no huge gobs of cheese. It's about as far from Pizza Hut's deep dish as you can get. Fine by us!

Tongue Twister? Or Phenomenal Art?!?

Many, many years ago, when I was a camper at Kennolyn Camp in the redwoods of California, we were taught a tongue twister revolving around a single word: Piccolomini. The game was to say the word over and over, as fast as you could, to a tune which put stresses at different places. We were told this was used by disc jockeys to hone their on-air skills. Little did I know that such a guy actually existed.
Actually, it was a family of very wealthy folks in Tuscan Siena; two went on to become popes.
More importantly, a local painter was asked to celebrate the life of Pope Pius II who was, you guessed it, a Piccolomini.
And celebrate he did! This unbelievable "library" is in a small chapel in the Siena Duomo, with frescoes well over 500 years old. That's 500 years. What was going on in the U.S. back 500 years ago? Gives one pause, as they say.
This may be the most remarkable church art in the world, in a cathedral that arguably is the match of St. Peter's in Rome.
All in a little town, off the beaten path, with about 10 tourists on its streets (we represented 20% of that total)...