Belgian Harley Rally in Leopoldsburg

After chauffeuring the Moms around for several weeks, Russ needed a little guy time. He took off to Harley Fest in Leopoldsburg with some friends. The streets were filled with revving motors and testosterone. This is the Belgian version of Daytona Bike Week.

Russ was in his element. He had a great time, but I bet it wasn't nearly as much fun as driving a bunch of women (and Brandon) all over Europe. It's hard to beat that kind of excitement.

Brandon's ITouch

This is a story about a boy and his ITouch. Brandon is 13. He and his sister take an hour long bus ride to school each day, and then an hour back home again. That's 5 days a week. 20 days a month. You get the picture. Now take into account that everything is very spread out here in Belgium, so just a basic errand could mean an hour or two in the vehicle as well. And we tend to travel a lot. In other words, he spends a lot of time listening to his ITouch. It would be safe to say that music is a very big part of his life. And videos. And apps. He does love his apps. Brandon got his ITouch a couple of years ago for Christmas, and I've never seen a happier kid. It goes everywhere with him. Grandma and Nana came to spend a few weeks with us this summer, so we've been driving all over the place and showing them the sights. Brandon's trusty ITouch has made each trip as well, safely tucked into the pocket of his jeans, and the little buds nestled into his ears. Until a couple of days ago. Due to the heavier than usual traveling schedule, I haven't been keeping up with the laundry as well as I usually do. The washer and dryer seldom stop during the few days here and there we are actually in residence. I haven't been as attentive to double checking each pocket before tossing items into the washing machine as usual, either. You see where this is going, don't you? Yes. It happened. I pulled a load of blue jeans out of the washing machine and noticed a thin, black cord wrapped around a piece of material. It looked familiar. I followed it to the rest of the headphones. There was nothing attached to the other end, but that did not make me feel any better. I knew what I would find. Sure enough, there was his ITouch. It was still tucked into the pocket of his jeans. And it was ruined. I was disgusted. Brandon was in denial. "It'll be OK, right?" he asked. "No. I'll do my best, but I think it's done." Devastation. Then I remembered reading something online about someone dropping their IPhone in a pool, fishing it out, and sticking it in a bag of rice. It was fine after that. I figured I'd give that a try. You have to understand that the ITouch went through an entire cycle in a front loading European washing machine. That means an hour and 48 minutes of tumbling back and forth while completely submerged in water. This was not just a dip in a pool. This was serious. I filled a zip lock bag with white instant rice, tucked the ITouch into it, and left it on the kitchen counter. It sat there for a little over a day. I tried to turn it on, and ... nothing. Then the hubby said that it might work if we charged it, so we did. And guess what... It actually turned on. It had a water mark on the center of the screen, but it worked! We were amazed! And thrilled! And amazed some more! This was about a week ago, and over the past few days, the water mark has slowly faded out and the ITouch appears to be pretty much perfect. All of the songs and videos are still on there. The only thing I had to replace were the ear buds, but that was it. Hopefully we all learned an important lesson from this near fiasco. We'll all be a little more careful with our expensive and precious property, for sure. ITouches are amazing! If an absent minded 13 year old boy (and his overworked Mom) can't destroy it, then no one can. Thanks Apple. You rock!

And Then There Was One

Nana flew back home to Mississippi today, and her 3 week European vacation has come to an end. Her final tally of countries visited is: Belgium, The Netherlands, England, France, and Germany. Not all of them gave her a stamp in her passport, but hopefully each gave her lots of lovely experiences and memories. Grandma is going to hang out with us for a little longer. She is very brave. Think nothing of that little twitch she's developed. I'm sure it just means she's having tons of fun as well.

Ramstein and Spangdahlem

Just so that the Moms fully appreciated our shopping experiences over here in Europe, we hauled them over the Spangdahlem and Ramstein Air Bases. They even got to go into the biggest AAFES in all of Europe. I know. It's exciting.

There is a great view of the Mosel River valley just off the highway on the way to Ramstein.

This is where all that Riesling wine we love so much comes from.

The Moms got to ride on the famous Autobahn! That is an experience in itself. Just remember to keep an eye on the signs, so you don't miss your Ausfahrt due to the high speeds.

Back To Beautiful Brugge

Brugge is one of those cities that you just have to see. It's one of the prettiest in all of Europe. With time growing short, we took the Moms over there to check it out. We started our tour on the bridge of the Lake of Love, in front of the Poedertoren (gun powder tower).

We then followed the canal into the city to visit the ducks and swans. That's the Princely Binguinage on the left in the background. Legend says that Maximilian of Austria forced the inhabitants of Brugge to keep swans until the end of time, as a punishment for the murder of bailiff Peter Lanckhals (long-neck) in 1488.

There are several ways to see the sights of Brugge. My favorite is just walking around, but others prefer a horse drawn carriage. The place to hop on one of these is the Wijngaardplaats. You'll recognize it by the horse fountain (and all the horse carriages).

St. John's Hospital dates back to 1181, and it was where the Augustine nuns and brothers of St. John tended to the sick and sheltered the poor.

A "must see" place in the city is the Church of Our Lady. It houses Michelangelo's Madonna, as well as other amazing artifacts. The statue was donated to the Church in 1514, by Jan Mascroen.

The Gruuthuse Museum is housed in the Palace of Gruuthuse, built between 1465 and 1470. It's a beautiful building.

The canal in front of the Dijver is so beautiful, you just have to pose by it.

I'm sure our friends and family in the South have noticed the jackets in all of our pictures. It's just been so chilly here. I'm sorry about all the heat you've been getting. I feel real bad about that. No, really. I do.

Another stop on our tour is the wall of beer. On this wall, you will find a bottle of each beer brewed in Belgium. You'll also find some great quotes by famous people.

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin 1706

He was a wise man who invented beer. ~ Plato 428 BC

Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and the solution to all of life's problems. ~ Homer Simpson 1987

There are lots and lots of great shops to check out. Did you know that Brugge is famous for it's lace?

The Town Hall was built in the Gothic style between 1376 and 1400. You'll find it in the Market Square.

The Market Square is home to lots of famous buildings. This is the Belfry. It's 83 meters tall, and symbolizes the power and love of freedom of the burghers of medieval Brugges.

When you see a picture of Brugge, most likely it will be of these buildings.

What a lovely group of tourists standing in front of the monument to Jan Breydel and Pieter do Coninck.

We decided to take a boat tour of lovely Brugge, and we were not disappointed. From a boat, you get a real feeling for this canal based city. The tour guides are fantastic, and have lots of interesting stories to share.

Plus, you get to view the landmarks from a completely different angle. It's gorgeous. And very relaxing. Did you know that Brugge is referred to as the Venice of the North?

Here is another view of the entrance to the Princely Binguinage. The gate was built in 1776, but the buildings were built in the 13th century. There are no more benguinages. The nuns belong to the order of the Benedictines, established here in 1927.

The building in the center of this picture is a restaurant. The entire building is only two doors (or windows) wide. I'd love to eat in there, just to see how it looks inside.

There is a very famous inhabitant in Brugge. He's a golden lab who spends his days relaxing on a pillow in a window on the canal. He is probably one of the most photographed dogs in the world, and even appeared in the movie In Brugge. I'm afraid that he doesn't give autographs. He said that would be tacky.

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Here's something else you might have seen in the movie In Brugge. This is the hotel that the bad guys stayed in.

Passing another tour boat.

30 minutes later and we were back at the start of our boating adventure.

It was a lovely day in a beautiful city, but it was also getting late, so we started our stroll back to the train station.

It's always sad to say good-bye to Brugge, but I know I'll be back. She's one of those cities that you love to return to.

I hope your day was just as magical as ours. From Brugge, with love.

Achel Abbey And The Lilse Windmill

Achel Abbey sits on the border between Belgium and The Netherlands. It's a great place to have lunch, so that's just what we did.

Plus, it's a cool place to take pictures. Now Nana can say she's stood in two countries at the same time.

And Grandma can say the same.

This church is very close to the Abbey, and it's beautiful as well.

Coming home from lunch, we noticed that the Lilse Windmill was turning. I've never been by it when it was actually turning, so we decided to check it out.

We were excited to find that not only was is open for a little tour, but it's actually a working windmill! How cool is that? The Lilse Windmill is open on the 2nd Saturday and 4th Sunday of each month, from April to October. They are open from 1pm to 5 pm on those days. They said if the blades are turning, then they are open, so stop by.

For a nominal fee, farmers bring their grain in to be ground up to feed their animals. They don't grind up grain to use for people, because that would mean much stricter cleanliness rules that they would have to follow.

This gentleman was absolutely awesome. He took us throughout the entire mill and explained how everything works and what it was used for. He's a volunteer at the windmill. We got to see the mill in action, and that was VERY cool. I've gotten to go inside a windmill before, but never one that was actually working at the time. Here, he's showing us how they repair the grinding stones. It's all done by hand.

I think the Moms got a big kick out of it, as well.

This is where the grain is poured into the grinding stones.

This is a view from on top of the last section that I showed. We got to go all the way into the top of the mill.

After touring the inside, we got to go around the outside and learn how the blades work. They closed off some of the sail because the wind was so strong that day. It works a lot like a sail boat. They can actually turn the blades into the wind for less windy days, and away if the wind is blowing too hard.

Windmills were very important to the community in the past. They were used not only as meeting places, but also as message centers. The position of the blades could send out a message to people far away. One position meant a baby was born, another meant someone had died. The Germans destroyed lots of windmills during the war, because they were afraid that the locals were sending out messages about the soldiers using the position of the blades.

This was probably one of my favorite days in Belgium. I've always loved windmills, and now I have a great appreciation for them, as well as the people of Belgium. Not only did we get an amazing private tour, a young lady stopped by with some delicious cookies and shared them with us. If you ever find yourself near the Lilse Molen, stop by and say hi. You'll be glad you did. I plan on going back soon, and I'll be bringing some friends with me.