Paris in Late Winter (Feb 07)

Paris

A funny Metro sign....even funnier if you've seen "Jackass."

The Arc de Triomphe

Viewing the Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe

Viewing Sacre Couer Basilica (at the very top and back)

(Look top right) The not so "golden arches" on Champs Elysses (Once required by law to be white)

Like this MUST be the best tour company in the wrorld (Gain is my maiden name)

The Eiffel Tower at night

Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

Cris & Mike

Looking down from the 1st floor

Looking down at the lines...not too bad right now

Notre Dame gargoyles

Walking up to Versailles Palace

Looking down on Paris at sunset from just below the Sacre Couer Basilica

Ok, now everyone say "frommage." The steps at the Basilica


I think that you can figure this one out...

Napoleon's Tomb

The actual tomb

Look in the center, through the fog. It's the Eiffel Tower...really!

Ah, Paris in the spring…well…late winter

First, I have to admit that what I expected out of Paris and what I got out of it was VERY different. My friend Pam put it best when I was telling her about my trip. “It under promised and over delivered.” Heck, even Mike had fun (ha ha). Of course, we both have our own biases against the French, and many of them are well deserved. I even joked that France would be a great country if the French would just leave it. Now all that aside, I have to confess that I really did enjoy my time in Paris. In fact I would be willing to go back if the opportunity arose. However, I still have many other places that I want to see, so the only way I think that I will ever get back is to convince Mike or someone else to go to Euro Disney with me.

We left Germany by train on Friday evening and arrived at Gard du Nord (a HUGH train station) at 9pm. Our hotel was two blocks up the street so we had to get there, get changed, and get to Moulin Rouge by 10:30. Surprisingly we made it with time to spare. As “athletic shoes” were not allowed I had brought my heels in a bag and slipped into them while we waited. We had to deal with an obnoxious Russian tour group while in line, which just confirmed my feelings that Americans no longer hold the title of being “ugly traveler.” Only one of their group was in line ahead of us. As the others showed up she just kept lifting the rope and letting them in. Of course by that time there were hordes of people behind us so we had no where to go and ended up being jostled and rudely shoved. It’s time like these that make you miss the good old days when the Iron Curtain was still up. What made it even more frustrating is that the 10 “door guards” monitoring the crowed did nothing about it. On a happier note, when they got to the main door the Russian group had all pulled aside and were made to wait as the rest of the people whet into the sweltering lobby.

The coat check was mandatory and cost two Euros per person, which was just setting the mood even lower. Then we were herded into another waiting area to the side of the theater doors. We could hear that the earlier show was still going on and grew even more frustrated as our 11pm show time passed. By now everyone was packed in the different holding areas and sweating like pigs. People were fanning themselves and yet only one over head fan had been turned on. I was grateful that we weren’t trying to see the show during the summer heat wave as I think I might have passed out. Just a side note, you do not have to be dressed very fancy to get into the show. I saw quite a few people in jeans and t-shirts. I didn’t see any sneakers per the theater policy, but I figure that as long as they get their money they probably don’t really care. Finally the doors opened and we had to wait another fifteen minutes while the crown swarmed the coat check and restrooms. Mike and I agreed that the theater needed to put Disney organizers in charge at the crowd management would have been much smoother.

Once the seating began things moved a bit faster and smoother. We were seated at a table to the left of the stage on the first riser, so we would have a great view, not that any table really had a bad view. The actual theater was air conditioned which improved our mood quite a bit and the waiters were hauling ass to get everyone their drinks before the show started. Our table could seat six, but we only have five which made it a bit nicer. I became a bit worried when the first dance number stated as it was a bit lame, well it was really lame. The dancers were wearing very cheesy silver sparkly outfits. The guys were wearing what can only be described as shiny and sparkly “old lady” baseball caps; the kind that have large brims, are slouchy in the crown, and are worn by old women who use too much makeup and wear gaudy clothing. The music and dance number was not impressive and I really began to wonder what I had gotten us into.

I am delighted to report that after the first number, thing got a whole lot better. The three vaudeville acts were all unique and very entertaining. The dance numbers really improved and there was even a section where Medusa threw the “virgin” (yeah, right…not in that outfit) into a large pool of water that had lifted up on stage. In the plexi-glass pool there were about five or six large water pythons and the “virgin” had to “fight” them off. As this was going on, I began to wonder when the PETA protest would start. The swimmer had to grab the snakes, while holding their heads up, roll and dive in the water to pretend like they were trying to drown her. The snakes were more interested in going in the opposite direction from her, so it was amusing. I was not overly much impressed by the “drama.” But the staging was cool.

What I really enjoyed and had been looking forward to was the Cancan number. I was NOT let down. It was just plain fun to watch and the dancers were really impressive. Sure the girls were doing kicks and splits, but I was really blown away by the two male leads that were doing flips and splits. I would highly recommend the show to anyone with the warning that that it’s overpriced, but a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

After the show we got out coats out of hock I slipped back into my sneakers and we headed out to the street. Since it was so late, almost 1:30 am, the Metro was closed so we could either walk or take a taxi back. It was such a nice evening that we decided to walk. This was made more fun as we were headed through the heart of the Red Light District of Pigalle (called Pig Alley by the WWII US service men). For the next few block there were packs of people everywhere waiting to get into clubs or trying to get us to go into the clubs. Unlike Amsterdam, there are no window prostitutes and even the sex shop windows seemed tamer. As the crowds thinned, we stopped at a Greek sandwich shop for some take-out and made our way back to the hotel. The walk was over 30 minutes, but very safe and enjoyable.

Saturday morning we were on the Metro by ten and headed out to out first stop, the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. At the Arc we had a little difficulty finding the right underground passage that would take us to the center of the twelve street traffic circle. Running across the street to get there simply was not an option, unless you seriously had a death wish. Once under the Arc it’s pretty impressive, even more impressive is watching the traffic. The cars in the circle have to yield to the twelve streets of incoming cars and many of these streets are multiple lanes wide. It’s amazing that we didn’t see a single crash while we were there. Mike paid the fee and walked the spiral stairs to the top. He said that the view was fantastic and I took his word for it.

A funny thing happened to me right after he headed up. I had seated myself on a bench at the rich tower and started reading my Rick Steve’s guide book. An older European man with a young boy came up to me and he asked me “Are you going up?”
I shook my head “no.” He then wanted to know if I had family going up. I said “yes,” but I wasn’t sure of where he was headed with this conversation. He then explained that he wanted to take his son to the top, but as he had a small suitcase it would be difficult to take with him. He asked if I wouldn’t mind watching the case for him. I said no problem, but “please hurry” as I was only going to wait as long as my husband took for his visit. He thanked me then asked if I was an American, I nodded yes, and the man and the kid went to go up to the top, leaving me with their bag. Then of course I started thinking to myself, “What if there is a bomb in there?” That would be a perfect way to blow something up and to be able to get away as some dumb tourist watched the bag with the bomb in it. So then I decided that if was my time to go I couldn’t really do much about it and I just hoped that the bomb would kill me rather than cause a painful maiming. Since I was sitting right next to the bomb chances were good that I would die even if he was a crappy bomb maker…so I just kept reading.

About fifteen minutes later the man and his son reappeared and he thanked me for watching his bomb…I mean bag. I found out that he had just taken his son to Euro Disney and that they were doing some Paris sightseeing before heading home. I just found it strange that a few years ago I would have never even thought about such an innocent situation in such a nefarious way. I also know that if someone from the Mid-East asked me to watch their bag I would now think twice. This is sad in a way.

Next we headed down the Champ Elyse which was not a fancy as I had thought that it would be. Sure, the Mercedes Benz dealer had a showroom there and there were plenty of watch shops, but I just can’t consider places like The Gap and The Disney Store as “exclusive.” The Mc Donald’s was doing good business, even if they had to paint their famous arches white. We strolled for quite a distance before getting back onto the Metro and heading towards the Eiffel Tower.

After a short Metro ride across the Seine we arrived at the stop for the Tower and had to walk a few blocks to get to it. When we first exited the station our view was blocked, but once it came into view…wow. I was really impressed. I don’t know what I had been expecting, but the architecture of the tower is really stunning and it was a lot bigger that I had imagined. The lines to go up were quite long so the decision to wait until Sunday to ride up was easy to make. We walked all over the park and even saw a tour company by the name of “Gain,” that had a cool family crest on the back. We had a very delicious, but overpriced lunch just a few blocks from the tower. The crepes were delectable.

After lunch I almost became victim to the latest Gypsy scam. As we were walking back to the Metro a group of four girls were walking towards us. Due to their head scarves I assumed that they were either local Middle Easterners or tourist. One of the girls asked if I spoke English and I assumed that they needed directions to the Tower. So I said “yes,” then she tried to hand me a piece of paper. The typed words were “Ladies and Gentleman…” I quickly put my hands up, shook my head “no” and walked away accompanied by Mike’s snickering. I realized at that point that the girls were more than likely Muslim Gypsies. During the rest of our visit we tried to simply ignore any girl that asked if we spoke English and believe me, these girls were everywhere. My guess is that they know that Americans (and perhaps the British) are very generous and they know that they can get money from a lot of us.

Next were the Catacombs, one of my most favorite stops during the trip. The catacombs are part of the giant limestone quarry that has been excavated under Paris. During the 1780’s all of the cemeteries were filling up and becoming a health hazard. So it was decided that the bodies had to be removed to make more space. Over the next 80 years over 6 million skeletons were exhumed and placed down in a huge section of the old quarry tunnels. After the project began one mayor of Paris decreed that the bodied needed to be carefully and respectfully placed in the catacombs rather than just dumped. The result is miles of passageways that are filled with artistically placed human remains. The spines, ribs, pelvis, and small bones are stacked in the back of niches, in front are the thigh bones and humorous, usually topped off with the skulls. In many of the areas the skulls are placed within the long bones to make designs such as crosses and hearts. I tried to take pictures but flashes are not allowed and it was pretty dark down there. Many of the paths are now closed off, but you can look through the gates and you see nothing but more stacked bones. It was really a macabre but amazing sight.

Our next adventure was less than exciting. We had a few hours to spend before our dinner cruise so we took the bus #69 tour as recommended in the Rick Steve’s guidebook. Well, Rick steered us wrong on this one. We would have been better off sitting in a pub just taking in the atmosphere. We did get a good view of Paris, but it wasn’t what I would consider time well spent…unlike drinking in a pub. At the end of the route I peeked into the Pere Lachaise cemetery but we didn’t have time for a stroll. We never got back there and it is something that I would like to visit if we get back to Paris.

To save time, we took the Metro back to the Seine and got in line at the dock for the dinner cruise tour. I had been hoping to buy our tickets right before the cruise, but there was not a booth there, so we just got in line and hoped that there would be space available. There were two very obvious lines forming, one for couples and one for groups, but to my amazement people just refused to acknowledge the lines and crowed up at the entrance to the dock. I think that only the Brits and Americans understand and appreciate the concept of queuing up in a line. Once the river boat moored up and we were waved on there was a little jockeying for position, but we managed to not let too many people cut in front of us. That just really pisses me off. How can people walk up and pretend to not see the line and then get indignant when you expertly elbow your way rightly ahead of them?

Although there was a little confusion when we first boarded and we were told that there were no extra seats, the head waiter came over before we walked off and asked us to wait to the side as he was sure that they would be able to seat us. We obviously didn’t get the best table, but the meal more than made up for it. The lamb shank was fork tender and most of the food was easily identifiable with only one item that I refused to eat. I simply cannot eat goose liver. I don’t care what fancy name that you give it, it’s still liver. The view of Paris at night was really beautiful and after dinner we went to the top deck and we got to see the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle at the top of the hour. It’s really incredible to see. After dinner we headed back to our hotel as we wanted to get up early to get in line to go up to the top of the Tower.

On Sunday we were up and in line at the tower at 8:45 with only six people ahead of us. The line grew quickly and within 30 minutes there were a few hundred people behind us. The tower is set up with four elevators, one in each of the “piers,” but people are lemmings so they just got into the one line behind us. As we were waiting at least 3 bus loads of Asian tourist were dropped off and they had to cut through our line to get into the tour group line. Not a single one of that group excused themselves as they cut through the line that we were in. Well, except for the last 5 Japanese tourists from the final bus load. Then some of the Asian tour guides marched brazenly up to the ticket windows, as if they had been waiting there the whole time. Luckily the “line monitor” had shown up and made them go get back in the line with their tour groups and then even yelled at them when one of the guides tried to move the barrier to allowed her tour group to move up to the ticket window. Mind you, we had already been in line for 35 minutes and they had just arrived.

The funniest thing that we saw while waiting was the tour bus of Asians, who were dropped off, walked around under the tower with their guide, took pictures, boarded their bus again and left. There were some stereotypes being filled with that group. We were joking with the others in line that the Asian group had to hurry as there were seeing Europe in a day and had to rush because were eating lunch in London. There were also small groups of French military walking around in groups of three. I was a bit amused as I just don’t think that the Eiffel Tower is that big of a mark for terrorist (think of the logistics and how hard it would be to really get enough explosives up the tower to cause any real catastrophic damage).

In the typical European fashion the three ticket lines were a bit blurred and at 9:15, when the workers moved the entrance to three separate lines (groups, ticket holders, non-ticket holders) at least 20 people just walked up to the front and cut in. I and the American couple behind us were really pissed. The two families in front of us just took it in stride and said nothing. One couple that really upset me was the British couple who should have know better. The only think that made their cutting in front worth it was what they were wearing and the entertainment of making fun of them. She had some big ass floppy knitted hat and poncho from the 70's and he was wearing a black velour track suit with wide framed, Elvis styled, trendy sunglasses that had some fancy designer emblem on the earpiece. I think I saw Katie Holmes wearing the same thing on the cover of “People.” Let’s face it, he was wearing a women’s jogging/lounge suit and sunglasses.

Once the line finally opened the tour groups had to wait as the “singles” were allowed to purchase their tickets. Then we went inside the pier structure to board a two story elevator. The elevator goes up to the second deck of the tower and then you have to get off and board another elevator that goes to the top. Well, “Mr. Tracksuit” and his gal hadn’t noticed that the first elevator had two doors so they had pushed to stay in front of the wrong doors and ended up last in line to get onto the second elevator, so at least the rest of the people in the elevator had some justice for their cutting in line.

The view from the third floor was very impressive and if I ever get a chance to go back I’ll be sure to go up at night. Mike and I also enjoyed all of the historical information that was posted around the viewing platform. As the third floor is small, it filled up fairly quickly so after taking a bunch of photos we made a beeline for the elevator to the much larger 2nd floor platform. We ended up in the elevator alone, well except for the attendant, but it was nice to spend a minute without being squished or jostled. The view from the much larger 2nd floor platform was also very nice. You are high up enough to see everything, but close enough to really make out what it was. We then took another elevator down to the 1st viewing platform which was huge. They had a post office and a little café where I grabbed some coffee and a pain au chocolate (chocolate croissant). Visiting the tower was well worth the wait, but I was also glad that we went early so that we didn’t wait for hours in line.

We took a quick visit to Notre Dame, I opted to not go inside simply because of the long line, (but I really loved seeing the gargoyles). Then we went into the “Archeological Crypt” at the other end of the square. That was really a waste of time and money. Sure it may have been neat to see some old Roman ruins…if I hadn’t already seen so much of the same thing and in much better condition so many times before. Yes, they were “sex ruins,” just some more fucking ruins. We finished our visit quickly than we headed out to Versailles.

The rail system offers a “passport” to Versailles that includes metro, train, and entrance tickets. The train out to the palace takes around an hour then it’s a 10 minute walk to the palace. There was a lot of construction going on at the palace and the courtyard leading up to it was nothing but cobblestone which made walking a real bitch. Once inside we had handhelds that provided the tour narration. While the palace had many impressive rooms, I found myself fast forwarding through some of the descriptions as the narration was just too long winded. It would have been better if you had the option of a short or detailed tour. The world famous “Hall of Mirrors” was under partial restoration, but I was still able to get the idea of it. I was under impressed. The gardens were very beautiful but considering how much we had already walked and the fact that it was getting pretty toasty outside we opted not to stroll in it.

There were a few interesting things about the palace. King Louis XIV took what was his father’s hunting lodge, spruced it up and built onto to it, making it very opulent. After construction was complete, he degreed that it was to be the official home of the Court of France. This was so that all of the nobles and their “hangers on” were way outside of Paris and the King could really rule as he pleased. The king also kept the court busy with fancy dinners, plays and concerts. He also kept a VERY public schedule when he was in residence. This meant that he really had no privacy as people were in his bedroom when he woke up and when he retired.

After the tour we headed back into the “village” of Versailles and found a few streets filled with ubiquitous little European cafés. Surprisingly Mike suggested that we eat at a place that advertised serving American pizza, hamburgers, and Tex Mex. It was actually very good and the chicken enchiladas were the best that I have had in Europe so far. After our late lunch we headed back into Paris.

We really wanted to go the Hard Rock Cafe, but weren’t quit hungry yet when we arrived back in Paris. So we headed to the area where the Moulin Rouge and red light district are located. This vibrant and very busy neighborhood is located on the side of the hill and at the top is the Sacre Coeur Basilica. After getting off the Metro you walk about two blocks through a very busy merchant area and then take the funicular train up the very steep hill. Of course the train was broken that day and we had to walk the stairs. The park areas and stairs were filled with tourist, trinket sellers, and locals. Once we got to the top it I decided that the hike had been definitely worth the view. The very wide stairs up to the basilica were packed with people listening to a street musician and the steps in the park below were our only option for resting. Below us Paris was bathed in the glowing light of the setting sun and it was just about as perfect as one could want.

After a long rest, admiring the very and some intense people watching, we headed off through the neighborhood on an unplanned random tour. We knew that we wanted to head down the hill, but we took our time and explored a lot of the quaint side streets. As the sun finally set we reached the Moulin Rough and then took the Metro to the Hard Rock Café for a freakin’ fantastic bacon cheeseburger as one simply cannot live by crepes alone. This location had a lot of U2 memorabilia which was interesting for me to look at.

Monday was our last day and the weather had changed. Up until today the weather had been bright, sunny and a bit to warm for my taste. Now it was a lot colder and very foggy. Breakfast was a baguette with stinky French cheese as we took the Metro to the Hotel Des Invalides. This is the veterans’ hospital and retirement residence that was constructed under Napoleon. It is currently still in use as a veterans’ home but the grounds also house Napoleons’ Tomb and a really impressive war museum. This place is really worth the visit and I got a good chuckle at viewing the “awesome” war machine of France (heh heh). I’m mean, let’s face it, they have done nothing since Napoleon, other than surrender. The grounds are very close to the Eiffel tower, but the fog was so thick that you couldn’t even see where the first viewing platform was.

We still had plenty of time left before we had to get to the train station so we headed back to Champs Elysees to visit the Virgin Mega Store and The Disney Store. Well, I wanted to go to the Disney Store. We had been joking for month about eating McDonalds in Paris and as it was so convenient we did eat lunch there. Let me assure you, it is not the tourist keeping the place open as we were amongst many native French speakers who were also downing burgers and fries. While strolling down the street, a young girl wearing an iPod came up to Mike and tried the whole “Do you speak English” routine. We ignored her and went into a store. When we went out she had moved down the street, asking everyone the same question and even approached Mike again. We moved on and keep shopping. The third time she was working another block down and as she came up to Mike he said, “Don’t even.” She got the hint. Now, here is my advice for scam artist and street beggars, don’t wear your iPod while you are begging for money. It really ruins your whole “I’m living in poverty” image. After some more shopping and walking we headed back to the hotel.

Once we got our bags we went to a train station café where we were accosted by wild packs of roaming Gypsies. The girls, who are in groups of four, literally worked the crowd over going to each person and asking them if they spoke English. This wouldn’t have been too bad, except for there were about 5 packs of these girls doing this one after the other. I’m not exaggerating here. During the 20 minutes while I had some coffee and cake we were approached no less than five times. After the forth one came us I tossed up a hand before she could even ask if we spoke English. I then bitched to Mike that at least that they could was get to on a schedule as we would have already been picked clean by the other pack that had roamed through. That cracked up some of the other café patrons who were also getting very annoyed at the constant disruptions and begging. Finally the military guards walked through the area so the girls moved on to better pickings. I had one last 1664 (a fine French beer…who knew) and then we boarded our train back to Germany.

Brussels & New Year's

Belguim

Just an example of a typical Belgian house.....coat of paint anyone?

Brussels

The famous restaurant row


Yes, she is doing what you think she's doing.


Mannequin Pis..and yes, he's doing what you think that he's doing


City Platz


Check out my cool Austrain hat


City Platz


More of the city center


Another city center shot


Tammy, Elizabeth, and me...in my most awesome hat!


I'm not sure if I want to try that one......


New Year's Eve

The world famous Vienna Platter

Jaunty Hat Time!!

Catherine & Al

Pam & Doug

Cris & Mike

Mr. Boo give Gracie a New Year's kiss

Now this gal knows how to PAR-TAY!!!


New Year’s in Belgium

The interesting note about Belgium is that it’s just dirty. I don’t mean dirty in a good Red Light District kind of a way either. Everywhere you go the streets are bumpy and have lots of pot holes. The houses are missing roof tiles and the garden walls are crumbling. In many cases you will see farmhouses with at least one wall in need of serious repair and another shed on the property that looks like leftover WWII damage. Plus there tends to be a high amount of trash accumulation on the streets and in the bushes. You really notice it when crossing over from Germany, which is notoriously clean for the most part, then driving through part of Holland which is also very, very clean (The Germans call them the “scrubby Dutch) and then driving over the border into Belgium. It almost looks war torn in comparison to the other two countries. Since the Belgians are not exactly know for their fighting prowess we all joked that they were waiting to be overrun by the Germans again so that the Germans would clean everything up and repair the streets.

To make matters worse at night everything is lit up like the surface of the sun. The Belgians seem to have a love affair with street lamps. In the same space where the US highway department might see a need for one lamp, the Belgian have put up three. In fact, their section of the Autobahn can be viewed from outer space and is referred to as “the Belgian window.” This is true for many of the towns so that you can now view the trash and decimated structures at night.

Of course they do have good hearty food and thousands of different kinds of beers, so I guess that everyone is too busy eating and drinking to care that their village looks like a bomb when off, in fact the mess might be a left over from a bomb…who knows?

After we returned from our great Austria trip we stayed in Belgium for a few more days with our friends so that we could enjoy New Year’s with them. On the 29th, after sleeping in, we drove to Chievres US Air Base, which is their closest US support base. It was pretty darn tiny and made Schinnen (our US Army Garrison support base) seem more like a full service base. For dinner we went into Mons and had a great meal at a place that is referred to as “steak on a rock.” I don’t think that the US laws would allow this type of place, but it was FANTASTIC and fun. The idea is you order your cut of beef or lamb and a sauce for the side. It’s then brought to you raw sitting on a super heated stone brick that is resting in a wooden platter. The meat cooks inches from you and you can cut the meat and cook it to your liking. Of course having this hot rock right in front of you or passed over your shoulder can be scary at times. If this place were to ever open in the US there would be all kinds of lawsuits. I can just see the court case now, “Your honor, my client didn’t know that the brick cooking her meat was hot, so she picked it up to move it out of her way.” Anyway, the meal was fun and the beer even better!

The next day we took a 45 minute train ride into Brussels. Out of the four of us, I had never been there. We met up with Elizabeth and Tammy who we had met on our Austria trip. They both work at the US Embassy and live in Brussels. Tammy wasn’t feeling very well, but she toughed it out enough to join us for lunch. They day was spent just walking around the city center and enjoying each others company…oh and beer of course. Have I mentioned that Belgium has thousands of different beers?

Once we got into the central area we walked down the famous restaurant row, where everyone had a special on mussels. We made a quick detour down a dead end alley to see a little known statue of a girl peeing. This statue was the response to the popularity of the famous “Mannequin Pis,” which is a statue of a little boy peeing. I’m not really sure why there was need of a response. The Brussels city plaza was really beautiful and I enjoyed looking at the details in all of the architecture. We spent most of the morning just walking around and looking. I finally saw the famous statue of the nude boy taking a leak…A.K.A. Mannequin Pis in the flesh…well…it is a naked boy after all. That was a bit of a let down as it’s pretty small…uh, the statue is pretty small..so naturally is his…well, you get the idea. The statue is located in a wall nitch on at the corner section of a building at a crowded intersection filled with lots of other tourist saying “is that it?” After that we stopped in at another pub for a quick pick me up……beer. We ate lunch at a “Shwarma” place (Middle Eastern food, kabobs, gyros and such) as they are all over European cities. Unfortunately both Elizabeth and Tammy had to leave us after lunch, but it was fun spending some time with them.

The weather had been a bit chilly and windy, but luckily for us the rain didn’t start until the evening. We got to see part of the Christmas light show in the main plaza as we were walking back through to catch our train. We did not eat muscles in Brussels, so now I have an excuse to go back.

The next day, New Year’s Eve day, Catherine and I went to the market to pick up a few things for dinner and then stopped at the bakery for breakfast the next morning. Around noon Pam and Doug Wiggins showed up…then the fun began. First there was a Christmas gift exchange, and then out came the snacks and goodies. We basically grazed from 11 am until New Year’s Day. Pam had brought us little decorative hats to wear which were quite festive and lovely. Al had prepared Pam a delightful little platter of Austrian goodies as they had not been able to joining us on the trip. The platter was made up of Vienna Sausages, Vienna Fingers sprinkled with “Viennese” cinnamon, and of course, “Vienna-ger.” We then spent the afternoon watching movies, eating, drinking, eating more, watching another movie, drinking and eating.

When the evening rolled around we set up the living room to play cards. Nope, not poker or bridge, we were preparing to play what is now known as the worlds longest game of UNO. So for hours, we sat wearing our jaunty little hats, stuffing our faces and cursing each other as people kept playing “draw four wild cards” back to back. WHAT FUN!! Catherine had been steaming potatoes to go with dinner, but we were so full from the snacks that when they were done, we each just had potatoes with butter for dinner. Then it was back to the cards…..and the swearing….and the drinking…and the laughing.

Once midnight rolled around we did take a break to enjoy the “local” fireworks show. Now, dear reader, I ask you to think about this. As I mentioned before, the Belgians are not known for their ability to fight off invading powers…so was allowing them to play with dangerous and explosive fireworks really a good idea? At least it had been raining….all year, as it does in Belgium….so the fire danger was quite low.

After the break, it was back to the cards. It was at least another hour before the game finally ended and we had played one hand that that lasted for over two hours. Some of us may never be mentally equipped to play UNO again after that night. But overall, I have to say that this was really one of the best New Year’s I have ever had.

On the first day of the New Year I was able to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast of quiche, baked goods, hot coffee and the company of great friends. I really couldn’t ask for more… what a great time with great friends, that being said, I was dying to get home and sleep in my own bed (grin).

Christmas in Austria & Rothenburg

Salzburg


This is a traditional "Good Luck Pig." It has nothing to do with the Chinese "Year of the Pig."


The Christmas Market on Christmas Eve Day, Salzburg


St Peter's Abby cemetery




Look closely, can you see the von Trapps?


Veinna

Christmas Eve with Santa


The Austrian Parliament



My hat is better!


Tammy, Elizabeth, Catherine, Al, & Mike at the Sacher Hotel


Inside the Australian pub!


The city center


The Rathaus at night


100 Hunterwasserhaus

The crappy stairs at 100 Hunterwasserhaus

Heuriger food.....YUM!!!!

Sunrise from our Vienna hotel window

Last view of Austria

Rothenburg

The Night Watch tour guide...I wouldn't mess with him!

Outer wall

Entrance

Going to the village center

The Rathaus...guess which part was destroyed in WWII (It's the white part)

City street

Going to the Criminal Muuseum

The pasteries....

Christmas in Austria....and Rothenburg

This Christmas we went on a guided tour of Austria with our friends Al and Catherine who live in Belgium. The tour itself was sponsored by the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) department out of SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) which is the NATO base in Belgium where our friends work. At first the tour didn’t have enough people booked by the deadline, but someone, somewhere made the trip “happen.” So as it turned out, there were only 21 people, including the driver and his family, on the full size tour bus. Everyone had two seats to themselves, which made the longer travel days much more bearable.

Mike and I headed out to our friends’ house late in the afternoon so we would be able to rise early and go to the trip pickup point on SHAPE. After a great evening with our friends we went to bed early so we could be ready for our 5:30 am pick up. The MWR people were fantastic as they had hot drinks, snacks, and even a little Christmas bag of treats waiting for us. The bus arrived right on time and we each staked out our two seats. Mike and I had to laugh as the first two hours of the trip pretty much covered the same highway that we had just driven the night before.

The first day on the bus was a long one, but it gave us time to visit with the other travelers, watch movies, read, and for the lucky few, even sleep. The driving schedule was set up so that we stopped about every two and a half hours. The bus has a tiny restroom aboard, but it’s always better to use the toilet in the rest stops. Of course the jokes and bad puns started flying early and pretty much continued for the entire week’s trip. Many of the jokes revolved around songs that mentioned the name “Vienna” and foods such as “Vienna Sausages and Vienna Fingers” (a crème filled cookie). The songs included “Vienna Calling” by Falco (an Austrian artist who’s US hit was “Rock Me Amadeus.”) Then the song “Vienna” by Ultravox, which has the line “It means nothing to me. Oh, Vienna.” That line was repeated and sung almost on the hour. The biggest joke was a line from “Men in Black” where Kay introduces Jay to the “worm guys” who are in the break-room making coffee. Kay asks, “What are we drinking today boys?” and one of the worm guys answers, “Viennese cinnamon.” So it was a goal to go to Vienna, eat Vienna sausages and Vienna fingers while drinking Viennese cinnamon coffee and singing “It means nothing to me, Oh Vienna.” The best pun came from Tammy a few days into the trip. She had overheard us going over our “Vienna style food” list and offered up “Vienna-ger.” Get it? “Vinegar…Vienna-ger.” That had us rolling in the aisles.

A heavy fog stated to set in by the afternoon so as we got closer to the Alps and Austria we really couldn’t see anything worth viewing. The sun set around 4:30 so it was dark by the time we arrived in Salzburg. After breakfast the next day we drove down to the old city center of Salzburg for a tour and a visit to the many Christmas markets sprinkled throughout the area. There is a hill right in the center of town that had a funicular railway that took visitors to the top so they could visit the old fortress and monastery. The fog was so thick that it was almost impossible to see the walls of the fortress that were less than a 3rd of a mile up in elevation. Unfortunately our tour did not take us up there as we only had a few hours to visit the city.

As it was Christmas Eve day we got to hear church bells, lots and lots of church bells. In addition, the city’s glockenspiel played “Silent Night” on the hour. It was quite funny as our guide would begin to speak and then more bells from a different church would begin to ring. It was almost deafening at some locations. A very interesting part of the tour was through St. Peter’s Abbey cemetery and catacombs. Unfortunately the catacombs were closed due to the holiday. On an interesting side note, when the film makers of “The Sound of Music” went to the convent that Maria von Trapp had been studying at to possibly film there, they were told to “get lost.” While looking elsewhere they found the cemetery at St. Peter’s. When they inquired about filming there, they were promptly told to “get lost”. However, in the movie when the family is hiding from the Nazis in a graveyard, it is an exact replica of the cemetery at St. Peter’s in Salzburg.

We also saw Mozart’s birth house, which wasn’t really that special. While he may have been born in Salzburg, he really made a name for himself in Vienna. We finished up the morning with a little Christmas market shopping and drinking gluehwein, which is a hot spiced red wine. According to our guide the Austrian version is a little more notorious than the German gluehwein. “One glass makes you feel good, two glasses makes it so that you don’t care, and after three you can’t walk.” It seemed like a challenge to me, but alas I only managed to drink two cups before it was time to leave for Vienna.

Everyone really enjoyed our stay in Salzburg and my biggest complaint for the entire trip was that we simply didn’t get enough time in the city. It’s on my “list” of places to return to, I just don’t know if we’ll be able to get back there.

The drive to Vienna was quite pleasant. We stopped at a nice roadside resort and restaurant for lunch, but the fog was so bad that it was impossible to enjoy the view of the lake below us or the hills across from our location. We arrived in Vienna earlier than scheduled, which allowed us to take a “night tour” along the city ring. It’s a very beautiful city made even more beautiful with the many strings of white Christmas lights strung throughout the city streets and buildings.

Our hotel was located right off the main ring road and right next to a beautiful gothic style church. Our room was a bit small, but functional. The hotel was over 100 years old and was decorated in deep reds, dark woods, and very Victorian-ish style furnishings. The only exception was the European beds in the room. The Germans and the Austrians seem to favor a very low bed frame that has only a single mattress with no box spring. The height of the mattress is around knee level, which can make rolling out of bed a completely new experience. The bed frames are a small wooden box which holds a twin size mattress. In a double room two “boxes” are pushed together and sometimes a large single flat sheet is used as the bottom sheet. It can be very surprising to roll to the middle of what you assume is a double bed, only to jam your knee on the wooden frame between the actual mattresses. In other hotels, as this one, each bed had its own linen and duvet. There are no “top sheets” as the duvet has a covering that is changed (I hope) after each guest. The pillows are usually a very large square filled with feathers. Unfortunately, the pillows on this trip seemed a few geese short. Our room also had a “schrank” or “wardrobe” for our clothes, a small TV, and tiny “sitting area” which was in direct competition for suitcase space.

After resting a bit we freshened up and headed to the dinning room for out “gourmet Christmas dinner.” In Europe it is the tradition to celebrate with a large meal on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day as we do in North America. We sat at a table with out friend’s Al and Catherine and met another couple from our trip. After reading the translation of the “special” Christmas menu my heart began to sink. I was really looking forward to diving into some hearty Austrian roasts and such, but the menu was very “continental.” Which is the nice was of saying it was “foo-foo food.” And, while I tend to be very adventurous when it comes to eating, I wasn’t reassured by the evening’s offerings. I even began jonesing for the bag of beef jerky that we had up in the room and figured that Mike and I would be making a meal of it after “dinner.”

The starter was some kind of pate (which is foo-foo for “it’s made of liver”) whipped into a mousse with a special “crude ham.” Now, I like ham, but I wasn’t sure about the “crude” type. The “ham” was a prosciutto style, which while eatable, was a bit dry and lacked any real flavor. I didn’t try any of the pate-mouse as it is liver and I don’t eat liver simply because I know what a liver does and I’d rather eat a fuel filter than put liver in my mouth. I also know that when it comes to food, that it’s “mind over matter.” Well, I mind and it matters! Next course was the soup. Ah yes, I believe it was called “chestnut foam soup” with another fancy name for the semmel dumpling accompanying it. The dumplings are common in “Germanic” cooking and resemble a round ball made of cream of wheat which is then covered in gravy. Of course we started making fun of the soup name long before it was served. Can you imagine some poor chef who had to put his lips into every bowl of soup and make motor boat noised until the soup “foamed” up? Then after a dozen or so bowls, he would look up, moustache dripping with soup and declare, “For this I went to Cordon Bleu?” This had the six of us cracking up and the others in the group looking over. My guess is that they were jealous of all the fun that we were having. Oh, the soup was actually quite nice. It was a cream soup, blended with some chestnuts I imagine and went well with the cream of wheat ball.

The salad was uneventful compared to the other courses. Then the main course arrived and I was again sorely disappointed. We received a few tiny slices of goose breast that was stuffed with pate…you can just re-read my rant about pate/liver again if you wish. I scraped the liver paste aside and finished off the so-so goose meat. The sad part is that I was looking forward to the goose and it was a letdown, whereas the soup that we had made fun of was really good. During this meal I saw “Santa” walk by the dining room window twice and then we started joking that he was really a burglar who was staking the joint. Well, Santa did come in and gave us all a treat of the local Mozart chocolates. The dessert was nice, but not what any of us expected for an Austrian meal. It was a vanilla tort that had cake for a crust rather than the usual “pie like” crust. We were also served Christmas cookies along with our coffee, but based on their hardness they were the cookies left over from last Christmas. This observation set us all off into another fit of giggles and general silliness.

After the entire event was over we all went to our rooms as it was getting late and we were flat out exhausted. Some people choose to attend Midnight Mass at St. Stevens Cathedral, but I’m sure that you guessed that we were not amongst them. Later that night, promptly at 12:01 I was awoken by the bells of the “cathedral” style church right outside our bedroom window. It was actually really cool to hear the bells and think about what they stood for…then suddenly I had a gut ache. I went to the bathroom, but the ache got worse and worse. Then it became obvious to me that while the bells rang out announcing the celebration of Jesus' birth, I would be praying to him on the “great white.” Without going into detail, let me just assure you that it was a very violent episode that repeated itself four times and when I was done I was just grateful that I hadn’t knocked myself out cold on the toilet seat.

I brushed my teeth and returned to bed, feeling very weak, but much better. As I got comfortable I head Mike ask, “Are you OK?” I assured him that I was, but my body just ached from the muscle spasms. Then I teased him about waiting for me to return to bed before checking on me. He replied that when he’s sick that he’d rather be left alone and while I was sick he was lying in fear thinking, “Oh, great. We ate the same thing, so I’m next.” I’m happy to report that he was not next and it seems that everything just hit my stomach wrong for some reason…or maybe I should have attended mass. Of course puking at a crowded mass wouldn’t have been well received, so I’ll just stay home next year too, just to be safe.

The next morning, Christmas Day, I was ravenous and was very happy to see that the hotel served bacon, sausage, and eggs along with the more traditional offerings of a European breakfast. We met out friends and two more people, Tammy and Elizabeth, who work at the US embassy in Brussels. They were great sports as we made our plans for the day’s events. The original schedule had us taking a tour of the city, but as I mentioned earlier, the Austria tour had been canceled so we lost our tour guide booking and another one could not be found. Who knew that Christmas day tours were so common? The only thing that I had really wanted to do was to check out the “world famous” torte at the Sacher Hotel in downtown Vienna. Al and Mike wanted to find the downtown skating rink as four of us had packed our ice skates in anticipation of a Christmas Day skate.
We headed out along the ring road walking by the most fabulous Rathaus I have ever seen. (A Rathaus is the city hall; it literally translates to “advice house.” But the term “rat” has a nice ring to it don’t cha think?). There was a Christmas market on the grounds in front of the place, but we didn’t want to wait around for all of the vendors to open for business, so we pressed on. The walk itself was very enjoyable and we took some great group photos in front of the Austrian Parliament which was another incredible looking building. In fact, in my humble opinion, Vienna has the most beautiful over all architecture of any of the European cities that I have been too. It is very ornate, clean, bright, and beautiful buildings simply dominate the area inside the ring road.

When we got to the Sacher Hotel there was already a line outside the door to the café. I was bummed as I really wanted to try the torte that had been recommended to me by another friend. Besides, going to Vienna and having that torte is simply a “must do.” It’s even listed in “1,000 Places to See Before You Die.” We all know how I get about those “must do” things when I travel and I usually have a blast doing it, even if it’s really cheesy. So we decided to go a half block to Starbucks so Tammy could purchase a souvenir Vienna mug to add to her collection. A nice travel secret about Starbucks is the clean and FREE bathrooms. Of course the Viennese cinnamon jokes were flying at this point. Can you believe that the rat bastards at Starbucks didn’t even serve Viennese cinnamon? Once the mug was paid for and our bladders “rested” we headed back to the Sacher to discover that there was no line and we could be seated next.

Everyone but Elizabeth ordered the torte and some sort of coffee. She had been to Vienna before and said that she wasn’t impressed much by the torte, so she tried another delicious looking sweet. Looking back I can agree with her summation of the torte. It is a dry heavy cake covered in sumptuous chocolate. In the center of the cake there is a thin layer of an apricot preserve. It was nice, but if I were to go back I would also try another dessert. It was interesting to note that all of our coffees were served with a small glass of water in the true Viennese tradition. The coffee is usually quite strong and a glass of water afterwards really goes down well.

The rest of the day was spent leisurely strolling through the shopping district and participating in window shopping. The area was actually pretty full and a few shops, mostly selling souvenirs, we opened for business. I side street lead us to an Australian pub, yes, AUSTRALIAN….not Austrian. One is an island continent with kangaroos and well, there are no kangaroos in Austria. That provided a good laugh. We passed by St. Stevens Cathedral and headed towards the central park and opera house. Once there we posed for pictures around all of the statues of Mozart and Strauss. While we headed to a pricy hotel for a potty break we noticed that the Iraqi Embassy was located on some prime real estate right next to the park.

Everyone was getting hungry but we really didn’t want another hotel meal so we headed back to the city center in search of a cozier, less formal, and less expensive place to eat. We found an awesome Austrian pub (not Australian) that made a great goulash soup and featured about 100 different kinds of “toasties.” A "toastie” is just a slice of bread with different topping which are then…well I’m sure that you know this…toasted. I chose the “Transylvania,” which was two big slices of a dark rye bread covered with chopped garlic. It was delightful and it also ensured that I had enough garlic in my system to keep the vampires away for at least a week.

It was during this lunch that I mentioned that it was my dream to go to Romania and that I had found a great tour company that did a Dracula tour that I was simply “drying” to go on. Tammy’s ears perked up and she said that she had also wanted to do a tour like the one I was describing. I gave her some more information and then mentioned that I had inquired about the single supplement as Mike didn’t care to go. At this point she offered to be my roommate for the tour and now we are planning on going to Transylvania this Halloween.

After walking back to the hotel we had a bit of time to rest before dressing for dinner at the hotel and then we were off to a Strauss concert. After dinner I was very full, very tired, and ready to slip into my PJs and have an early night. I could tell that Mike was in the same frame of mind, but we decided to “gut it out” and do what one did in Vienna, which is attend a classical concert. The concert was at the “Kursalon Wien” which was completed in 1867 and first served as a “place to drink the curative waters; the Viennese soon claimed this wonderful building for their own purpose. Dances and promenade concerts, many of them conducted by Johann Strauss himself, of by his brother Eduard, filled this house with an atmosphere full of waltz enchantment and zest for life.”…ok, ok so on with my story.

During our bus ride there we passed directly by the ice rink that we had been searching for earlier that day and to add insult to injury, it was located right behind the hotel where we had taken a potty break and right across from the Iraq embassy. The concert was presented in a saloon style. The chairs were placed in row on the dance floor and the musicians were on a small portable stage in the front of the room. The event was only about half full and could probably hold roughly 300 people. Mike and I just cracked up when we saw the Grand Circle tour group and scanned the crowd for any faces that we might have recognized from our Egypt tour. We laughed harder when we spotted a tour member wearing very obnoxious green, red, black, and while plaid pants. Mike had been worried that his black jeans and cowboy boots wouldn’t be dressy enough, but after seeing the other guy he knew he was safe from the fashion police.

The concert ended up being a real highlight of the trip. It was a mixture of Strauss, Mozart, a Christmas medley, and a few other composers. They didn’t have a conductor, but played in the true Viennese fashion with a “leader” playing first violin as Strauss was know to do. During the musical performance there were couples who performed waltzes (no surprise there, eh?), some ballet (which I could have done without) and a freaking fantastic baritone who sang “The Magic Flute” and performed the other duets. The best part about his performance was his total stage presence. When he first came out he had a big grin and there was a slight chuckle because of his obvious Asian heritage. Once he opened his mouth he owned the room. I have to admit that seeing an Asian dude sing in German was a bit strange, but he really made the show memorable.

The next morning was spent on the bus touring the outer part of Vienna. Our tour guide was from Romania and while she spoke English, she was difficult to understand at times and she spoke too quickly pointing out one sight to the next. I began to wonder if she ever stopped for a breath. After the outer city tour we visited the Hunterwasserhaus which is a subsidized housing apartment complex that was designed by a modern art painter of the same name in the 80’s. He believed that “straight lines are godless” and was against “window racism” meaning that each window in the complex was different. He planted trees on the roof, so that there was sever water damage to the top floor units and trees also grow out from the side of the building. While you cannot visit the actual apartments there was a shop across the street designed in the same style. This “style” is actually very disconcerting as all of the walls, floors, and even stairs have some sort of curve and unevenness to them. I almost become motion sick in the restroom there do to the curvature of the walls, stalls and the very vibrant graffiti style of art work. On a side note, almost all of the original tenants moved out complaining of sprained ankles and furniture that wobbled due to the uneven floors.

Next we headed with our guide to the city center where she, like our guide in Salzburg, had to compete with the church bells. At this point we had already visited many sights so five of us decided to give our regrets to the tour organizer and slip away from the tour to do our own thing. They were headed to the royal palace next and I have a good feeling knowing that I would not be missing much as I had already head my filled of old furniture and artwork. I have to admit that I’m getting a bit jaded about most of the churches, palaces, and famous works of art. It’s kind of like all of the sex temples in Egypt, after awhile it’s just another fucking temple.

Our little adventurous group walked the side road parallel to the main shopping drag and ended back up at the Australian pub from a day earlier. We squeezed into a small table area and ordered some fine Aussie beers. The family sitting in the only booth at the back of the pub was getting ready to leave, so we poised ourselves to take over that spot ASAP. Another group of 3 had come in and they were also eyeing the same spot, so as soon as it was appropriate we tossed our winter coats over the railing and Al made the dash to claim the area as ours. Ah, teamwork!

The menu was a little unique as one of the appetizer platters had battered crickets on it, which we all decided to skip. Some got the fish and chips, but most of us ordered that kangaroo burger, which was actually pretty tasty. We drank more beer of course and just had a fun time hanging out.

After heading back to our hotel a few of us checked out the Irish pub that was just down the street. Of course the guys who came in to watch the football (soccer) match had to sit right next to our table and light up. Then when I cheered for the wrong team I received death stares, those Brits take their soccer way to seriously if you ask me. So I went back to our room for a bit of a lie down before dinner.

Dinner was a real treat as we went to a Heuriger, which is a “typical” Austrian home-style restaurant that served up food “family style” and provided live music. The restaurant was in an old house and we were seated in a room at the top floor. The accordion player stayed in our room throughout most of the meal and played many famous Austrian waltzes, folk songs, songs from The Sound of Music, and even a few American favorites such as Home on the Range.” FYI, “Edelweiss” the song from “The Sound of Music” is NOT the Austrian national anthem and it is most certainly not even an Austrian song. However many enterprising Austrians now market music boxes with the song in it simply because Americans will buy it. Plus, all of the musicians there now know it.
The meal itself was served on large platters at each table. We had the usual European style salad, which is mostly julienne carrots, cucumber, and cabbage. Then there was a platter of potatoes and cooked veggies. The main platter was piled high with pork and ham slices accompanied by the best roasted chicken I have ever eaten.
Unfortunately the drink selection was not that great. Traditionally you drank a “young” white wine and mixed it with carbonated water. They even had the old fashioned “spritzer” bottles. They only had one kind of beer and it was very disappointing. Being that I’m not a huge fan of white wine (and the fact that it wasn’t very good) I drank a lot of the carbonated water. The entire experience was a lot of fun thought and I would recommend it to anyone going to Austria.

The next morning we began our return trip, planning to stop in the early afternoon in the medieval town of Rothenburg, Germany. Even after all we had seen and done, this visit was really a high point of our trip. Rick Steve’s uses a picture of the village on the cover of his “Germany and Austria” guide book, as do many others. It’s one of the most perfectly picturesque villages I have seen outside of Disney World. Our hotel was outside of the city walls, but we were within a 10 minute walk to the center of the old village. Now it is a tourist town, but one well worth seeing. It is listed as having one of the best Christmas markets in Germany. The best recommendation I can give about Rothenburg is, if you go to Germany, make a point to spend one day here. It’s small, so that’s all you need, but you will enjoy yourself so much that you will thank me later!

Our group of 5 headed into town in the late afternoon just to do some general exploring. We crossed over the moat and under the drawbridge casement and it was like we had walked into anther century. Even though half of the village was destroyed in WWII, it had all been repaired to its original look. The entire village is surrounded by a wall and you can walk along that wall. Most of the stores were geared towards the tourist trade, but they really had some beautiful trinkets at great prices. There were also many lanterns, wind chimes, ceramic goods, crystals, semi precious stones, decorative stones, antiques, medieval costuming both decorative and authentic, and the most comprehensive German souvenir shops that I have even seen in my life. At that shop I found one of the best hats in the world. It was red velvet and had a stuffed devil on the front with his tail attached to the back. It most certainly got a lot of laughs when I wore it for the rest of the evening.

At dinner time we meet our entire tour at the Rathaus (City hall) and walked to our restaurant for dinner. In the typical European fashion, dinner was very slow being served, so we had to leave before dessert in order to join the famous “Nigh Watch Tour.” Only our group of 5 went on the tour that followed a night watchman as he made is rounds through the dark village streets. He provided us with much of the history of the village and explained many of the reason behind some of the unique architectural structures. It was money well spent. After the tour we headed back to the restaurant where we had eaten dinner and enjoyed apfelstrudel and coffee before heading back into the cold night and walking to our hotel.

The next morning was also ours to spend as we wanted in the village. We visited the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum and then did more shopping. I went back to the great souvenir shop and purchased a Christmas Pyramid. That is the wooden stand that has different levels that spin due to the heat from the candles that surround it. Our friends bought a decorative crossbow and battle ax that was more functional than decorative. We all had some coffee and a famous pastry that is made in the village, which I can’t seem to recall the name of. It was dough strips that had been rolled into a ball, fried, and then dipped into various coatings. To be honest, it wasn’t the best, which is probably why I can’t seem to remember the name.

We boarded the bus at 1pm and headed back into Belgium to end our journey. We drove though Luxembourg City, but the sun had already set so I really couldn’t see much but the lights from the autobahn. We stopped for dinner right inside the Belgium border and had the worst meal ever experienced on our trip. On our “travel days” we had been stopping at the roadhouses right alongside the autobahn, while expensive, the food had usually been very decent and there was a fair selection of hot meals, soups, salad, and sandwiches. This place was just awful. I mean, it was bad enough that they were speaking French, but the restaurant had been picked clean. There were no sandwiches, there was one kind of unidentifiable soup, and I have no clue as to what the hot meal really was. When we looked in the store part of the facility they had 3 cheese sandwiches left in a very large cooler. Needless to say a lot of people went hungry.

Last meal aside, the trip itself was a wonderful experience and I’m very glad that we went. It was such a blast to spend the holidays with friends and to make new friends on the trip. If given the chance I would most definitely do it all over again. The best part is that our vacation really wasn’t over at this point as Mike and I were going to spend New Year’s at Al and Catherine’s….which is another story.