Saturday, November 1, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Gina & Doug's European Vacation
Hello Everybody. This is my first blog ever and what prompted me to do it was the recent trip my husband and I took to Europe. We returned from Europe exactly one month ago tomorrow. I decided to start this blog so I could share our photos and experiences with family, colleagues and friends. I took so many photos and have so many wonderful memories that if I don't document them now, I will forget the details and I certainly don't want that to happen!! I kept a journal for about 75% of the trip but fell a bit behind in Rome. Hopefully I will recall most of the details and since I kept every ticket stub and receipt, I should be able to piece together the entire trip.
To get started, I will give you a little background. One year ago, I participated in a charity golf tournament for the Austin Business Travel Association. Peter G and William A were my colleagues on the team and Peter kindly bought me a raffle ticket for two round trip business class tickets to Europe (thanks Peter!!). The day after the tournament, I received the call that I won the raffle and I have to tell you, I screamed and bounced all around my office and nearly had a heart attack!! Doug and I decided that the best time to go to Europe would be the spring or late summer (while school was in session so we could avoid the crowds) and since there were no flights available in April or May, we opted for September. Everyone that knows me at all knows that I am obsessed with my job and would only ever leave during a slow period so that's what we did.
I spent hours this past summer scouring books and websites to come up with the perfect itinerary and I must say that I did a pretty darn good job. I knew for sure that I wanted to spend significant time in Paris and Rome and I found a way to make that happen. I apologize in advance for boring you with tiny details such as how much stuff cost, but I want to help friends and family that may visit Europe in future how to find some good deals and have a great time.
Before we get to the meat of the trip, I must take a moment to thank my Dad for dog/house sitting. I love you DAD!! And my precious baby sister Nicole, for taking care of Dad while he watched the house!! I missed you so much while I was gone and thank you for all you did in my absence. Here's a story within a story: Nicole was recently promoted due to restructuring in our company and spent three weeks training to be a supervisor at Airport Fast Park. Well, the day I left, one of my assistant managers quit! My beautiful Nicole was thrust into a position with a lot of responsibility and she handled them very well. See, because Nicole is my sister, many think that she has to prove herself at work. Well, guess what? She did prove that she can do a great job on her own without me and I am proud of her for that. I never worried about work while gone which is absolutely a first for me. Thank you also to Steve & Samantha, my colleagues that helped make this trip stress free. Also, the rest of the staff at AFP is totally awesome and I love you all.
This trip was truly a 'trip of a lifetime' for Doug and me and I never could have dreamed that I would be blessed with such a great opportunity. Bob and Carol Neumann were the best parents a kid could ask for. I can't imagine that parents could show more love than our parents showed us growing up and they taught us to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds us. In Europe, I felt like the child I was when Mom and Dad took us camping for two weeks through Yellowstone Park. Of course, they took us on tons of trips throughout the years, but I want to thank them for taking Bobbie and me to Yellowstone (sorry I threw up on you the first night, Bobbie, but the altitude really messed with me!)
Also, I am grateful that I work for a company that supported my leaving for nearly three weeks and trusting that I left the operation in good hands.
So this is how this is going to work: I am going to continue posting this blog with photos and commentary until I have covered the entire 18 days. I know that blogs usually show the last entry first but it wouldn't make sense to have a journal in reverse so this is going to be one big old blog. It will probably take about a month to complete, but don't we have all the time in the world? I wish...
We decided to fly into Brussels because one of Doug's friends from early in his aviation career lives in The Netherlands which would have been a short train trip from Brussels. Unfortunately, Stewart recently retired from KLM and is relocating to Vancouver Island so we were not able to meet up. Hopefully, I will meet you next time.
I was so excited about the destination that I didn't really think about how great the journey would be, but let me tell you about our journey to Europe. As I mentioned earlier, we won business class tickets and boy, was that a luxury. We flew first class to Chicago and then hopped on business class from Chicago to Brussels. We had a bumpy start though. In Chicago, we got settled in and ready for our flight to Brussels and waited and waited until we were informed that we had to change planes due to a mechanical issue on the original plane. After about a 3 hour delay, we finally were in the air and headed to Europe. We were treated to Champagne, warm nuts, roasted peppers and mozarella appetizer and filet mignon. Not to mention all the wine we could handle! Oh, and ice cream sundaes for dessert. After that, we could watch movies (I chose Sex & the City, Doug chose Indiana Jones), listen to music and lay back and take a rest for the night. A few hours later, we were offered a nice breakfast but after all that food from dinner, I could barely eat a container of yogurt! Oh, I forgot to mention the 'amenity kit' we were given: ear plugs, mask, socks, tissues, pen, etc. all in a little kit. That was so cute!! And a nice warm quilt to cover up with while we slept. Perfect.
During our layover in Chicago, we met a professor from Kansas State (which, by the way, is a beautiful campus) who was flying to Brussels with his wife, his administrative assistant and her daughter for a conference. We parted ways but managed to meet up with them again once we landed in Brussels. Lucky thing because we had no idea how we were going to get into town or to our hotel. As I mentioned earlier, I did a lot of planning, but I left a lot of holes (little details) out of the itinerary. Professor helped us get on the train into town but they were off to Paris so they could visit the Louvre the next day (free admission the first Sunday of the month).
Doug and I wandered around the station for a bit and then ventured outside for help. We only had to venture a couple of blocks to the Grand-Place which is one of the most beautiful squares in the world:
Doug and I were pretty amazed by the square and the surrounding buildings. We were tired from our trip, so we decided we'd better head to our hotel. When I made the hotel reservation, I didn't really know where we should stay since we were only going to be there for one night, so I opted for a reasonably placed hotel outside of the city center. We couldn't really find the hotel on the map so we decided to take a cab instead of the Metro this time (this was the only time we took a cab on our entire trip). The cab driver kindly got us there and instructed us on how to use the Metro to get around. The Chelton Hotel, for 65 Euro was a good deal but a bit shabby. The room was very large and except for the carpet, very clean. It was located on a quiet street and was only two blocks from the Metro station. The Metro tickets in Brussels are 1.50 Euro which I believe was the most expensive on our trip, but the system is very easy to use, clean and uncrowded. After taking a nap and much needed shower, we headed back to the center of town so we could walk around at eat dinner. It was still pretty early in the day so we were able to cover quite a bit of territory. The photos in the slideshow labeled 'Bruxelles' show all the images we captured in Brussels. Take a look at the photo 'Manneken Pis' statue. The statue is a bit hard to find and we weren't even looking for it when we just ran into it. The statue is Brussels' favorite little boy doing what a little boy has got to do. The statue has been around since the time of Philip the Good who became count of Flanders in 1419! It's quite an attraction in Brussels and he is always dressed up in a costume for those who visit.
On the square, they were holding a beer festival which apparently happens about every weekend in Brussels because they have enough brands so one could drink a different brand every day for a year. The square was crowded, but we decided to go ahead and eat around the square anyway so we could be part of the festivities and people watch. Of course, I had to eat mussels (moules) from Brussels, their famous dish served with Frites (fries). We were not disappointed with the mussels, fries and beer but saved enough room for the other staples in Brussels, waffles and chocolate!
We walked around for a while longer, window shopping and looking for a place to get a great waffle and we were not disappointed. I just got a plain waffle with a crispy dark sugar coating that was just delicious. Doug went all the way and had a waffle covered with chocolate and whipped cream...c'est bon! We found a little chocolate shop and bought a couple pieces for trip back to the hotel. Something about the chocolate in Belgium is different and I can't quite explain it but am willing to continue tasting it until I figure it out!
We had tickets for our train trip to Paris on the Thalys high speed train Sunday afternoon so we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. The Chelton actually included a continental breakfast that was excellent and much different from an American breakfast. It included meats, cheeses, bread, cereal, fruit, yogurt and other pastries. This was probably the best breakfast we ate on our entire trip because we soon learned that breakfast isn't as important to Europeans as it is to Doug and me. We took the Metro to Gare Central which is the central train station in Brussels and then took a train to Gare Midi which is the south train station where you can catch trains to other cities throughout Europe. We had a few hours to kill so we stepped outside and found the largest open air market I have ever seen in my life! You name it, they were selling it...any kind of food you can imagine, hand bags, clothes, personal items, the market seemed to go on forever. After walking around a while, we had a bite of lunch in the station which is a very nice, modern, safe train station.
Good bye Brussels, we are off to:
To get started, I will give you a little background. One year ago, I participated in a charity golf tournament for the Austin Business Travel Association. Peter G and William A were my colleagues on the team and Peter kindly bought me a raffle ticket for two round trip business class tickets to Europe (thanks Peter!!). The day after the tournament, I received the call that I won the raffle and I have to tell you, I screamed and bounced all around my office and nearly had a heart attack!! Doug and I decided that the best time to go to Europe would be the spring or late summer (while school was in session so we could avoid the crowds) and since there were no flights available in April or May, we opted for September. Everyone that knows me at all knows that I am obsessed with my job and would only ever leave during a slow period so that's what we did.
I spent hours this past summer scouring books and websites to come up with the perfect itinerary and I must say that I did a pretty darn good job. I knew for sure that I wanted to spend significant time in Paris and Rome and I found a way to make that happen. I apologize in advance for boring you with tiny details such as how much stuff cost, but I want to help friends and family that may visit Europe in future how to find some good deals and have a great time.
Before we get to the meat of the trip, I must take a moment to thank my Dad for dog/house sitting. I love you DAD!! And my precious baby sister Nicole, for taking care of Dad while he watched the house!! I missed you so much while I was gone and thank you for all you did in my absence. Here's a story within a story: Nicole was recently promoted due to restructuring in our company and spent three weeks training to be a supervisor at Airport Fast Park. Well, the day I left, one of my assistant managers quit! My beautiful Nicole was thrust into a position with a lot of responsibility and she handled them very well. See, because Nicole is my sister, many think that she has to prove herself at work. Well, guess what? She did prove that she can do a great job on her own without me and I am proud of her for that. I never worried about work while gone which is absolutely a first for me. Thank you also to Steve & Samantha, my colleagues that helped make this trip stress free. Also, the rest of the staff at AFP is totally awesome and I love you all.
This trip was truly a 'trip of a lifetime' for Doug and me and I never could have dreamed that I would be blessed with such a great opportunity. Bob and Carol Neumann were the best parents a kid could ask for. I can't imagine that parents could show more love than our parents showed us growing up and they taught us to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds us. In Europe, I felt like the child I was when Mom and Dad took us camping for two weeks through Yellowstone Park. Of course, they took us on tons of trips throughout the years, but I want to thank them for taking Bobbie and me to Yellowstone (sorry I threw up on you the first night, Bobbie, but the altitude really messed with me!)
Also, I am grateful that I work for a company that supported my leaving for nearly three weeks and trusting that I left the operation in good hands.
So this is how this is going to work: I am going to continue posting this blog with photos and commentary until I have covered the entire 18 days. I know that blogs usually show the last entry first but it wouldn't make sense to have a journal in reverse so this is going to be one big old blog. It will probably take about a month to complete, but don't we have all the time in the world? I wish...
JOURNEY TO BRUSSELS BELGIUM
We decided to fly into Brussels because one of Doug's friends from early in his aviation career lives in The Netherlands which would have been a short train trip from Brussels. Unfortunately, Stewart recently retired from KLM and is relocating to Vancouver Island so we were not able to meet up. Hopefully, I will meet you next time.
I was so excited about the destination that I didn't really think about how great the journey would be, but let me tell you about our journey to Europe. As I mentioned earlier, we won business class tickets and boy, was that a luxury. We flew first class to Chicago and then hopped on business class from Chicago to Brussels. We had a bumpy start though. In Chicago, we got settled in and ready for our flight to Brussels and waited and waited until we were informed that we had to change planes due to a mechanical issue on the original plane. After about a 3 hour delay, we finally were in the air and headed to Europe. We were treated to Champagne, warm nuts, roasted peppers and mozarella appetizer and filet mignon. Not to mention all the wine we could handle! Oh, and ice cream sundaes for dessert. After that, we could watch movies (I chose Sex & the City, Doug chose Indiana Jones), listen to music and lay back and take a rest for the night. A few hours later, we were offered a nice breakfast but after all that food from dinner, I could barely eat a container of yogurt! Oh, I forgot to mention the 'amenity kit' we were given: ear plugs, mask, socks, tissues, pen, etc. all in a little kit. That was so cute!! And a nice warm quilt to cover up with while we slept. Perfect.
During our layover in Chicago, we met a professor from Kansas State (which, by the way, is a beautiful campus) who was flying to Brussels with his wife, his administrative assistant and her daughter for a conference. We parted ways but managed to meet up with them again once we landed in Brussels. Lucky thing because we had no idea how we were going to get into town or to our hotel. As I mentioned earlier, I did a lot of planning, but I left a lot of holes (little details) out of the itinerary. Professor helped us get on the train into town but they were off to Paris so they could visit the Louvre the next day (free admission the first Sunday of the month).
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (BRUXELLES)
Doug and I wandered around the station for a bit and then ventured outside for help. We only had to venture a couple of blocks to the Grand-Place which is one of the most beautiful squares in the world:
Doug and I were pretty amazed by the square and the surrounding buildings. We were tired from our trip, so we decided we'd better head to our hotel. When I made the hotel reservation, I didn't really know where we should stay since we were only going to be there for one night, so I opted for a reasonably placed hotel outside of the city center. We couldn't really find the hotel on the map so we decided to take a cab instead of the Metro this time (this was the only time we took a cab on our entire trip). The cab driver kindly got us there and instructed us on how to use the Metro to get around. The Chelton Hotel, for 65 Euro was a good deal but a bit shabby. The room was very large and except for the carpet, very clean. It was located on a quiet street and was only two blocks from the Metro station. The Metro tickets in Brussels are 1.50 Euro which I believe was the most expensive on our trip, but the system is very easy to use, clean and uncrowded. After taking a nap and much needed shower, we headed back to the center of town so we could walk around at eat dinner. It was still pretty early in the day so we were able to cover quite a bit of territory. The photos in the slideshow labeled 'Bruxelles' show all the images we captured in Brussels. Take a look at the photo 'Manneken Pis' statue. The statue is a bit hard to find and we weren't even looking for it when we just ran into it. The statue is Brussels' favorite little boy doing what a little boy has got to do. The statue has been around since the time of Philip the Good who became count of Flanders in 1419! It's quite an attraction in Brussels and he is always dressed up in a costume for those who visit.
On the square, they were holding a beer festival which apparently happens about every weekend in Brussels because they have enough brands so one could drink a different brand every day for a year. The square was crowded, but we decided to go ahead and eat around the square anyway so we could be part of the festivities and people watch. Of course, I had to eat mussels (moules) from Brussels, their famous dish served with Frites (fries). We were not disappointed with the mussels, fries and beer but saved enough room for the other staples in Brussels, waffles and chocolate!
We walked around for a while longer, window shopping and looking for a place to get a great waffle and we were not disappointed. I just got a plain waffle with a crispy dark sugar coating that was just delicious. Doug went all the way and had a waffle covered with chocolate and whipped cream...c'est bon! We found a little chocolate shop and bought a couple pieces for trip back to the hotel. Something about the chocolate in Belgium is different and I can't quite explain it but am willing to continue tasting it until I figure it out!
We had tickets for our train trip to Paris on the Thalys high speed train Sunday afternoon so we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. The Chelton actually included a continental breakfast that was excellent and much different from an American breakfast. It included meats, cheeses, bread, cereal, fruit, yogurt and other pastries. This was probably the best breakfast we ate on our entire trip because we soon learned that breakfast isn't as important to Europeans as it is to Doug and me. We took the Metro to Gare Central which is the central train station in Brussels and then took a train to Gare Midi which is the south train station where you can catch trains to other cities throughout Europe. We had a few hours to kill so we stepped outside and found the largest open air market I have ever seen in my life! You name it, they were selling it...any kind of food you can imagine, hand bags, clothes, personal items, the market seemed to go on forever. After walking around a while, we had a bite of lunch in the station which is a very nice, modern, safe train station.
Good bye Brussels, we are off to:
PARIS, FRANCE
We took the Thalys high speed train to Paris and I booked this trip long before we left the US and I believe the cost was about 29Euro per person. The train was nice and very comfortable, the trip under two hours.
Once we arrived in Paris, we hopped on the Metro to get to our hotel. I knew the intersections streets of the hotel so it was pretty easy to get there from the train/metro station. We stayed at the Cluny Square Hotel which was a very nice little boutique hotel in the 5th arrondissement (district) near the Latin Quarter. I knew immediately that we chose a good location for touring. The street below (St. Michel) was bustling all day and night but who cares, we were in Paris!!
We couldn't hang around the room for long that afternoon so we took off walking down St. Germaine Blvd. We spotted the Pantheon so we started walking toward the building and saw a beautiful church called St. Etienne. We visited the church and walked around the Pantheon which is a very impressive building. I looked down the street and spotted the Eiffel Tower which was probably about 5 miles from where we were. I was so excited I almost cried! We started walking in that direction and ran into Luxembourg Gardens so we walked through the gardens. I was amazed at how everyone was so relaxed and enjoying a beautiful evening just sitting on the chairs around the fountains resting, reading, talking or playing chess. The flowers and trees were so lovely and everything was so well groomed and beautiful. In one of the buildings, we found an exhibit of wonderful art (I can't recall the name of the artist right now), but we really enjoyed the show. We enjoyed sculpture around the gardens and felt refreshed after our visit.
We then decided that our first night would be a good time to visit the Eiffel Tower. It looked close enough, but we lost sight of it a couple of times so we probably walked about 1 1/2 hours before finally reaching the monument. We asked a few locals for directions and once we got on the right street, it was a straight shot. My legs hurt the next day after all that walking!! It was well worth it once we got there. I was surprised at how massive this tower is and how beautiful it is at night with the blue lights illuminating the tower to show off all it's intricasies. We waited in line for about an hour to get our tickets to go to the top (about 13 Euro each). We then waited while longer for the elevator. If I ever go back, I would opt to take the elevator 2/3 the way to the top. Once at the top, the area is too small and crowded so it was difficult to enjoy the view of the massive city below. Once we walked around the entire platform, we had to wait quite a while to catch an elevator down. Once we reached the first elevator stop, we could walk the rest of the way down and that's what we did. This was a great way to jump start our Paris experience! We found the train station pretty close to the tower and were back to our neighborhood in no time. We grabbed a pizza for dinner and headed back to the room exhausted.
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