Never thought I would say this in my whole life but… I spent my Holidays traveling Europe from Christmas in Germany, to New Years in Belgium, and finally starting 2013 in Venice. All of this including some stops along the way.
I will begin with Lowry’s family came to visit for 3 weeks so we rented a car for most of our journey.
Lowry driving the manual….
Now this may look very normal but if you KNEW what Lowry and I had gone through with a manual car the night before. A little recap would include…us fighting, Lowry breaking or what seemed like breaking the car, and us practicing in the middle of the night in a random parking lot somewhere in a Brussels suburb. This stress has seriously put our relationship to the test ha ha.
After 5 hours of sleep we started our adventure driving to Amsterdam…in the dark…with a broken gps….and google map directions. Just a little FYI about the interstates here: Know what cities you are heading towards because the interstates are numbered/lettered very differently and N,S,E, or W is not specified on the signs. After making the ring of Antwerp 1 full time we were on our way in the right direction.
2 hours later we arrived at the airport to pick everyone up. We started the adventure in Antwerp for a few days and random day trips before we headed to Germany for Christmas!
We drove to Maastricht for the day to enjoy some lunch and see a new city. The drive was only 2 hours and completely worth the trip. The city of Maastricht is adorable with great local shops and beautiful views of the Meuse River. I would recommend taking a trip if you are ever near this city.
Lunch with the Family
Restaurant Beaumont in the Beaumont Hotel. The hotel has been owned and managed by the Beaumont Family since 1912. Highly recommend eating here:)
Lowry and I at Lunch
<3
Lowry and his family in Maastricht
Day trip in Maastricht
After just a few days getting the family settled and over the jet lag from their journey, we headed to Dusseldorf, Germany! We spent 3 nights here hanging out the city enjoying the Christmas markets, lights, local food, and the Gluhwein!! The Christmas markets here were great, in fact the whole city was great! To my surprise, I enjoyed Germany more then most of our other trips:)
Dixie enjoying a night cap with us in the bar on Christmas Day!
Centerpieces! I loved these with cotton. So simple and beautiful.
Lowry, his dad, and his Grand-father!
Lowry and I at Christmas lunch. Beautiful dining room!!
Christmas Day! Lunch at Meer Bar.
Schussel Brewery Lunch. This was the best local food in Germany!!
Tower Lunch in Germany
Lowry and I loved the German nightlife! However, the beer was not as good.
Walking around the city after dark! Dusseldorf along the river!
Christmas Markets!
First dinner in Germany
After Christmas in Germany we all headed back to Belgium. Before getting back to Antwerp for New Years, we took a drive to the Belgian Coast! We saw some beautiful city centers during our drive including Cologne, Liege, Ypres, and Depanne. We spent a few days on the coast enjoying great food, In Fields Flanders Museum, the cold weather :/, and Belgian Chocolate of course!!
Gilbert not enjoying the Road trip…
Lowry and the FREEZING Belgian Coast!
Ypres
Ypres
In Flanders Fields Museum. GREAT museum, one of my favorites. In Ypres, Belgium city center!
Belgian WWI Poster.
An exhibit showing all the wars since WWI
After all the road trips, we ended up back in Antwerp to enjoy a few days of wondering and eating great food before New Years! I had 2 of the BEST meals of my life during these days. If you come to Antwerp and want to splurge on a fancy meal you MUST try these two places. 1) De Reddende Engel - the website looks a little iffy but the place was DELICIOUS. Great experience and not a tourist trap even though right near Cathedral. I give *****! 2) Huis de Colveneir- This is such a wonderful experience. We ate here for our New Years Eve dinner. They start out your reservation with a tour of the wine cellar and some tapas. Then direct you through the kitchen into a dining room. Absolutely wonderful. Lowry’s mom and grandfather did not make it until midnight, but the rest of us ran out of the restaurant 10 til midnight and headed towards the river where we watched the fireworks in the rain:)
We ended the night watching the fireworks along the river!
Huis de Colvenier. Our dining room!
Huis de Colvenier’s wine cellar
Huis de Colvenier’s Wine Cellar where we received our first glass of Champagne and tapas.
Lowry and I. New Year’s Eve
Beginning our New Year’s Eve Dinner
Outside Huis De Colvenier
De Reddende Engel
Lowry’s Grand-father at De Reddende Engel
Lowry and I at De Reddende Engel
Our traveling was still not complete after all the Holidays! After New Years we headed off to Venice, Italy! We experienced water taxis, vaporettas (public bus), a lot of sunshine!!, the island of Murano, and a little Italian Opera:)
Hotel Boscolo, Venice
Beautiful Hotel room in Venice
Beautiful Murano glass that reminded me of New Orleans!
Views of Venice while in the water
More views of Venice
Our Hotel’s private water taxi
Venice after dark
San Marco Square after dark
Getting in and out of the taxi
Just loving the sun and each other!
Sunset in Venice
Sunset on the Grand Canal
More glass blowing
Taxi Ride!!
Italian Opera
Just some guys blowing glass
More views of the water
Glass Sculpture- They were all over Murano Island
Lowry and Cappy
Murano
Let’s just say we were EXHAUSTED after all of this! But we were able to see so many beautiful cities. I promised to share more of our travels but hope I did not overload you with the photos:) We are headed to France for the weekend so I will have more fun travel pictures soon!!!!
Enjoy the week and hopefully stay warm. It is freezing here in Antwerp!
Wow – what a great road trip! It’s awesome how easy the travel is over here and how much you can pack into a short time. We did 5 countries in 4 days over the holidays. And we went to the Belgian coast too! Flipping freezing!!
Wow 5 in four days!? It is very easy but that sounds exhausting (and exciting) as well. I thought we were crazy but we had 3 weeks! I know! The Coast was SO cold. We actually braved the cold to see the beach a while and the wind was so strong you could just lean all of your weight forward and be held up….I have never tried to walk in wind that strong and I moved to Europe after a hurricane! However, I also was not walking outside along the water in the hurricane either…:)