3 Countries in less than 3 hours.

Living in Europe definitely has more than a few benefits. One of those being the fact that you can visit and experience many different nations and cultures within a days drive! I rode on the Euro Tunnel train for the first time without any explanation to how our car would get across the channel. :P Little did I know that we drive our car right onto the train and sit in it while we dive a few hundred feet below the water's surface for an easy half hour ride. Val had the great idea of driving our cars onto planes when we fly so everyone gets their own space! Although I'm pretty sure that would take up a lot more space and gasoline...
Anyways, we came out of the tunnel onto French soil! The port is in Calais, France. It was beautiful to drive through the French countryside as we made our way to Brugge, Belgium. I had never been to France and will hopefully get to do more exploring there someday, but we watched a gorgeous sunset before driving over the border.
Brugge is really a cute place - cobble-stoned streets, bike roads, canals, bridges, teashops, clock towers, WAFFLES and homemade chocolate on every corner, and even some horse-drawn carriages! Flemish is the language mostly spoken there (I guess it's sort of a combination of French and Dutch), though almost everyone we interacted with knew some if not perfect English. I'm sure the majority also know more than two or three languages. That fascinated me actually! To be in a place where I couldn't understand a word made me want to learn how to speak in five different languages!
My Uncle Steve, cousin Dan, Val, Audrey and I went out to a nice dinner a few blocks from our hotel. The primer/appetizer they brought out was a salmon puree or mousse; not the most appetizing appetizer to me. But I did try it and gave the rest of it to sixteen-month-old Audrey who somehow loved it! We did get some awesome mushroom soup that was almost as good as my moms. :) I tried a Belgian beer with a Brill fish and potato dish that was all very good. To top it off my uncle and I split a lemon sorbet doused in champagne for dessert. To say the least we were all very happily filled!
The next day us girls (Val, Audge, and I) walked around the cute town and did some shopping. We found some treasures and tasted some great Belgian chocolates (which may or may not make it back home with me.. :P). A smoked ham and goat cheese panini was the perfect meal to tide us over until an afternoon Belgian waffle dessert. Tell me what is better than eating a Belgian waffle topped with icing sugar, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries in Belgium?! It definitely left us with good thoughts of Brugge as we headed back to the UK!

Belgian waffles in Brugge...

...need I say more

Trip to Oxford Welcomes 2011

December 30th, 2010 to January 1st, 2011 I experienced the English college town of Oxford to bring in the new year! Daniel, Valerie, Audrey and I joined by my Auntie Annie, Uncle Steve, and cousins Jeff, Jessa, and Emmie drove two hours north to visit Oxford University where Jess will be spending the semester studying through a program called The Summit. Oxford is bigger than Canterbury, but has a cute downtown center filled with shops and cafes and crawling with people at the right time of day. It was nice to stay at a hotel within walking distance from everywhere we wanted to be. For our first night's dinner we strolled down to the Eagle and Child Pub, famously known for being the regular meeting spot of J.R. Tolken and C.S. Lewis. We enjoyed some beef and ale pies (quite the English pub meal), along with a ginger beer that I found actually pretty tasty! It was fun to be out with family exploring a new place.
New Year's Eve we shopped around town, then decided to go to the cinema to see the newest Narnia movie. I have to say that English movie theatre popcorn is not nearly as butter-loaded as ours! It was a great movie and Audrey made it half-way through before she started yelling and "Poppy" (Uncle Steve :P) had to take her for an adventure outside. After the movie we all went to a nice dinner at an Italian chain restaurant called Zizzi's. I had an excellent pizza and taught Uncle Steve how the 3D movie glasses come in handy even after the 3D movie! Back at the hotel the eight of us gathered in one room to celebrate the New Year together. We continued a great tradition of talking about and recording the highlights and significant events of the past year, 2010. It amazes me how each year that goes by only goes by faster than the last! Next we all gave our predictions for the next year, 2011, relating to anything really! It was fun to hear what everyone thought and to dream a little about what the future holds. We spent the last thirty minutes of 2010 praying with each other, thanking the Lord for all that He has done and all that He's going to do, and simply dedicating the year 2011 to Him and His purposes. At midnight we pulled some poppers and were surprised by a little fireworks show outside our hotel window. Though it was a different kind of New Year's celebration, I was so content to be where I was at, surrounded by people who care about me and who want to please and praise the Lord we serve.
It was a great trip to bring closure to 2010 and welcome in the year 2011!