A few weeks and pounds later

After a few weeks in the States Steve and I have returned to back to Brussels. We celebrated a late Christmas with Steve's family and then Chinese New Year with mine. We also got to see some friends (although not as many as we would have liked to) and did some shopping and lots of  eating. Lots of eating. Before even returning to the States we had already created lists of things to bring back and places/food we wanted to eat. Belgian food is just different and if I had to choose to spend a day eating in Brussels or Minnesota I would choose Minnesota easily. Brussels has some great things but overall it lacks the the variety of tastes and ethnic foods that I can find in Minnesota(which is a little shocking). So needless to say a few pounds were gained by eating Chinese food, Indian, sushi, pizza, pancakes and lots of meat (there is something about the beef here that is a little off putting to me and the bacon here is sad). I also visited Starbucks at every opportunity (the smalls there are huge compared to my small coffees here)

We got a lot of questions about if it was weird to be back in the U.S. In general there is a bit of indifference. Steve and I are beginning to feel like nomads and we use the word "home" to refer to different places depending on the conversation. Home can be the U.S, Minneapolis, Brussels, and Beaver Creek. We've gotten to a place where we have become comfortable in all of these locations. Of course that doesn't mean we don't notice differences between the different "homes" The common phrase between us has been "oh that's right, here people xyz. You don't see that a lot in the other country" For example:

Oh that's right in Minnesota people wear their pajamas in public (specifically Target, 2pm in the afternoon), you don't see that in Brussels. People are always well dressed, even their children always look like they just stepped out of gap ads.

Oh that's right in Minnesota people actually smile and say hello when you walk into a store or sit down at a table. In Brussels customer service is not as friendly. I always tell Steve it feels like all of Brussels behaves like the DMV. Working, but with no urgency and limited friendliness.

Oh that's right, people in Minnesota drive in the left lane here. Even though they are not passing, barely driving the speed limit and holding up at least a mile of traffic behind them.

Oh that's right, people in Brussels just let their dogs poop anywhere. Gross.

Then there are also things that we just see differently now that we've been in Brussels for awhile:

People seems to drive sooo slow in  Minnesota. Both Steve and I were told at least once while driving "ummm you know your not driving on the Autobahn right"? I think on average people drive at least 80mph on the freeway here, not 55mph(maybe on the side roads)

Minnesota is actually really sunny. Cold but sunny. Its so rainy and dreary in Brussels.

One morning I drove Steve to the office, it was snowy and traffic was crawling. I thought to myself, why was I missing the snow again?

In Minnesota people are so...white...American. Not a judgement in any way, its just that there is a lot more diversity in Brussels.  Here,  I hear people speaking French, Italian, English, Dutch everyday.

Its fun looking at a place with different perspectives. It was a great trip, I miss my friends and family back home, but its good to be back home too.

Christmas Road Trip to Austria

This year we spent Christmas in Austria. In previous trips we have either taken the train or flown, this time we decided to take our first road trip in Europe. It was about 8 hours one way, complete with a bathroom break and a stop at McDonalds (which were ridiculously nice and clean for being on the side of the road). When we started in Brussels the weather was warm and dry and the road signs were in French. As we continued our drive the road signs changed to Dutch and then German and the weather got colder and wetter beginning with some rain and the finally snow. For most of Germany the roads are lined with thick forests of big evergreen trees perfectly dusted with snow. Eventually the trees turn into snow cap mountains as we get closer to Austria. It is seamless traveling through the countries, there aren't any passport check points (these went away with the creation of the European Union) and the roads are smooth and fast. Since much of German roads do not have any speed limits we average about 100-110 mph. Additionally what I love, love, love about Europeans is that they take the concept of driving in the left lane and passing only on the right seriously. You didn't see slow cars in the right lane holding up traffic for miles behind them. The last stretch of road to our hotel was a lot slower as it was snowing and the road up the mountain  was like big windy u shapes all the way up.

Our snowy view from our hotel

Austria was like a beautiful winter wonderland to us. We stayed in a small town near Seefeld Austria, which feels like it is nestled in the mountains. As we walked around the town we could see snow and mountains everywhere. There were plently of walking and skiing trials as well as down hill ski areas. We stayed at a family run hotel that felt more like a bed and breakfast. From our room we had fantastic views of the town below and the mountains. During our time in Austria Steve got to get in some cross country skiing. I also tried my hand at skate skiing by taking a few lessons (by the way it is so much harder than it looks). After skiing (or attempting to ski) we loved sitting in the hotels sauna. It feels so good to go from the cold cold outside to a hot sauna or hot tub. As a note we  the european swimsuit style has a lot less fabric.

Good morning...

...and good night

Look at all the cross country skiers

The town we were staying at

On our way back to Belgium we stopped by the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany. The castle was built in the 1800's by a king who only lived in the castle for a king for less than a year. According to the tour guide, the king was deemed as unfit to rule and then mysteriously died in a lake with his psychiatrist.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside, so I don't have any of those to share, but the outside of the castle is actually the inspiration for the Disney World castle in Florida.

We ended back in Belgium perfectly safe without any hiccups. We spent NYE in Brussels. Here they celebrate by shooting fireworks off at midnight. Its been awhile since I've seen any fireworks so it was a great way to celebrate the New Year. Happy New Year everybody!