Chocolate, Waffles & Beer

We set out on a Eurostar journey to Bruges, Belgium to find chocolate, waffles & beer last weekend to celebrate Cory's birthday. Luck would have it, we were successful in all three categories and had a wonderful weekend!

We did a little bit of research before our trip, but mainly focused on things to do in Bruges rather than learning anything about Belgium. I mean I could point to Belgium on a map and Cory could tell you that Hoegaarden beer comes from Belgium, what else did we possibly need to know. On our train ride over we were talking and neither of us even knew the official language of Belgium. We both thought Dutch, but learned a little history lesson that in fact Belgium has three official languages - French, Dutch & German. Depending on the region that you are in one language will be more predominant. Bruges is in fact the capital of the Flemish region and Dutch is the first language for most people. Neither Cory or I speak one word of Dutch so thank goodness everyone there also speaks English.

One of the things that Cory and I both thought was cool about Bruges is the architecture is all super old. Not 1800 old, we're talking some of the buildings dating back to the 1200s. Our hotel was right off of the City Market which is in the center of the city. There were tons of restaurants, shops and beautiful architecture everywhere we looked.

Highlights of the Trip:

• Delicious Waffles served with ice cream & chocolate syrup.  Not kidding you these things are AMAZING! 

• Brady pointing at the Belfry clock tower and saying "Look, Big Ben".  He amazes us every day at what he picks up on.  Even if it wasn't actually Big Ben, I was impressed.

• Wonderful meals - Everything we ate was fabulous!  Cory even tried Mussels which is the local specialty. When we started the bowl was overflowing.

• James greeting us at the Hotel entrance.

• Seeing the Holy Blood at the Basilica of the Holy Blood.

• Visit to the De Halve Maan Brewary- Brady had impeccable timing and slept for two hours in his stroller while Cory and I sampled the local brews.

• Walking through more than a dozen chocolate shops and seeing all of the different things chocolate can be molded into - Probably not appropriate for the blog, but can't resist posting.

• Watching Brady get so excited by the horse drawn carriages and listening to him say over and over "Another one coming" as the horses went by.  We took a horse ride Sunday morning and he was so excited!

• Seeing one of the only Michelangelo Statues outside of Italy - the Madonna.

• Random restaurant that wanted to charge 3 Euros to see the owners train collection.  We watched the trains for 20 minutes without paying - Shush!

Here are some more pictures of our weekend.  Enjoy!

Meat, Meat & More Meat

Cory's birthday was on Sunday.  To celebrate, we had the week of MEAT.  It all started with a roast the weekend before his birthday.  Finally we visited the local butcher.  Cory selected a fine piece of beef at the small price of <GASP> 27 pounds.  Yes, you got that right, 27 pounds, which equates to roughly $42 for a roast.  It was good, but for $42 I'm expecting fillet mignon, not roast that I dip in ketchup.  It made Cory happy though so that's all that matters during the birthday week.

The weekend of his birthday we continued the meat theme and ate at several new places.  First stop was the Fine Burger Company for burgers.  Decent burger, nothing too exciting.  They did have large flat screens at the tables to order food from.  Great concept, but not the most user friendly.  The did have a button to remove mayo from our burgers which made both Cory and I very happy.  Mayo is a staple here.  They even dip french fries in Mayo which in my opinion is plain gross.

Next stop was Bodean's BBQ which has been on our list of places to try since we have arrived.  If you read about Bodean's it has close ties to Kansas City.  The owner actually got his inspiration from OK Joes.  Bodean's did not disappoint and was the closest thing we've had to a good KC meal since we arrived.  Brady loved his hot dog.  I had a solid pulled pork sandwich and Cory liked his pulled pork & brisket combo.  Bodean's plays American sports on the TVs and generally has a sense of a good Midwest BBQ. 

Last stop on the meat tour was a visit to the Rotisserie on Cory's actual birthday  The Rotisserie is quickly becoming a local fave.  They have a good rib eye, nice starters and a delicious pancake dessert topped with carmel and ice cream.

Happy 31st birthday Cory and thanks for letting Brady and I participate in the week of gluttony!

Pictures from weeks of 10/25 & 11/1

Getting caught up on pictures that have been taken the past month. My mom was in town for 10 days so we were really busy exploring the city & surrounding areas.  Yes, Brady has a black eye in many of the pictures.  He seems to get in minor accidents frequently these days.

Around the neighborhood & the Zoo:

View from Primrose Hill:

Near Buckingham Palace:

Big Ben:

Football:

Hanging out:

Nanny:

Double Rainbow at Windsor Castle:

Oxford - Bridge of Sighs

Come on Fulham!

This is Cory writing his first blog post, oh boy, here we go! 

Last Saturday while Kari, her mom and Brady were off to Windsor, I was invited by a friend from work to attend an English Premier League Football (Soccer) Match.  Fulham v. Wigan was set to kickoff at 3pm at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC.  This was my first ever professional football match.  What a way to start! 

Living in London has encouraged me to follow Soccer as there is nothing else to watch on TV.  For those that don't follow professional soccer, the Barclay's Premier League is one of the most respected professional football leagues, with some of the best football talent in the World.  Teams you have likely heard of within the Premier League are: Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United.  There are 3 other well known professional soccer leagues around the world, La Liga (Spain), MLS (USA) and Italian Serie A (Italy).  Some of the teams you've likely heard within these leagues are: Real Madrid (Spain), AC Milan (Italy), FC Barcelona (Spain), and the Kansas City Wizards!  Yeaaah, GO KC!!  The Football fans in London don't give a lot of respect to the football talent in the US, but it is still a growing sport and will someday get the respect it deserves.

Some fun facts...As are the contracts for American Football, baseball, NBA and hockey, the contracts for Soccer players are outrageous.  The most publicized contract for a soccer player in the US is David Beckham (5 years for $250 Million).  Wayne Rooney, who plays for Manchester United, just recently signed a 5 year contract, rumoured to be in the $275 Million range, incentives are still being finalized.  To give you a non-soccer reference, Alex Rodriguez has a 10 year contract with the Yankees worth about $275 Million.  The NFL contracts are structured differently, so the highest paid player varies from year to year, but the highest paid QB in 2010 is Eli Manning with a 6 year, $106 Million contract, expected to make in the $10-12 range this year.  It was surprising to me that professional soccer super stars make just as much or more than the super stars that play sports in the US.

There are 20 teams in the Premier League.  Last Saturday, Fulham was ranked 10th and Wigan was 17th.  Not exactly a match of the top teams, but hey, it was still some good football action for a Saturday!  I asked prior to the match if I need a Vu-Vu-Zela or if I need to know any chants.  The Vu-Vu-Zela question was greeted with eye roles and a "oh geez".  The only chant I was told I needed to know was "Come on Fulham, Come on Fulham".  I was now prepared to attend my first professional football match!  Tailgating has not caught on in London, but we did manage to find a pub close by and have a couple pints prior to kickoff.  We had fantastic seats, 5 rows behind the goal.  One of the stars for Team USAwho now plays for Fulham is Clint Dempsey.  I won't bore you with the details of the match, but we had a lot of Oohh's and Yeah's and COME ON FULHAM's....the final score of the match last Saturday was Fulham 2, Wigan 0.  Both goals were scored by the pride of Team USA, Clint Dempsey.  After the match I was given a Fulham scarf by one of my co-workers, so now I can attend the next match in style, GO FULHAM!

If you want to see Dempsey's goals from the match, click the link below.  Disregard the random music that accompanies the video.  Both goals were scored on our end, so that was cool to see!

Clint Dempsey's 2 goals from the Match

Overall it was a great time and we're looking to plan our next match!  Maybe Kari and Brady can attend next time!


Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC, just before kickoff

Some sweet football action between Fulham (white shirts) and Wigan

Number 23 CLINT DEMPSEY!!!!



After the match, Dempsey gets props from a guy in a red coat.  Great match Clint!