Ausflug: 4 Countries in 14 Hours

A few weekends ago, we spontaneously rented a car at the Cologne airport and visited a few places that have been on our 'to see' list, but are annoying to access by public transport. Our plans were loose, but we knew that we had the car from 9am to 11pm that day...and the sky was the limit!

First stop: the quaint Monschau, accessible only by bus (and webcam).

This little town is right on the border with Belgium and it at one point was part of France, so we saw a lot of Dutch and French in town. The best part of this cultural mixture -- poffertjes and waffles!

The winding, narrow streets, the castles on the hills surrounding the valley town, and the pretty stream flowing through town make Monschau the epitome of a small, German village.

We spent about 3 hours wandering around, then hopped in the rental car for the next leg of our trip.

In Flanders Fields

During our recent trip to Belgium, we stopped by Ieper (Ypres), which is where some of the heaviest fighting in WW1 took place. We stayed at a B&B that was built on trenches, near the Hough Crater and Hill 62.

Our first stop was the Menin Gate, a memorial to fallen British and Commonwealth soldiers whose graves are unknown. 365 days of the year at exactly 8pm since 1928, a ceremony at the gate honors fallen soldiers. Buglers play Last Post, poppy wreaths are presented in remembrance, and a few words are spoken. The crowd is completely silent during the ceremony until the end, when the crowd disperses to read the names on the walls and the messages on the poppy wreaths. Almost 100 years after the beginning of the war, soldiers are still being actively honored and it's very touching to see.

Bruges in Two Seasons

One of the things I love about living abroad is that you can visit places in multiple seasons and get to know them in a way that is not possible on a one-shot vacation. I have so enjoyed seeing the church behind our apartment in different seasons and weather, as well as the city of Cologne itself. J and I have also visited a few other places multiple times this year. In particular, our two visits to Bruges, Belgium, have been strikingly different.

February 19-20, 2013

Weather: snowy and cold with a low of -5°C/23°F
Meals: hot chocolate, waffles, lasagna, and of course beer

July 21-22, 2013

Weather: clear skies and hot, max of 29°C/85°F
Meals: cool salads, cold beer, ice cream (and, fine, waffles and hot chocolate for breakfast because you just can't go to Belgium and not get waffles!)

We have enjoyed Bruges very much both times we visited. The flowers and ducklings in summer are lovely, but cuddling up with a huge mug of perfect hot chocolate in winter was pretty heavenly, too!

Back from Belgium

We returned from a 5 day trip with a friend, during which we visited Munich, Bamberg, the Rhine, and Belgium. We rented a car in Frankfurt and drove to Belgium since it came out to be cheaper than 3 train tickets. One of the perks of having a rental car is that we got to stock up on all our favorite Belgian beers (except Karmeliet, which wasn't sold at the grocery store we raided)!

Can you guess our favorite? It's such a treat to be able to get this much high quality beer--the bottles of Rochefort 10 sell for $10-$16 in the US and 5 Euros in Germany, so they were a huge steal at 1.50 Euros in Belgium!

Once I wrap up the last post about our visit to France, I'll share a bit about a trip to Belgium and a lot more about beer.