travel – Page 7 – ToadMama.com

July 13, 2018

Looking for LOVE, Still

Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have periodically seen LOVEwork images popping up on my feed. Even though I haven’t been posting as regularly here on the blog, I have still been looking for LOVE signs. In fact, I visited some on my impromptu getaway back in June.

When I came up with the idea of visiting LOVEworks around Virginia, one of the “rules” I set for myself was that a picture was required. Not just any picture, an image I captured myself, or that someone else captured with me in the shot.

A couple of years ago, during one of my solo excursions, I went far out of my way to capture a shot of the Gate City LOVEwork. That’s in FAR southwestern Virginia, a five-and-a-half hour drive from here (highway driving). On the same day, I also stopped in Abingdon to capture a picture of their LOVEwork. I stopped at two places in Bristol, Virginia, too. It was HOT that day, like in the 90s (F). And I was on my bike, all suited-up, sweating my rear-end off. I was really unhappy to discover that the Gate City sign had been temporarily removed, not sure why, and that the Abingdon sign had been damaged and carted off to be repaired.

That first experience going to sites only to find the LOVEwork missing left a mark. I faced a similar dilemma last year, when I was on my way home from down south. I’d seen a LOVEwork listed at FloydFest in Patrick County. I had no idea what FloydFest was or where it was, but Google maps got me there. It’s actually a big outdoor music venue sort of adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway, not far from the town of Floyd.

I think there’s only one festival a year, in late-July, but it’s a big one, spanning multiple days. I was there in early May. The place looked and felt a bit deserted, but the gate across the driveway was open, so I went in and puttered around the very empty place, looking for LOVE, to no avail. I saw a man at the edge of the property, near one of the buildings, so I motored over to him. He gave me one of those “are you a deranged alien” looks and asked if he could help me. Once I explained my mission, he said the sign had recently been unloaded from a truck after being moved.

“Can I see it anyway?” I asked, explaining that I’d been driving all over the state taking pictures of the things.

“Sure,” he said. “It’s way over there behind the bandstand. You were bold enough to come in here, you might as well go back there, too!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, saying, “The gate was open!” in reply.

He laughed back and I went on my way.

That’s how I managed to capture what I like to call “Scrambled LOVE.”

The large building in the distance with the green roof is where I encountered the man. I think we both ended that day with a semi-interesting story to tell our friends.

Here are pics from some of the other LOVEworks I’v captured over the last year or so…

Lynchburg LOVEwork (one of at least three in that town)

LOVEwork in Marion (near the southern end of VA-16, the Back of the Dragon)

Highland County LOVEwork in Monterey (they have an amazing barn quilt trail, too)

LOVEwork in Narrows (by the community’s duck pond)

VA Welcome Center LOVEwork at Rocky Gap (southbound I-77)

Smith Mountain Lake LOVEwork (one of my favorites)

If you wanna see all of the pictures I have captured to date, you can go directly to my LOVEwork Log Page or click the “LOVE in Virginia” link in the navigation bar at the top of this page and follow the link provided in the All of the LOVE in One Spot section.

I think it’s kind of fun to see all the different signs in one big list. I’ll be adding more soon, I hope!

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018

Fun with Paint

Our last visit to Belgium really was spent hanging around our friends’ house for a week or so. They’d just moved in five days before we arrived. They needed time to unpack/get organized, and we said we could help while we were there. I volunteered to serve as personal chef for the week and Mike agreed to be the extra handyman.

Their house was not newly built. It’s a building they bought, gutted completely inside and out, then re-did the way they wanted. It was a brave, expensive, and time-consuming undertaking. It’s still a work in progress, but their vision is coming-together nicely.

While we were there, one of the things that kept drawing my attention was this big hole in the wall between their kitchen and living room. I know that it is meant to house a fireplace one day, but I also know that fireplaces are expensive, so it may be a while before they actually get one. Based on our experience building the WV place, I know that space will end up being a storage spot for miscellaneous boxes and other junk until it is properly filled.

Who wants to look at that all the time? So, I suggested that Annelies and I do a craft project and make something to hang over the hole as temporary camouflage. She’s not usually one who would go for that idea, claiming she can’t draw and isn’t very artistic. I offered to draw the thing so all she’d have to do was add paint. She agreed.

We bought some inexpensive canvases, paint, and brushes. I found some examples of cat art we’d seen on a previous trip, which I used as inspiration. I drew a cat for each of us, then we got creative.

She had more fun than she thought she would.

All it took was about 30 Euros(?), a little time, and some creativity. No more unsightly junk-collection spot.

I wonder if they are still hanging there?

July 6, 2018

Making Memories

Cute cafe at Knokke-Strand on the North Sea in Belgium.

I freely admit that I am easy to entertain. It doesn’t take much to make me laugh. Hubby pretends to be above silliness most of the time, but, lately, he’s been enjoying googly eyes, though, and he sometimes does other stuff, like happily make goofy faces for pictures, that convinces me his inner silly-boy is struggling to be set free.

During our last trip to Belgium, when we went specifically to see Annelies and Yves’ new house and “just” visit with them, as opposed to gallivanting together to some other destination(s) as we had on previous vacations, we took a little day-trip to give our friends a break from unpacking/organizing. They’d only officially moved in about five days before we arrived.

One of the things I’d always wanted to do was see a Belgian beach town. I know that beach towns in the UK are nothing like American beach towns. Annelies told me that their beach towns are not really very picturesque, But I wanted to see for myself. So we went to Knokke Beach.

It was early Thursday, October 5. The latitude of Knokke Beach is 51.35′, which is pretty far north. In North America, the rough equivalent to that latitude on the Atlantic side would put us around the northern tip of Newfoundland Island. On the Pacific side, that would put us well north of Vancouver Island. So it was cold. Windy, too, unfortunately.

After strolling around a bit, we were all freezing and hungry, so we ducked into that cute cafe for lunch. I left the table to find the toilet, leaving my phone behind. Later, I discovered that husband of mine had taken a couple of pictures while I was away, enlisting the help of our friends in his shenanigans.

Those pics made me giggle, so I decided to share them with you.

Funny, right? Our friends have their own silly side!

I am, and have always been, the picture-taker. Annelies takes a lot of pictures, too, but I’m usually the one that makes people pose next to interesting stuff or in certain spots for pictures. And it’s always me who has the selfie-stick, if I remember it, and long arms if I don’t.

On the day we drove to Knokke (pronounced like kuh-no-kuh), we also stopped in the town of Sluis (pronounced like slew), which is in the Netherlands, just so we could say we’d gone to the Netherlands, too. We’d only driven through that country previously, and had once briefly visited the spot where Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany meet.

I was delighted to see they had a cow statue.

In Sluis, there was also a windmill. Nothing says “we visited the Netherlands” like a photo with a windmill, right? That cow photo could have been taken anywhere.

The conversation probably went something like this…

“Oooh, look. A windmill! We HAVE to get a group photo with the windmill!” I probably said.

The group would have groaned collectively and Annelies would’ve said something like, “A windmill? Really? Why?”

“What do you mean why? Everyone knows windmills are synonymous with the Dutch!” I probably said, by “Dutch” meaning inhabitants of the Netherlands or the country itself, not speakers of the Dutch language.

“Should we all buy clogs, too?” she may or may not have asked, sarcastically.

I would have already been seeking the perfect spot by that point while they chatted amongst themselves, good naturedly (I think) bitching about this weird photo thing I always subject them to, cracking jokes about the number of pictures I take, Mike again remarking how much money we saved when we switched from film to digital images, etc.

“Okay, here’s a good spot,” I would have said, pretending to ignore their complaining. “Annelies, stand there. Mike, get next to her. Yves, beside Mike or in the rear.”

“Where will you stand?” Yves would have said, pretending to be concerned about getting me in the frame while secretly plotting the optimal spot for him to stand while making photo-bomb faces, or doing something else unusual.

Here are some of the lovely images we ended up with that day…

Annelies always tries to be serious, to get it over with quickly.

Finally, Yves smiles normally so Annelies had to act-up.

We never did end up with one where we are all smiling normally, but that’s okay. Images like this have become “classic” group photos, marking the various holidays we’ve enjoyed together.

Here are a few of the others…

First, from Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, taken in September 2011.

There’s usually a story behind the pics, too, but I won’t bore you with those details. It’s just significant to the four of us, and seeing these images instantly brings it all back.

Here are a few more of my personal favorites, from Kutna Hora, Czech Republic in September 2016.

It’s almost like Yves was gasping for air.

Perhaps his open-mouthed look is just a newer creation?

Of Yves’ many silly faces, this one always makes me laugh the hardest.

There are MANY more. It would take me hours to find them all.

I’ll end this post with an image that still holds the record for Annelies’ best photo-bomb ever!

I was trying for a signature selfie with one of David Cerny’s Crawling Babies in Prague when she interrupted.

Posing for photos may sometimes seem tedious, but I have found that it’s almost always worth it in the end. For me, anyway.

July 4, 2018

Same, But Different

If our most-recent trip had to have a theme, it would definitely be “same, but different.” For many reasons. It’s fun comparing cultures.

1. A Different Sort of Trip

We’ve been to Belgium four times now. But this time we stayed in that one country for 10 days. And we didn’t do much touristy stuff at all, like visit areas where most people speak English fairly well (shopkeepers, restaurant staff, and such) and food and beverage establishments offer menus in English.

Belgium is a small country (roughly the size of Maryland), yet there are three official languages spoken: Dutch, French, and German. Your geographic location within the country determines the language that will primarily be used. Because Annelies and Yves both speak English fluently, we’ve never made an effort to learn Dutch, their primary language. Normally, that wouldn’t matter. This time, because we weren’t in touristy areas, it did. We survived, but we all agree it’s time Mike and I learned some Dutch.

Of course, there are apps like Google Translate that can help you get by, but the translations you get tend to be very literal. Take this fun sign on the front of a store as an example.

“Come in and your mouth falls open,” says the stork.

The literal translation can usually get you in the neighborhood of the proper meaning, but people don’t talk like that. It probably means something like, “You’ll be amazed at the wide selection or quality of stuff we have.”

We talk about these language differences, usually when we are discussing the fact that we still do not know Dutch. Annelies gave us a great example during our last trip. You know how we say people are anal, meaning they are nit-picky or very obsessed with details? There’s no specific word or term for that in Dutch, no way to translate it literally. The way they describe someone as being anal is to say they are “mier neuken.” Literally translated, that means an ant fucker. Again, people don’t talk like that.

The point is, if we want to spend more time exploring Belgium off-the-beaten-path, we should learn some Dutch. We’ll see how that goes. I seem to remember having said that before. More than once, actually. But, language laziness is a very American trait.

2. Interesting Kiddie Entertainment

In the US, we typically see ride-on toys in front of supermarkets and maybe even big-box stores, but I’d never seen one like THIS. The ones we have in the US are stationary. The giraffe this little boy is riding is a hovercraft that moves through the mall. How cool is that?

Of course, I rarely go to shopping malls. Maybe we do have them in the US and I just haven’t seen them? If you’ve seen one here in the States, do tell.

3. The Widest Variety of Doors

The architecture in other places intrigues me. I was going to say “in other countries,” but even among various regions of the US, things can be very different.

I’ve often said the brickwork in Belgium delights and intrigues me, but have I ever mentioned the doors? They have the coolest doors. Really. Here are some images I captured to illustrate that point.

Doors of neighboring houses are rarely alike. (Click for larger image.)

That wooden door is actually on a restaurant where we had a delicious dinner one evening. Not only is the door unique, check out the roof. It’s a thatched roof.

Fancy brickwork around the door plus an embedded statue.

Notice the large size of the doors, too?

Another art-decoish door. Check out that handle.

Another row of houses, all with very distinctive door designs.

See the coverings on the lower-floor windows in the picture immediately above? Those are very common. They’re roll-down shutters (not sure if that’s the right word). Often, they’re electric, and can be opened and closed at the touch of a button.

Even the relatively plain houses have unique doors.

Brick front, clapboard-like side, and a clay tile roof.

I should mention that this is not a collection of photos from a fancy, touristy area, historical district, etc. These are just regular, everyday, ordinary houses I saw while walking around Grembergen, our friends’ town in central Belgium, which is located in the municipality of Dendermonde, in the province of East Flanders.

Here are some more pics, not so door-focused.

See the bicycle lane? It’s between the parked cars and the sidewalk. That’s MUCH safer for cyclists.

The electric shutters on this house are very large.

AN Old house with wooden shutters. I’m guessing they’re not electronically operated.

How much do you love the architectural details on this one? I do!

I really loved the green-ceramic brick and purplish trim on that old house. Come to find out, it’s historically or culturally significant for some reason.

Emblem of the Hague Convention of 1954 with text “Beschermd Monument”, used to mark protected buildings and other structures.

This house was in a different town, near our friends’ music school.

Busier street, so there’s a wider bicycle path.

I really like that there are distinct bicycle paths. Even in the more suburban areas, lots of people ride their bicycles as a form of transportation, not just for exercise or fun. The red path in the above image is for bikes.

The bike path is narrower on our friends’ smaller street.

This sight tickled me. Three boys bicycling to the skateboard park?

I really liked this dog mural on the side of a local pub.

And for the final image of this post that got WAY longer than expected…

Vehicles in Europe are typically much smaller than vehicles in the US, and pick-up trucks aren’t exactly common. So we were really surprised to see this HD-branded extra-large pick-up truck.

I hope y’all enjoyed the pics. Can you understand why I enjoyed walking around, just looking? It’s a glimpse of everyday life in Belgium. Travel doesn’t always have to be to exotic, well-known places to be interesting.

July 3, 2018

Let’s Hear it for Belgium!

There were many tense moments in that game.

The good news about being out of work in June and into July is that I am free to watch as many FIFA World Cup games as I want. Unfortunately, the US men failed to even qualify for this tournament, but Belgium’s team is playing, so that’s who we are behind. Mike and I both sort of feel a close connection to that country since we have close friends there and have visited several times recently. Plus, I really have come to like that little country.

Yesterday’s match was amazing. Japan, ranked something like #61 in the world, played like they were super-human. It really looked like they were going to win 2-0. Then something finally clicked with BE’s Red Devils and they came back to win 3-2.

While watching the game, I wondered how the team communicates amongst themselves. Belgium, which is roughly the same size as Maryland, has three official languages, Dutch, French, and German, plus there are other languages or dialects of the official languages spoken in some small areas. Crazy, right?

This morning, I happened to come across an article explaining how the men on Belgium’s national football team communicate with each other. I assume you’ll read that if you really want to know. 🙂

Are any of you soccer fans? I actually played soccer recreationally for about 10 years. I didn’t start playing until I was in my 30s. I played indoor and outdoor soccer, on both all-female and coed teams. I miss it.

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018

Worse Than I Thought

One thing I’ve always enjoyed about having a blog is being able to look back and see what happened, when it happened, etc. But I posted so infrequently over the past year that I can’t even do that! It’s sad, really. Not sad as in “OMG, I’m bawling my eyes out,” more like “damn, now I have to look back through old pics, e-mails, and/or calendar entries…” Gasp!

I am still unemployed. All the “spare time” I thought I might have has been nonexistent. I’ve been “working” full days looking for a job instead. I seriously want to find the perfect job for me, not just accept the first job that comes along out of desperation. I’m a big girl, I learn from past mistakes as well as previous positive experiences.

All “work” and no play makes for an unhappy ToadMama, though, so I’ll have to look for something interesting to post about.

In the meantime, here’s some visual interestingness for you.

Believe it or not, I don’t walk around looking at stuff, thinking, “OMG, I absolutely HAVE to take a picture. I have to share it with my gazillion fans. I must, I MUST! I have to get this online!” Stuff just catches my eye.

What can I say? I’m a visual person.

That’s probably why I so enjoyed my time in San Diego last year. All I had to do was work, take care of one small dog, and take care of myself. I stuck to my Eastern Standard Time schedule, so I had lots of free time most afternoons. The dog got walked a lot and I got to amble around looking at stuff, searching for SD’s best street tacos, sampling a wide variety of local craft beer, enjoying various beaches, etc. It was awesome.

Below are a few images that captured my eye. I have lots more, including a series of shots of the coolest “ART” sculpture(?) ever! That ART thing needs its own post.

Artelexia, a super-cool store in North Park.

San Diego is a really colorful place. I hope I get to explore in a similar fashion again!

I also hope y’all enjoyed that sneak peek.