It's really hard to summarize oneself for the general public. I mean, really, what does the public want to know about me? Am I married? Yes. Do I have children. Yes, three, and they're all grown thank God. (By that I mean parenting is HARD. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but I'm really glad our offspring have all reached adulthood.) Do I have pets? Yup. Two dogs. Since the kids are all grown, you'll read more about my dogs than my kids. Because that's what happens when you get old like me. I have three grand kids, too, so you'll read about them as well. But the dogs live with me and, when I am desperate for blog topics, they usually help me out.
We left Belgium on Thursday with Annelies and Yves for a drive to Switzerland. Our mutual friends Tammi and Martin, who we hadn’t seen for two years, live in Ecublens, a small village outside of Lausanne near Rue.
Amish Minion!
Ecublens is about an 8-hour drive from Zaffelare, Annelies and Yves’ hometown. Another mutual friend, Heather, with her husband, Timo, had arrived in Ecublens on Thursday morning. We were headed for a fun reunion.
Heather and Timo had been visiting Timo’s family in Sweden and Finland. Ecublens was a brief stopover on their way home. We knew we wouldn’t make it all the way to Switzerland on Thursday night, but wanted to arrive reasonably early on Friday.
We had a very late dinner at a Burger King in Luxembourg and then stopped for the night in Metz, France. I spotted the Amish Minion at a service area off the highway. He makes me smile.
As usual, I don’t have time for a full-blown post, but wanted to share a few pics and let y’all know that all is well.
Ecublens, Switzerland
View from Tammi and Martin’s terrace.
L-R, Annelies, Heather, Me, and Tammi
L-R, Martin, Tammi, Annelies, Me, Mike, Yves, Timo, and Heather
We’ve had a fabulous visit. I know this is getting repetitive, but I’ll share details and more pics later. We leave here in a bit to head back north. First stop, Sinsheim, Germany.
Real, live, Gruyere cows.
We’ve enjoyed Switzerland even more than I thought we would. And that says a lot. Tammi and Martin are fabulous hosts with a beautiful home and two cute dogs. Martin is a wonderful cook, too. We’ve eaten well, laughed A LOT, and shared lots of stories. I’m already looking forward to our next gathering.
It’s been a busy, but fabulous, week. As I mentioned in my last post, we visited Brussels on Saturday. Sunday, we went to Bruges. Monday through Wednesday, we were in the UK. Today — Thursday — we are back in Belgium. But shortly, we are piling into a car with Annelies and Yves and driving down toward Switzerland. On Friday, we will arrive at our mutual friends’ house — Tammi and Martin. By then, another mutual friend, Heather, will have arrived at Tammi and Martin’s with her husband, Timo. Essentially, we’ll be having a big, grown-up slumber party.
I’ll share a few pics here while we wait for Yves to get home from work. If I run out of time, I’ll finish when I can.
In Bruges
The largest square in Bruges.
If you saw the movie, In Bruges, this is the Belfort tower the guys climbed.
Buildings with the typical stepped facade across the square from the Belfort.
Just a tiny sampling of some of the amazing architecture we’ve seen.
The United Kingdom
On Monday, Hubby and I left Annelies and Yves to their work and drove to Calais, France, which is where we caught a ferry to Dover, England. From there, we headed to Canterbury Cathedral. Wow, wow, wow. Then we were off to Oxford where I’d hoped, unfruitfully, to catch Annie Sloan at her shop. Our stop for the night was Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds.
Obviously, I have many more details and pics to share. One day.
View from the starboard side of the ferry, looking north(ish).
The cliffs at Dover really are very big and very white.
Christ Church Gate
Canterbury Cathedral
One of many stunning architectural details inside the ginormous cathedral.
ToadMama in front of THE Annie Sloan’s shop.
I took this pic the next morning. Our beer glasses were still on the table.
Annelies wanted our first full day in Belgium to be interesting, so she planned a special outing for us. A tour of sorts that would provide opportunities for photos of big and famous stuff.
Annelies & Yves’ Charming Zaffelare, Lochristi House
In many ways, Belgium looks like the US.
Cows
First, for the big stuff… the Atomium in Brussels.
Atomium Selfie
Annelies capturing images while the guys chat.
Group Selfie
The Atomium
We moseyed around there a bit, taking in things like this little waffle truck.
Waffle Truck
Belgians don’t eat waffles for breakfast. That’s snack food.
We were hungry for lunch, so we skipped the waffles and chose a little restaurant with some unusual decor.
Restaurant Decor
Once we’d finished eating, our real adventure began.
Copenhagen Harbour
Olavinlinna Castle in Finland
University of Vilnius in Lithuania
Maastricht in the Netherlands
Hilltop Citadel near Dinant, Belgium
Liege, Belgium Riverfront
Fall Parade
Hubbub over an appearance of William and Kate.
Pesee in Alkmaar, Netherlands
Windmill and Cows in Holland
Antwerp, Belgium Town Hall
Me with Her Majesty’s “Soldier”
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Palazzo Ducale in Venice
House of Beethoven in Bonn, Germany
Melk, Austria
Szechenyi Baths in Budapest
Annelies is quite the planner. Can you believe we were able to see so many famous sites in the span of one afternoon?
Brupark
It was a tour of Mini-Europe. LOL.
Wait till you see the pics from the real Brussels.
I don’t always do blog posts while we are traveling. Mainly because it’s not a great idea to tell the world we are away. But since we have a house-sitter this time, and our house is not standing alone, uninhabited and unsafe, I figured I’d post updates.
My mother-in-law, who is watching our pups, should be pleased.
After a long and uneventful flight, we arrived safely and on time. Annelies collected us at the airport and carted us off to her house for some relaxation.
I didn’t sleep at all on the plane. Hubby slept fitfully. It’s better to stay awake as long as possible, sort of helps combat the exhaustion of the redeye flight and overcome the 6-hour time difference.
Annelies and Yves’ house, from the garden.
Beautiful Day
As you can see, the sky was quite blue and temps were in the upper 60s/low 70s.
Ace! Our favorite breakfast juice.
A Fully Stocked Refrigerator
Our friends know us well.
Annelies took us to the beer store yesterday, and we added even more beer to their already full refrigerator.
Dinner Last Night
I finally crashed last night around 9:30 after four beers and a filling grilled hamburger dinner. It was literally like I had hit a wall.
And I slept until 8:00 AM this morning. Time difference? What time difference? 🙂
Today we’re off to explore Brussels. I’ll try to post pics later.
Meg is 15. She hears very little any more. Her eyesight is failing. She suffers periodic bouts of cognitive dysfunction (doggie dementia). Her legs are getting weaker and weaker. While she still enjoys our daily walks, she’s been moving slower and slower.
Meg
As I’m sure you can imagine, this requires special treatment. But Meg is a special dog, and she doesn’t make it easy.
She has always been very stubborn and headstrong. She’s the sort of dog that will ignore an invisible fence when it suits her, gritting her teeth and taking the shock so she can go where and when she wants to go. (Don’t worry, we no longer use an invisible fence.)
She doesn’t like to be told that she has to stay in a room (even with company) or can’t use the steps. Put a gate at the top or bottom of the steps and she will do everything she can to tear it down. Close a door to keep her in a room and she will scratch at the door, snort, huff and puff, whine, etc.
Meg has good days and bad days. But she still has a healthy appetite. Although she sleeps a lot, she still enjoys our company. She’s always happy to greet us, enjoys her slow walks, loves greeting people on said walks, enjoys her daily treats, etc.
We just watch her closely and take things one day at a time.
We have hardwood floors in most rooms, which can be slippery, so we have rugs everywhere. Even on the steps, in a special pattern that looks weird, but works for Meg. When she uses them.
You see, Meg enjoys laying on smooth surfaces. I guess because they’re cooler, as in temperature. No as in, “Look at how cool I am on this wood floor.”
She especially loves sleeping on the ceramic tile in our bathroom. But it’s slippery. And sometimes, she can’t get up.
Around 3:00 AM on Wednesday morning, I awoke to this odd, rhythmic sound. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, bump, thunk. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, bump, thunk.
It took a while for my brain to register the fact that Meg was stuck somewhere. I stumbled into the bathroom to find Meg splayed out in the middle of the bathroom floor, trying to get up. The swooshing was her feet on the floor. The bump was her foot hitting the tub. The thunk was her ID tag hitting the floor. Behind Meg was a pile of poop.
She looked embarrassed. Poor thing. I don’t know if she was trying to get up because she had to poop, or was so freaked out by not being able to get up, that it scared the crap out of her.
She was quite relieved when I helped her up.
It wasn’t a runny “I’m sick” sort of event, so it was easy to clean up and flush away.
What wasn’t easy was going back to bed after all that. So we went downstairs. That’s when I shot the picture shared above.
Doesn’t it look like she’s thinking, “Sorry, Mama”?
Don’t worry, though. She’s fine.
Just old, and achy.
She’d probably be mortified to know I shared her dirty little secret with the world.
But it’s just part of life with an old dog.
One of my favorite pics of Meg from a few years back.
