Brussels to Germany - Day 5 - 7/28/08

Grand'Place, Brussels
Mannekin Pis
"Large" Coffee in Brussels
Enjoying a Krusovice Bier in Heidelberg, Germany
Official Cukoo Clock Shop in Black Forest Area, Germany

We began our early morning with a great breakfast and quickly loaded the bus to tour Brussels on our way to Black Forest Area, Germany. Our Tour Director, Babette (Hungary), took us to the Grand'Place in the center of Brussels. We walked to the Mannekin Pis to view the well-known art piece. It pees water on regular days, dressed up for special occasions, and has been known to pee beer for the people to drink during all special occasions. After the tour, we were given an hour of time on our own. It was raining so we made our way to a Cafe' and Jared ordered a large coffee. It was smaller then his four fingers put together. A large coffee in Europe is comparable to a small taste test cup in the US. They would think our Venti is HUGE!

We loaded the bus to make our way to THE Cukoo Clock Shop. Here they make authentic, hand-made cukoo clocks. With an average price of 500 Euro, we decided to purchase a beautiful hand-blown necklace for my mom. We missed the large Cukoo Clock (seen in picture above) in action because we were touring the shop. It would have been great to see the scene in action.

After 30 minutes on our own, we loaded the bus again and headed to Heidelberg, Germany. We stayed the night in a wonderful, family-owned hotel. We were served a lamb stew and enjoyed shots of Jagermeister-our tour director encouraged we try the local liquor and many of us did.

Since this hotel was located in the middle of the Black Forest, we had no access to phones, email, tv and the small village was shut down. We knew Jackson was in great hands so we decided to enjoy ourselves and take in the fact we were in Germany. We sat outside on the stoop and enjoyed a couple rounds of German beer with a couple of our new friends on our tour before heading to bed at midnight again.

Brussels, Begium - Day 4 - 7/27/08

The view from our ferry
Arriving in Calais, France - waiting to go through Customs
World Fair Atomium from 1958
The beds in our hotel in Brussels, Belgium

We took in the beautiful view of the English Channel from the top deck of the ferry before heading below for lunch. We had Fish and Chips again - least expensive item on the menu. We quickly realized in London that the US Dollar was weak in Europe (2.25USD to 1Pound, 1.65USD to 1 Euro). After we landed in Calais, France, we went through customs and experienced the harsh French border patrol. We stood behind five men and one woman from Pakistan and the French Customs Guards were not hiding their racial profiling. They first made a comment to one man that he did not look like his passport, saying his cheeks were too chubby. They took their precious time reviewing each passport and re-reviewing each passport, then telling each other to really make sure these people are okay to go through. After all that, I got up to the desk and the French Customs Guard didn't really look at my passport, stamped it, and said welcome to France.

We made a quick stop at the Atomium in Brussels before heading to our hotel. Jared and I were both caught off guard at the site of our room. First of all, it was tiny and second of all, the bed was actually two beds and we had to push them together at night. We went out for dinner on our own and of course, tried the local cuisine and drank Grimbergen double dark (mine) and Duvel (Jared). We sat out on the terrace and were soon hit up by a young gypsy girl asking for money. Fortunately a local woman and her family yelled for her to leave us alone. I have a weak heart for kids, but know better than to give money to beggers in foreign countries.

With an early wake up call - we decided to head in at midnight.

London, England - Days 2&3 - 7/25-7/26/08

Tony and Will - two English "blokes" we met at a pub on our first night.
Front of St. Paul Cathedral
Prince Charles and Lady Camilla's Guard
Buckingham Palace
Windsor Castle - Queen Elizabeth II courtyard

Day 1 was the 8.5 hour flight with unlimited movies, two meals, beer, wine, pop and a short 4 hour sleep...

Jared and I had a blast in London. We took in as much local cuisine (Fish and Chips) and beer (Strongbow) as we could. Our first night, we met three englishmen at a pub. They were discussing the ridiculous lyrics of Kid Rock's new song and we joined in after they began mentioning his destruction of two classic songs. We agreed with their comments and soon began our rounds of local ales with the englishmen - Tony, Will, & John. The next day we set out for two excursions through the city via local guides. We saw St. Paul Cathedral, St. James Palace, Windsor Castle, and Buckingham Palace. We drove by the River Thames and saw the Eye of London. We drove by Big Ben and the current residence of Prince Charles and Lady Camilla. We toured through Windsor Castle and took in the essence of where we were - we stood in places Kings and Queens have stood, we sat where Presidents and Prime Ministers have dined, and we walked through the bedrooms of some of the most historic figures of time.

After a very busy two days in London, England, we made our way via Ferry across the English Channel to Calais, France for the official beginning of our land tour.