Belgium...land of "biere et chocolats" - News from Mark & Luisa

Another email from Luisa

Date: 17-Apr-2007
Subject: Belgium...land of "biere et chocolats"


Bonjour mes amis!

My sisters and cousin came to visit us over easter week (hence my silence, sorry). It was a lot of fun having them around--travelling with more people always adds to the spice of the trip. And we are rather social people, so absolutely love having a full house!

The family arrived in Brussels on wednesday. (note to the wise, the airport has 2 names: brussels national on your plane ticket, on the website, etc but the on the road signs it assumes a new name--Zwantem. i had a heck of a time getting there to say the least!!!!). We headed to antwerp for lunch and a walk around, as its on the way to breda and i was not in the mood to drive through very confusing brussels again...Antwerp is a beautiful city on the Flemish side (in north Belgium they speak Dutch, south belgium French)--many small courtyards, historic squares, and a very well developed harbour. Interestingly, there is a statue thanking the Canadians (from hamilton i believe) for freeing the harbour in 1944 from the Nazi hold.

The next day we went to Amsterdam--that will get covered in another email!

Mark had Friday and Monday off, so Friday we packed into our little ford fiesta and headed south into belgium. We spent 2 nights in the picturesque city of Brugge. its a medieval city, surrounded by a moat and castle wall (you must cross draw bridges to get in) full of life, canals, and bridges inside. We went to a chocolate museum to learn the history of chocolate and came out with chocolately lips , we went on a beer tour and got to sample the goods of the brewery (and somehow acquired a beer glass...ahem !), we ate flemish stew and a bowl full of mussels, marveled at the flowers, and meandered through the city in the moonlight. We met up with some friends of my sister's who live there, so we got a very local flavor. oh, and an insider tip: don't buy the waaaay too expensive chocolates in the little shops--the belgians buy their treats at the grocery store. specifically, look for cote d'or and jaques brand of chocolates. Belgian chocolate is indeed different: nowhere else in the world is the cocoa ground to 20 microns--most manufacturers run around 30-35 microns, hence belgian chocolate is so creamy and palatable!

Sunday we headed to Ghent, about 30 minutes away to see a world reknown piece of art, soak up some sun and enjoy more sightseeing. my cousin is studying historical arts in university--very handy to have along in an artistic town!

On Tuesday we made our way to Brussels to eat waffles, dip cookies in a chocolate fountain, see the mannekepiss (little boy peeing fountain--a belgium relic) and the femmanapiss (little girl peeing created hundreds of years after the boy) and gawk at the Grande Place--the most remarkable square in Europe--well, I havent seen them all yet, so i really shouldnt judge!!

Mark and i were on the beach this sunday, in our bathing suits with half of holland it seemed. +26C, and gorgeous. i acutally had to buy some aloe vera yesterday...mid april, who would have thought you could burn?!

This weekend Natasha and Andrew are meeting us in Amsterdam. Fun!

An update of our day to day happenings...mark has started playing underwater hockey--yup, i'm guessing like me, not everyone has heard of it! well, i went to watch yesterday: speedos, socks, flippers, snorkels, goggles and swim caps and a little stick the size of a ruler. the game takes place at the bottom of the pool. um, not really a spectator sport! he had a great time though and met some new people. we are also taking Salsa classes together--my counting to 8 in dutch is improving! I have been getting together often with a friend i made at the market. its nice to have company for coffee, grocery shopping and just hanging out.

Picture explanation:
1. can you see what the truck is transporting? i had to catch that on camera!!
2. beer--Proost!
3. Man made of chocolate--quite artistic
4. Brugge at night
5. the girls in Ghent
6. In the Grande Place in Brussels (we had just watched Borat the night before, "great success, high five")

hope everyone is well--Easter was nice?

cheers and hugs!


Luisa and Mark

Some Family Catchup - Easter 2007

Encountered - finally.
I suppose the biggest news from Ingrid and me is that, finally, after twenty-something years of promising ourselves, we have "done" a Marriage Encounter Weekend. This is a weekend for married couples who wish to enrich (rather than repair) their marriage relationship. In addition to using a cash gift that the kids had given to us last year, Ingrid and I gave this to each other as an anniversary gift - our anniversary was in the middle of February and the weekend was about a month later. We went off straight after work on the Friday and came back home "encountered" on Sunday evening. It truly was a remarkable weekend for us and worth every minute and every cent that we felt led to donate. Apart from telling each other a few things that were long overdue, we've identified some ruts to get the wheels out of, and some gaps which we are both eager to close up. There's no doubt this marks the beginning of a new period in our relationship and I'm looking forward to the rest of our life together.

Easter weekend was all that it was supposed to be from my point point of view. Good Friday, but not Easter Monday, is a public holiday in Canada. I took Thursday to Monday off from work and am very glad I did. On Thursday I fixed two chairs that Ingrid has been going on at me about, leaving me feeling very virtuous. In the evening we had our family Passover Meal which we have every year on the Wednesday or Thursday before Good Friday. As in previous years, we split the ceremony to go to church before eating the meal. We use a little paperback book by Joan Lipis. Good Friday was a quiet day at home other than the Good Friday service. Saturday night we went to the Easter Vigil service at our church. It began outside with a service of light around a bonfire with the Easter Candle. I have often experienced wind and rain during this part of the liturgy, but having some serious snow blowing on and around us was a first for me.

On Sunday morning Miriam joined us for family brunch which has become a McCann tradition on Easter Sunday. Before sitting down to eat I hid about 80 small easter eggs outside in the garden. While chatting at the table after the meal I noticed a bluejay nosing around in a flower box where a couple of the Easter eggs were hidden so we decided we had better begin the treasure hunt. After we had totalled up we worked out that 40 eggs had been "stolen" from our loot. I believe that the culprits were a combination of blue jays, squirrels and, especially, a flock of Brewers blackbirds. Here is a picture that I took of them foraging in our back yard. I cannot believe that they actually ate all that chocolate - it must be stashed somewhere. The other picture is Miriam and Judith foraging for Easter eggs in the front garden. Just for good measure I have added a picture of two Easter bunnies in our back yard taken last week.

Quick Roundup
Sean, at home with us, has changed his job and is now working for Cachet Restaurant in Newmarket which means that he does not have to travel so far. It also promises him new experience in catering when that side of the business launches in a couple of months time.
Stephen, 300km away in Kingston, is finishing off some varsity projects and getting ready for exams.
Mark... Yes. Well, I have difficulty convincing myself that he is actually working over there in Holland. Right now two of Luisa's sisters and a cousin (female) are visiting them in Breda. So does one feel sorry for Mark or envy him ?:-)
Judith is putting in a lot of energy to try and get the best marks possible for university submissions. She is hoping to go to either Queens University or University of Toronto and study something in the line of kinesiology. Some of you have been asking about her health. Her last round of tests at the end of last year were clear. She will have more tests every six months for the next five years. We'll let you know mid-year how it goes with the next lot of tests.

Sport
Cricket. Bangladesh always was a wild card team. Let's hope the Proteas get themselves back together for the rest of their World Cup matches.
Rugby. Being from Durban I'm glad to see the Sharks doing well. The bonus points system means they are currently only third on the log, even though they have more wins than the Crusaders whom they are trailing.
Hockey (Ice hockey for non-Canadians). Toronto Maple Leafs. R.I.P. Very sad. Oh well. Maybe next season?

In case you haven't heard this one
Sister Delphinia was testing the children in comparative religion class. She asked Patrick, "What is Easter?" The child replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November when everyone gets together, eats turkey, and are thankful and stuff..." "Wrong!," replies Sister and proceeds to ask another child the same question, "Anna-Maria, What is Easter?" The second child replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and drink eggnog." Sr Delphinia looks at the second child, shakes her head in disgust, tells her she's wrong, and then peers over her glasses at the class and asks, "Can anyone tell me, What is Easter?" Ahmed smiles confidently and looks Sister Delphinia in the eyes, "I know what Easter is." "Oh?" says Sister, incredulously. "Easter is the Christian holiday, that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper. Then the Romans took him to be crucified and he was stabbed in the side, made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder." Sister smiles broadly with delight. Then the boy continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out...and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter."

They speak Letzebuergesch in Luxembourg - Luisa

Yet another epistle from Luisa (and Mark):


date 03-Apr-2007
subject they speak Letzebuergesch in Luxumburg


Hello there!

Yes, yet another update. Mark is away in Germany for 3 days, so i am finding ways to stay busy :) I was going to go with him, but my sisters and cousin arrive tomorrow afternoon in Brussels, and I wouldn't have been back in time to pick them up.

We got away to Luxembourg this weekend. it was a lovely drive--the country is so green and lush with lots of rolling hills and little villages scattered throughout. The country has a little less than half a million residents, and has 3 main languages--german, french and letzebuergesch. its funny, in one town, the waitress spoke german (similar enough to dutch that we could make some stuff out), the grocer what i can only imagine was letz and the hotel keeper french...very confusing for us--as we would leave a place we found ourselves saying: dag, chuss, au revoir, addi!

So this weekend mark literalized the term "i'm so hungry i could eat a horse". yup, i am very proud to say that my knight in shining armour, daring and adventurous as he is, ordered horse. see picture attached. we both agreed it was tender (surprisingly), but just not as tasty as cow. and we did discuss how it felt a little strange eating such a useful animal...

We visited Château de Boursheid, a 1000 year old castle, stopped for a beer in Diekirch (the town of 6000 that houses the national brewery), meandered through the quaint town of Echternach beautifully situated on the Sure river, and ended up in Vianden, a medieval town with one of the most impeccably restored castles in all of europe for the night. in the morning we hiked up to a lookout point, explored the castle and chilled out by river. it was really nice :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures. be sure to notice me in blue on the bridge in the daytime look at the castle. mark insisted i be in it...i really made the picture memorable ha ha, bonne temps :)

tot ziens :)

from the two of us

Luisa & Mark: fietsen=bicycles...and we got 'em!

This is the last of four "catchup" emails sent by Luisa:

Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007
Subject: fietsen=bicycles...and we got 'em!

Hallo!

Its been a little while--sorry

This past week we finally got bikes, ie, at last we're living the full dutch experience! A girl from my softball team told us about a guy named mario, who sells second hand bikes from his garage, very cheap price, 25EU each...the operation is slightly questionable, but the price is very right for the amount of time we are here.

So bikes here are a culture all on their own. EVERYONE rides their bikes everywhere. the country is set up for bikes: bike lanes on every road, traffic lights specific for cyclists, bike stands on every corner to lock them up (80,000 bikes are stolen a year in Holland...hmmm, enter Mario?!?!), incredible paved trail systems for recreational biking...its great. and no one wears helmets--cyclists pretty much always have the right of way, and drivers know it so i'm guessing bike/car collisions are rare. People's bikes are like our cars...while they are biking home from work, they chat on a cell phone, smoke a cigarette, chomp a sandwich, hold hands with their boyfriend/girlfriend on a bike beside them, give their buddy a lift to wherever...we even saw a 75 year old woman strap a mini washing machine to the back of her bike and take it home! Its not uncommon to see a business man with his briefcase in tow, or a woman in a skirt and heels...its funny!

I have seen an adult bike that can hold up to 3 kids on it...the youngest in the front with a face shield, a seat on the very back and then a plastic platform right behind the parent. I didnt get a picture of it, but enjoy the 3 seater shot--although it is a little hard to make out with all the other bikes! (new, this type of bike, only 3 gears is about 1200EU--$1800!!!).

This past weekend was a big Cricket match...South Africa vs Australia. So Saturday we stayed in Breda to watch it--yes, i now know more about cricket than i ever imagined i would .


Sunday we drove up north to a picturesque town called Haarlem (see pictures of mark). It is said that it was here the printing was actually invented, 16 yrs before Gutenburg. We then drove to Hilversum to visit Mark's Opa. (I think she means Blaricum - Terry)


We went on a hike in the woods nearby then went for supper at a Pannakeuken house (pancakes!) in Lage Vuursche, where the current queen, Beatrix, lived in the Drakenstein Castle before ascending to the throne. very quaint!

Mark got home last night--he was in Budapest, Hungary with work for the past 2 days. He did get some sightseeing in and a couple of meals and beers on the company card.

We are going to Luxembourg for the weekend to see some castles and sample some wine :)

Hope everyone is well! Give us updates!

Dag!

Luisa & Mark (in spirit as he is at work!)

Vive La France! (More from Luisa)

Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007
Subject: Vive La France!
Salut mes amies!

We are back in Breda after an incredible week in France. We arrived Sunday after driving 9 hours through 4 countries (France, Luxmbourg, Belgium, Holland)...since the inception of the European Union there are no longer border crossings, which saved us lots of time.

So to recap the week...Mark and Alan picked me up at the airport in Brussels and then we headed to Paris for 2 nights. It rained and rained and rained! But we made the most of it. We walked across the Louvre (closed on tuesdays...super ), visited l'Arc de triumph and Notre Dame cathedral, took the subway to the Moulin Rouge and Sacre Couer cathedral and of course, went up the Tour Eiffel. it was such bad weather however, that the very top level was closed..but we went up as high as we could, and the view was still stunning!

We then headed to meet up with Phil and Christine and drive to Chamonix in the Alps.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! they are spectacular! We all skied the Thursday. Unfortunately that day at those altidudes (2000-3275m) we were in a permanent cloud which meant we couldnt see more than 3 meters in front of us...kinda cool, but for this prairie girl brought up cross country skiing it made for a scary first few runs!! The next day Mark and everyone else hired a guide and went off piste (unmarked terrain). They started at 3842m and took most of the day to wind down the mountain to the base...I opted to take the gondola up, shoot some pictures, and then take it down again...thus i am alive to send this email! They had an awesome run as shown in their pictures. Saturday we did Argentiere mountain range again but this time it was a clear day and i had the best skiing of my life.

Aside from skiing we made the most of "apres ski"--the downtime, wine and cheese enjoyed after a busy day on the mountain. We rented a little chalet with a fireplace and kitchenette--it was perfect.

And now back to the grind for mark! His visa came through 2 weeks ago, so he is officially in the office. I got news this week that I was accepted into the master's program at the University of Toronto, so I will be returning end of August to start it.

Thats all for now!

Enjoy the pictures! The food one is Escagots in a garlic spinach sauce. The others are pretty self explanatory.

Cheers from Mark and Luisa :)