Tour of Flanders, treats and travel...

What a busy few weeks we have had...the tour de Flanders, visitors from home bearing gifts of Marmite, Cream Eggs and warm socks, followed by great adventures in Berlin and Barcelona.

Firstly, the Tour of Flanders, a huge cycling race in Belgium that takes place every Spring. Cycling to Belgians is like Rugby to New Zealanders, so not knowing a lot about it we were in good company with some locals that knew the who's who. We were up early and arrived in Brugge at 8am to ensure a good viewing spot of the stage. The square filled up pretty quick and soon the teams were riding over the stage and signing the race board. At 10am our toes were frozen to the bone and the riders were off with a bang.

Being Easter weekend, after the start we warmed up with some chocolaty delights at one of the many local chocolate shops. I decided on a traditional hot chocolate with marshmallows, while the others experimented with more adventurous flavours including chilly and ginger.

Once back at the apartment we continued eating, drinking and gaining additional insights from our Belgian guests. They nervously watched the television religiously until Fabian Cancellara finally crossed the line to take the win...a very Belgian day with a Swiss finish!

disney...fairytales really do come true!

Disneyland Paris really is a magical place. No matter your age, you feel like you have stepped in to a real life story book. From Sleeping Beauty's Castle with smoking Dragon, to Captain Hook's Pirate Ship and Skull rock...every little detail has been thought of.

We spent our first day discovering the five different lands and seeking out their thrill seeker rides. The line for each ride was designed to really get you in the right mood for each adventure. We let off a few little screams and nervous giggles, but the real scare didn't come until we got to Disney studios...

The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror is the scariest ride I have ever been on! Knees shaking and holding on for dare life, I was definitely terrified. Funnily enough though this has stuck with me as a sure highlight. I'm not sure if this is due to the pride that I did it or that I was so scared my body pumped me full of endorphins...maybe a mix of the two. 

On Saturday night we were blown away by the 20th Anniversary light show. The Castle turns in to a canvas for the most amazing combination of animation, music and fireworks. It was the perfect finish to a perfect day.

On Sunday we did a little souvenir shopping. The range of Disney products on offer is overwhelming. Toys, clothes, blankets, costumes, kitchenware...the list goes on. It must be a parents nightmare trying to convince their kids to pick just one special item. This Winter I have become a very large consumer of warm drinks so I settled for a large, but very cute, pink Minnie Mouse Mug. Something to remind me of Disney's magic...and hopefully find a spot in my suitcase home.

disney...here we come!

We are heading to Disneyland Paris this weekend which calls for some appropriately child like treats to take along. Presenting...chocolate chip cookie and jelly bean rocky road!

Rocky road is truly the easiest thing to make and you can put just about anything in it. For example, while searching for the ingredients for my chocolate chip cookie and jelly bean concoction I came across coconut covered marshmallows. I stood there for a while deliberating and came to the conclusion...why not! So they went in too.

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Jelly Bean Rocky Road

600 grams Milk Chocolate

300 grams Coconut covered Marshmallows (Or plain with a little shredded coconut)

225 grams Chocolate Chip Cookies - roughly chopped

200 grams Jelly Beans (I used all the berry flavors out of a mixed bag)

100 grams Peanuts

1. Line small tray or medium sized cake tin with baking paper.

2. Melt chocolate in a large bowl, either on top of a pot of hot water or in the microwave. Just remember that chocolate burns easily so keep an eye on it.

3. Pour all of the other ingredients into the bowl with the chocolate and mix through, making sure everything is covered in the chocolate.

4. Pour the mixture in to the tin. You may need to spread it out a bit with the back of a spoon to make it roughly even in thickness.

5. Place in the fridge until set and then chop into chunks with a warm knife.

On another note...It is finally starting to feel like Spring is on its way. The water features are back to liquid form, flower buds are starting to emerge and you can get away with wearing three layers instead of the usual four. While this is a nice change, it is bitter sweet. By the time the real warm weather turns up we will be returning to a New Zealand Winter...

  

under the sea...and over to the UK!

Last weekend we took the eurostar over to the UK for the first time. I was a little worried about the fact that you are underwater, but there was really nothing to worry about at all. It is just like being in a long tunnel and so much easier than flying as it takes you in to the heart of London. From there we took the train up to Ely, a small farming town not too far from Cambridge, to visit family friends. After a long day of travelling, touring the farm and meeting some great people, we were welcomed home to a fantastic warm meal and real wood fire...true English hospitality!

The following morning, with a light snow falling, we went and saw the amazing Ely Cathedral. These sights really do make you realise just how young New Zealand is. It really is worth the visit as my photo's just don't do it justice.

Once back in London, we attended our first Arsenal game at the Emirates Stadium. It still amazes me how much noise the away fans can make being such a small section of the stadium. The passion and enthusiasm is to be admired, but luckily we were on the winners side.

glazed like a donut...

Yesterday morning we had the pleasure of having a nice misty rain. While this doesn't seem to out of the ordinary it was the first day I was house bound. You see, this misty rain would then proceed to freeze leaving a nice slippery layer of ice on everything it touched. This included all footpath surfaces including, but not limited to, tiles, pebbles and asphalt. So as I proceeded to put the trash out and head on my merry way to the library I realised quickly that I no longer had control over my steps. With a little luck I made it to the bin at the top of our drive and this is when it all went wrong. Along came a little gust of wind and I was off! Half crouched and rather frightened sliding all the way down the little slope to the road. A little stunned that I managed to stay upright I decided to stand there a while and decide on the best strategy to get back to the safely of the apartment building. In doing so I spanned the road to see if I was the only one having this trouble. I noticed two kinds of people, those also standing still deciding on their next move, and then those skating around like Bambi on ice. I have to say I was pleased at this, I was sure this was going to be an occasion that I, as the newbie to this weather, would be the only one not capable to cope. Not wanting to stand around on the road all day, one tiny step at a time I made my five meter journey back to safety without ending up with my feet in the air. Success!

Today I am appreciating the ability to walk again. I hope you do too:) 

drinking...beer

Last weekend we decided to venture in to Brugge and attend their annual beer festival. With more than 65 breweries and 300+ beers there was a lot to see and sample! With a massive variety of blonde, brown, amber, and red beers it was hard not to find something to your liking. Some flavours even extending to banana and coconut for the more adventurous. But the highlight had to be trying the Westvleteren 12. Holding the reputation for years now as the best beer in the world we could not pass the opportunity by to give it a go. How was it you ask? Well it sure was flavoursome, and as far as darker beers go pretty easy drinking. Maybe not something I would consume on a regular basis (especially when you come across it in a bar it costs a cool €30 a bottle) but a tasty beer no less. I think the real gold behind this great beer is that it has a brilliant story...

The Westvleteren Brewery is a Belgian brewery which was founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren. The quantity of beer brewed is only enough to financially support and run the monastery, no extra will be produced regardless of demand. So if you were thinking it might make it to a store near you soon you are sadly mistaken.

"As every man we must be able to live. So we have to try to earn our living and let others share in what we have to abstain from. Indeed, we have to live 'from' and 'with' our brewery. But we do not live 'for' our brewery. This must be strange for business people and difficult to understand that we do not exploit our commercial assets as much as we can. We are no brewers. We are monks. We brew beer to be able to afford being monks." Father Abbot, Westvleteren Brewery.

living with the snow...

On my first day back in Belgium it snowed all day. With everything dusted in beautiful soft snowflakes it did give the place a magical feel (the satisfying crunch underfoot never gets old). While this novelty was very exciting...one week later Oostende is still white, but maybe losing a little of it's magic. The soft snow hardening giving every step the opportunity to slip n slide, dogs covering more and more in a yellow glow and the freezing fog keeps a deathly chill in the air. Staying warm requires a lot of layers and every day when I get dressed I am reminded of this brilliant moment off Friends..."Could I be wearing anymore clothes?!"

While the snow does have it's down side...one thing going for it is that it sure is fun to photograph:)