Europe 2016 - Münster and Cochem

After leaving Brussels, we arrived in Münster on Monday night around 8:30pm. Allen had already reserved a hotel, so we checked in and fortunately there was a tapas restaurant, Bar Celona, right below the hotel. We had dinner and caught up for a bit but went to bed soon after as Allen was doing a 30km Viking Run on Tuesday morning. This is something that those in the Dutch military are required to complete, and they invite other countries to join them.

I slept in on Tuesday morning and then googled top things to do in Münster. One of the top hits was to walk around Lake Aasee. So, I decided to run it instead. These are some pictures from my run.

While I was running, I had to dodge all the bikers and there were bikes parked everywhere too. I just read online that Münster is known as the bicycle capital of Germany.

Breakfast after my run. I had quiche and a cappuccino. It took me a bit of walking around to find something to eat - pastries are popular for breakfast in Germany, and I wanted eggs. The quiche was good, but I thought it was just spinach and there was hidden smoked salmon included as well.

A view of the restaurant...and more bikes.

After breakfast and walking around, I came back to the hotel to wait for Allen to come back from his run. He arrived soon after I got back to the hotel, and we checked out and put our stuff in the car and walked around Münster for a couple of hours.

We left Münster and headed back toward Schallodenbach, which is where Allen lives. Allen drove for about an hour, but he was tired from only getting 6 hours of sleep and then running 18 miles. So, I had my rookie drive behind the wheel on the autobahn. It wasn't too stressful - Siri told me where to go while Allen took a nap. The only thing I had to watch out for were Audi's and BMW's flying past me if I wanted to change lanes.

On the way home, we stopped in a quaint little town called Cochem.

This is the Moselle River, and it flows through France, Luxembourg and Germany.

The stairwell was well decorated.

Views from the castle.

Knight in shining armor.

On Tuesday night we had dinner in Beilstein...

...at a place called Hotel Gute.

This was probably my favorite dinner. Spargel (white asparagus) was in season while I was in Germany and it was delicious.

Europe 2016 - Brussels

I spent approximately the last two weeks of May 2016 in Europe. I started to consider the trip when I found out my cousin was going to Malta for Memorial Day weekend and "did I want to go?" Of course I wanted to go, and the timing ended up working out extremely well.

I left on Friday night, May 20th, and did the British Airways flight direct from Phoenix to London Heathrow. I ended up sleeping the majority of the flight, so landed after what I felt was no time at all. I had about a 4 hour layover at Heathrow before flying to Brussels. When I landed in Brussels, the airport was extremely empty and a little eerie. Scott picked me up from the airport, but I had to meet him outside and across the street as they still hadn't fully opened the airport since the March terror attacks. I spent two days with Scott and Julie in Waterloo before their European living comes to an end.

Reagan and Addy at a fair at Brady's school on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday night Scott, Julie and I went to Leuven, a town about 20 minutes from Waterloo, for dinner. 

Dinner at Kautoubiya, a Moroccan restaurant.

We all had the prix fixe dinner. This was the tiniest tea cup I had ever sipped tea from.

Monday morning I woke up and went to crossfit with Scott. I had never done crossfit before so thought it would be fun to give it a try. It wasn't like what I am used to at BODI, but it was still a good workout...never miss a Monday, even on vacation.

For lunch Monday, Julie and I went to a Belgian brasserie and we both had an excellent goat cheese salad. Julie had been before, as this was a place they had done some of their culture training when they first moved there.

This is Nala and the first time I had met her. She is a lab, and definitely thinks she is a lap dog :)  Really sweet dog and fits in well with the Cripps' family.

My one picture with the kids before I left. Addy didn't feel well while I was there so she spent a lot of her time watching movies on the couch. Hopefully I can see more of these kiddos once they are back in America.

Monday afternoon my cousin came to pick me up from Waterloo and we headed to Münster, Germany. Thanks Scott and Julie for allowing me to be a returning guest in Belgium :)

Uriah Turns 2

Uriah turned 2 last Saturday, June 4th, 2016. He is growing up so fast and it is fun seeing his personality develop. I couldn't have asked for a better first nephew. Love him.