A lovely Sunday afternoon...

Today is Sunday. A day to get ready for the week. A day of laying around relaxing. A day of rest. Right? Nopeee!!! oh my, what a day...

Today we were going to go to a pub and listen to some music and drink... Well it was a GORGEOUS day, so we decided to go for a nice Sunday afternoon bike ride. :) I haven't ridden a bike in at least 2 years and I haven't gone for an actual bike ride in over 10 years... But I figured I could handle an hour long bike ride around town!! We left around noon and as we started riding, the phrase "just like riding a bike" came to mind. Even after a few years, this was easy! We had planned to ride to a small town nearby. Well about 30 minutes into it Kristof told me to tell him when half way should be, so I figured if he's saying that now we'll probably be riding for two hours... But that's still not too bad!! After what I am guessing was an hour, my butt started to hurt but I didn't want to be the American whimp, so I rode through the pain. After about 2 hours, I wasn't sure I could last much longer so, not wanting to admit it to Kristof, I told the kids I was tired and asked how much longer. We stopped for a picnik soon after and I was told we were well over half way!! Whew! A 4 hour bike ride on a Sunday? I swore to myself I would never agree to go for a bike ride with Europeans ever again. Well we continued on our way and in another hour/hour and a half, we stopped at a small pub. They said only 15 minutes left!! (You can't even understand my joy.) I didn't want to stop because I just wanted to be home laying down!! Haha so you could imagine my surprise when Kristof said "so do you want to turn around and head home, you look a little tired?" I think my jaw literally hit the floor as I asked where we were 15 minutes from... His response? THE NETHERLANDS!!!! Yes, I unknowingly rode a bike cross country in Europe. I think my heart sunk when I realized I wasn't 15 minutes from my bed!! Anyways, I agreed to keep going because I was already going to be dead that night... Might as well get a good story out of it. So we finally got to Hurst, a small town in the Netherlands. We walked around (a nice change from a bike), had dinner, and headed home... -_- I'm pretty sure they thought I was dying... But to be honest - I thought I was too! Haha I have never been that tired. And I was not mentally prepared for it!! I seriously thought I was going to be home within 30 minutes for about 3 hours... Oh and on the ride home Kristof was making fun of me for being so tired!! Hahaha I was like "I'm an American!!!!! We don't ride bikes!!!" hahaha but towards then end I almost started crying! I am such a wimp!! Haha the poor little girl asked her dad if I was mad at them! I just said "no, I'm fine" with a grimice on my face. Hahaha I was too tired to smile... We didn't get home until 7pm!! 7 hours and 50km (about 25 miles)... Never again!!

I am glad I did it because other than the saunas, it's my favorite story haha but I woke up at 7 am in pain the next morning! I had to take pain medicine! Kristof - I still think you hate me ;)

Sorry I don't have any pictures... I thought we'd be gone for an hour... Lol

 

Posted with Blogsy

Ice cream and a party!

Today we had breakfast and then Mitha and I went to watch Silke play volleyball. Since she's young they only play 4 on 4 and they make the court smaller. It was really fun to watch though! She did really good :) one of the girls even had their jump serve!!! I really wanted to play haha Later that day we all went out for ice cream!! Stijn had to ride the bike cause we didn't all fit in the van haha sorry Stijn! The ice cream was huge!! I couldn't even finish mine!!! And I love ice cream! Lol after we got home we got ready and I went to a party with Mitha and Kristof. Some of their friends were turning 40, so they had a huge party! It was really fun :D around 1am I started to get tired! Haha Kristof was still dancing though! I got out partied by an almost 40 year old! Hahaha but it was a blast :) they played a lot of English songs, so that was nice for me :) I was so tired by the time we got nome I feel right to sleep!

See how huge?!?

Me and my ice cream :) the before shots!

Stijn

Kristof

Daan

Silke

Mitha

Shmakalic!!

I didn't even make a dent :/ haha the after photos.

Stijn after lol

And Kristof after :)

Hahaha Daan and his final bite!

Silke finished hers

Mitha's after shot :)

I didn't get any pictures of the party cause I was too busy dancing and talking and eating and drinking! Haha such a great day :)

 

Posted with Blogsy

A successful train ride!

I got on a train in Virton headed for Antwerp and even though I got on the wrong train, it was in the right direction! And I actually ended up getting to Antwerp an hour sooner than planned!! :D it's about time something went right! ;) haha

Vending machine... Notice anything weird?!

They sell beer!! In a vending machine. at a train station. You are supposed to put your ID in but everyone said they bet it didn't work and you didn't really need the ID.. Haha I didn't have any euros on me or else I woulda bought one!

Antwerp central!

The prettiest train station I have been to!

It was such a beautiful station!!

Everything looked so old and pretty!

They're very bike friendly here, even some stair cases have little rails for your bikes!

I thought it was pretty cool!

Antwerp.

The station from the outside :) the zoo is directly to the left haha

Silke, the daughter of the family I stayed with, decorated my room!

How adorable :)

She even wrote it in English!

I liked my princess bedding :D

Silke drew this on my iPad the first night - she also put all her contact information in my contacts haha and added herself to my Skype. She's such a cutie. She took me around and taught me Dutch! (they were impressed that I could still sing songs in Dutch) everytime I spoke Dutch they would just laugh at me lol even when I got it right!!! Anyways, I am actually staying in Sint Niklaas which is about 20 minutes outside of Antwerp and I am staying with the Van Eynde family. Kristof is the husband and he works with my mom we were good friends with them when we lived in Antwerp. Mitha is the mom and they have three kids: Stijn - 14, Daan - 12, Silke - 10. I had a really good time seeing them again. It's been a long time!!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Last night

My last night with Ann and Luc is when Felix and I had some bonding time! I am serious when I say Harry Potter brings people together!! I have had so many conversations about Harry Potter that have resulted in great friendships (many in my sorority!) That doesn't change when you're abroad!! Haha I introduced Felix to pottermore!! He loved it and that's when he really started to speak some English haha he's in Ravenclaw and Ann and I are Hufflepuff (in French the names are different!) but Felix has read the books and watched the movies in English. (he's only 11 and can speak and read 3 languages...) anyways, we had a lot of fun playing :)

So focused! Hahaha

Isn't he the cutest kid?! He loved the game :)

Even though it was in French I still had to help point him in the right direction sometimes ;) this is me helping him make a potion!! Haha

I also got to hold the parrot. I seriously love that parrot. I was so excited I almost started to cry!!! Haha it was great. He whistles the USA national anthem (my brother taught him that!) and apparently a few months ago they had a French worker named Michelle working on their house and he tried to get the parrot to say his name - after about a week, it finally said "Michelle" with a super American accent! Hahaha so he kind of remembers me!!! ;) he also makes water dripping sounds and he can ring like the telephone. He's such a great bird!!!

Hahaha this is what I look like when I'm so excited I'm about to cry! The parrots name is papa joe.

I was so scared and excited and shocked to actually be holding him!!

Hahaha I have a parrot on my shoulder!!!!!

Kisses for papa joe!

I had such a great time in Torgny :) it was a beautiful little town and I feel like I got to see some of the hidden beauties in Europe! Luc taught me a lot and it was so good to catchup with them again. :) I hope to see them again soon!! Maybe in china! ;)

 

Posted with Blogsy

Torgny bed and breakfast

This is pictures of the bed and breakfast that my friends own :) its really nice!!

That is their house.

My bathroom.

I still made a mess with this shower -_- I didn't take the plug out so it over flowed...

My room - it was a bit messy... :D

The inside of the farm house!

This was my favorite door :) all the rooms were just a little bit different which made it feel more homey and really cute! It was such a lovely place!!

The little farmers upstairs room :)

Look how huge!! It was awesome!!

Haha farm equipment!

The really small stairway!

Inkof! What a great dog :)

Another view of their house!

The garden in front of the farm house.

The garden in front of their house.

My buddy - Papa Joe!

Inside of their house!

More of their garden.

A view of the big farm house from their garden. :)

If you ever need a nice place for a vacation - go here! So beautiful and relaxing in an adorable part of Belgium!!

 

Posted with Blogsy