Phew! It's been a
hectic couple of weekends. Not to sound like I am whining or anything. :)
Apologies for the delinquent post. I have been spending a good bit of time
organizing and planning for a LOT of upcoming trips and visitors. Stay tuned!
Not to mention, we are now 100% legal. Yes, we officially received our Belgian
Visa D Registration while we were in NYC last week. The very tedious and time
consuming process is finally over!
We are counting our
lucky stars each and every day that we have the opportunity to enjoy our city
and travel around Europe. We frequently remind ourselves that we only have a
few more months left. Taking advantage of every weekend is our mantra. We are very
sad at the prospect of leaving what we now call home. Don't get me
started about having to move back to Texas. Sorry friends, but Ben may be
bringing me (and Maddie) back kicking and screaming. Right when everything was
really starting to feel like home, we are 10 weeks away from leaving. I've finally have taken the time to upload photos from the last few months of travel. In addition to our own
travel plans, we have been hosting Ben's family over the past few weeks.
We couldn't be happier to have the excuse to further explore our home and show
off our favorite Brussels hotspots.
Below are a few photos of our travels:
We decided spend the long Easter weekend in Amsterdam as Europe receives the following Monday off for the holiday. We were surprised to see that the city was PACKED! It seemed that everyone in the EU flocked to Amsterdam like geese to water for the weekend. Hotels were sold out well in advance leaving us late planners (clearly not my doing) with the remaining option of staying on a houseboat. It was a unique experience that even Maddie was able to enjoy. Unbeknownst to us, she's quite the little sailor for a dog that doesn't like water. 
While our houseboat location wasn't the most convenient (about a 30 minute walk to the city center) we decided to alleviate the walking burden by renting a Vespa on our second day. We opted for the motorized approach instead of the traditional bicycle. Despite the many motorcycle excursions together, Ben and I had yet to experience Vespa riding TOGETHER. Well it was a fun filled experience and not half as fast as we are accustomed. The tiny motor, barely audible over din of the city, topped out at about 25 km/hour thanks to the added kilos from my rear on the back. Vespa riding in Amsterdam is strictly regulated to the bike lanes which makes for an entertaining experience as we weaved our way amongst bikes, pedestrians, and in some cases cars (it was entirely unclear what was a bike lane vs. street) throughout the canal filled streets. We were taken back by the lack of caution and driving manners of the cyclists, pedestrians - a complete free-for-all. When asked about the rules of the road, the Vespa rental manager responded that typically the larger (or more powerful) person entering the intersection as the right away. Yes, that was the actual answer. 
We luckily came out of Amsterdam unscathed and didn't even have a close call due to Ben's superior driving skills. While we were unable to see some of the famous tourist sites, the Anne Frank House in particular, we are excited to have the excuse to return. Being a 2.5 hour drive from Brussels, we'd be remise to not make another appearance on what we hope will be a less crowded weekend.
