Europe In 30 Days - Let The Eating Begin

After a wonderful night at the Christmas Market walking through the streets of Brussels and stopping at so many of those great little wooden chalets to sample so many different types of food and especially the Gluhwein, we took it easy the next couple of days.
But of course by Monday night (Dec 29th) we were ready to get out and do some more eating. After Stijn came home from work we headed out to do just that! We first stopped at Cafe Bison, a small sort of rustic little bar for a drink before dinner. For those of you who know me you know that I am always willing to try something different, so Stijn ordered me a Jenever This was served in a shot glass and I had two differant flavors. The first had a slight berry flavor and the other was chocolate. We then headed out to walk the streets and see what restaurant could entice us to come in and have dinner. La Bar A Tapas did just that. This was a great little intimate and friendly restaurant. We tried to choose which tapas we wanted from the extensive menu of both warm and cold tapas. It was tough but we finally settled on stuffed grape leaves, artichoke hearts, calamari, langoustines, andalucia chicken, mushrooms and mussels. And of course a great bottle of wine! We left there completely stuffed and very happy again with our unexpected pleasure.
New Years Eve 2009 was the most memorable New Years I have ever had and will certainly never forget. Stijn is a true romantic and knows just how to really make me happy. No we didn't get all gussied up and go out on the town and watch some fireworks after some over crowded and over priced meal at a restaurant. We prepared for our romantic night that day by going to the market and deciding what we would want to cook for dinner. WHAT? Your thinking has she lost her mind, COOK on New Years Eve? ROMANTIC? But it's how we "cooked" that made it so special.


Stijn had told me about grilling on a stone. When he described this to me I thought what a great idea and how much fun this would be. We went to the mall on Sunday (Dec 28th) and he had me pick one out that I liked. I had never seen anything like this and if you have here in the States, let me know because I would love to buy one. So that evening we enjoyed some wine while grilling some chicken, meat, shrimp, salmon, mushrooms and veggies. We then enjoyed a little competitive bowling on the Wii.
Our New Year started together by just holding each other and listening to the fire works.

Please visit Wheres Debbie and see our pictures of New Years by clicking on the album titled "New Years 2009"