Durbuy, The Smallest Town On Earth!

A couple of weekends ago, we drove southeast of Brussels to a beautiful little place in the "Ardennes".  Durbuy's residents (only about 350) have dubbed themselves "The Smallest Town on Earth" .  But I must tell you, this little hamlet is packed with wonderful narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops and restaurants, and a castle that stands magestically on the banks of the Ourthe River.

The Ardennes is a region of Belgium you MUST visit when you're here.  The drive through this lush countryside just kept me saying, "oooh and awe" and sighing.

And a "Cheese Route"!!!!  Oh my, I'm in Heaven!

Must get to "Durbuy" though because we have plans to do some kayaking down the Ourthe River.  But first a little walk through this town where time seems to have stood still.

Oh if I could just figure out how to get some of this stuff back home to Las Vegas.

There were so many great options for lunch with all the wonderful umbrella covered terraces.  But I think we made a great choice!

After lunch we made our way to "LPM" where we rented ourselves a kayak for 10 euros each and started out on our 1 hour trip down the Ourthe River.

I've done some kayaking before, but never past a castle!

This little day trip was just what the doctor ordered, so peaceful and beautiful and relaxing!

And of course I have more pictures of our day for you to see.  Just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Durbuy"

Floralia Brussels

Spring has "sprung" here in Belgium, and what better way to enjoy all the colours that this season has to offer then to make a visit to one of the most spectaular gardens I've ever seen.  No, we didn't go to the Nederlands to see the tulips in bloom at the "Kuekenhof Gardens" like thousands of other people do.  Instead, this past Saturday we took the train just about 5 miles to the outskirts of Brussels to a place called "Kasteel van Groot-Bijgaarden". 

 First built in the XIIth century, it is surrounded by a broad moat, its deep waters reflecting the centuries-old beech trees. A five-arch bridge,  crosses over to the drawbridge leading to the fortified entrance dating back to the XIVth century. The castle itself, built in the XVIIth century, is a wonderful example of the Flemish Renaissance.

There are over one million bulbs of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and others, planted on over 35 acres.  Oh My! 

So a little warning.  I took over 200 pictures and no, I won't post them all.  Just some of my very favorites.  Enjoy!

This was my absolute favorite tulip!

I don't have the names of all the different varities, so just enjoy the show!

The picture below is Stijn standing at the top of the heart that you see in the picture above.

There were also azalea's throughout the gardens

  

And these hyacinths smelled soooo sweet!

I know, I know, how pictures can one take of flowers?

I just love this daffodil!

Thank you for taking the time to "Stop and enjoy the beauty of Spring"

There are many more pictures and you can see them by visiting "Where's Debbie" in the album "Floralia Brussels"

Watery Wednesday - Tervuren Belgium

Just a few days ago, my dear friend, Birgit and I spent the day in Tervuren enjoying "The Royal Museum for Central Africa". (story coming soon!)  The museum is a first-class centre for scientific research on Africa and one of the most visited museums in Belgium.

This is a "Watery" glimpse of our day.

Be sure to stop by "Water Wednesday" to see other's "Watery" Days!

 

Watery Wednesday - Reflections of Rumbeke

We had a nice day here in Belgium a few days ago and decided to take a walk and get some excercise.

We drove about only 10 minutes from Stijn's family home, parked the car, and this is what I saw!

Rumbeke Castle (Dutch: Kasteel van Rumbeke), in Rumbeke in West Flanders, is one of the oldest Renaissance architecture castles of Belgium.

Castle Rumbeke was built in 1538 and for centuries was owned by the count, Thomas de Thiennes and his wife Margareta d'Harméricourt.  The castle of Rumbeke suffered damage during the invasion of Flanders by French king Louis XIV, as well as during the French Revolution and in both world wars more than a century later. In fact, during World War I, it was taken over by the Germans and became for a short period of time, the home of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, who was credited with shooting down 80 enemy aircraft in his brightly painted red airplane.

Although most of the building was built during the Renaissance period, on the site of a very much older fortress, it gained some slightly Neoclassical features after its renovation during the 18th century.

During those renovations, the adjacent forest, the Sterrebos or the Star Forest, was added to its grounds. The forest was modelled after the Prater park in Vienna.

Did you ever see the movie "That Lucky Touch"?  I haven't but maybe now I will.  It's a comedy which was partially shot in Rumbeke in 1975, starring Roger Moore and Shelley Winters.

I'm particapating in Watery Wednesday.  So please be sure to see some other fascinating watery pictures over at "Watery Wednesday" 

Watery Wednesday - A Snowy Day in Flanders

The weather this year has certainly been unusal.

And in Belgium, snow hasn't fallen to this extent for over 40 years!

So we took a walk one morning this past December and enjoyed the beauty of the newly fallen snow.

I am participating in "Watery Wednesday" where you can see some more amazing photographs

Enjoying Life to its Fullest!

I'm sure you have been trying to figure out exactly where the heck I am! 

Well let me apologize for such sporatic posts, and jumping from one story about my travels to another.  If you have been following this blog you know that back in October I left you with stories about my trip to Portugal that I took back in February 2010.  But then I started writing about my trip to Tennessee, and left you wondering about the rest of my days is Portugal. 

Well for the sake of keeping you completely confused, I'll stop here.  There have been a few more trips that I haven't even mentioned, like our Boston trip in November and our Paris getaway just last week.

You've read a couple of stories recently since my arrival back to Belgium, which by the way was on December 3rd.  But here I am now, back in Portugal.  Stijn and I arrived yesterday (Dec 28th) in Ferragudo Portugal, almost one year after our first trip here back in February 2010!

We celebrated our return by enjoying a nice dinner at O Velho Novo, the first restaurant we ate at in February.

Stijn remembered the great meal he had back then, and ordered it again last night.

We will be here for the month of January on what is our part of a home exchange.  What I hope to accomplish while we're here, beside sightseeing, is to catch up on the stories of our travels.

So I hope you don't mind or get confused as to where we are as I begin to attempt to write about where we've been, what we've done and what we've seen during the past several months!

Merry Christmas from Belgium

I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the Christmas trees I've seen since arriving in Europe on December 3.  I hope you enjoy these shots and maybe you can tell me which one is your favorite?

This picture was taken after Stijn's mother and I finished decorating her tree.

The rest are just random pictures I took......

Den Artiest restaurant in Geluwe Belgium



Thon Hotel lobby in Brussels

The streets of Brussels



In Starbucks at the train station in Antwerp



Wood trees on the streets of Antwerp

A.S. Adventure sport store in Antwerp





Grand Place in Antwerp



The Garden of Eden restaurant in Antwerp



Cathedral of Norte Dame Paris



Christmas Market Lille France

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures.....I sure enjoyed taking them.

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to everyone!!!