The First of Many Great Days Ahead

Happy that the rain stopped today, we jumped in the car and headed to the beach, Praia Grande!

This is a great spot in Ferragudo with three restaurants right on the beach.  Every Tuesday night there is live music at this beach bar.  Bet you figured out where we're going on Tuesday!

My favorite is still the 17th century fort, Sao Joao de Arade which sits between Ferragudo's two beaches, Praia Grande and Praia da Angrinha. 

There are great views from here looking towards the bigger touristy city of Portimão

There is also some very beautiful and interesting plants along this stretch of beach

I don't think this boat is going anywhere for awhile

The wind conditions were apparently perfect today for some kite surfing

All this fresh sea air has made us a bit hungry, so we headed back into town for some lunch

There are several great little places in Ferragudo to eat and we discovered a new favorite today!  We had driven past "Barnard's several times when we were here last February, but never managed to stop in for a meal.  So today we did!

We were greeted by the owner, Geraldine, with a very warm and friendly welcome as she led us to our table. 

You won't find a lengthy menu here for lunch.  Just take a look at the chalk board and decide which of the two options you would like today.

The menu is small and informal, with an unhurried service and good prices.  Stijn ordered the pasta with chicken and chorizo while I choose the calf liver with onions.  I need more iron!

For dessert, I chose the Christmas pudding with custard and a nice hot cup of Galao.

 

Oh, I'm afriad those pounds are going to creep back up on me!

If you would like to see the rest of my pictures of today just click "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "The First of Many Great Days Ahead"

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!!!

Watery Wednesday - Merry Christmas Fiji Style

Even the very small Bounty Island was in the Christmas spirit when I visited there in December 2006!

I just love how the water transitions from perfectly clear to sapphire blue.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my blogging friends from around the World!

See more Watery pictures taken by some awesome photographers by clicking HERE

Marche de Noel in Lille France

Saturday my friend, Birgit and I headed to Lille France for the day to explore and enjoy the Christmas Market (Marche de Noel). To read more about this great Christmas Market, click HERE

We took the train from Kortrijk Belgium for the 30 minute journey into France!  I just love the idea of being so close to so many countries here in Europe!  "Oh, I think I'll go to France today!"   Why Not???!!!

It was a perfect wintery day, with a festive chill in the air and fresh snow atop the more then 80 wooden chalets that lined Place Rihour in the centre of town.

 The chalets were decorated so cute with lights, gingerbread men and several Christmas scenes.

I, of course must have and eat immediately, a beignet!

Now we did take some time out to have a real meal.  This sign made it easy to decide what I wanted for lunch!

A nice pot of mussels cooked in white wine!

We enjoyed walking around and taking in this beautiful city.

But the views from the ferris wheel were spectacular!

I was loving the views......

....while Birgit was holding on for dear life!

Time to warm up with some Vin Chaud and enjoy the view.

I have entirely way to many pictures to show you for this post.  But here are a few of my favorites!

Ok, I'll stop.....but if you would like to see more pictures just click this "Where's Debbie" and then on the album "Marche de Noel"

It was a fantastic day!  But it's time to call it a day and head back to the train station.

Happy Holidays!

How Much Is Gas???

No, vehicle fuel is not $1.51 per gallon here in Belgium.....that's per liter!  And when you convert that, you're paying $6.04 per gallon!

Makes the price of gas in America not so bad after all!

Just thought I would share this with you.

Skiing in Belgium???

Belgians love to snow ski!  However, Belgium is not known for World Class ski slopes, heck, they don't even have any mountains!  Belgians travel all over Europe to enjoy their favorite past time to places like the Dolomites in Italy, the Alps in Switzerland, Tyrol in Austria and Tignes France.  In fact, we will be going to France for a ski holiday this upcoming February, so keep a look out for that story! 

But you know you just don't want to ski once a year, right?  So here in the Henegouwen Provence of Belgium they have "Ice Mountain"! 

How cool is this!!!??  No we didn't ski here (remember we're going to France!).  Stijn's brother, Dries, works here and provides snowboarding lessons down the 131 foot slope.

This place has skiing and snowboarding on real snow with 2 runs for beginners and advanced skiers.

We enjoyed a drink from the restaurant while watching people having fun on this indoor slope.  

There are no chair lifts here.  So how do they get back to the top? 

Hold on to that cable and take a ride to the top!

Don't forget to check out "Where's Debbie" for more pictures!

Watery wednesday - Strasbourg France

Stijn had taken me to the Alsasce Region of France as a birthday surprise in October 2009.  On our drive back to Belgium we made a stop in the beautiful city of Strasbourg to stroll the cobblestone streets between the storybook buildings of  half-timbered houses. The pretty medieval houses of the district date from the 16th and 17th centuries, and half-timbering is magnificently decorated.

Towers and footbridges situated at the end of 'Petite France' are the Ponts-Couverts, one of the many famous tourist attractions in all of Strasbourg. Comprising three 13th-century towers, these ancient fortified remains owe their name to the series of roofed, wooden footbridges

Strasbourg, in eastern France, is the seventh largest city in France.  Strasbourg is the ultimate European city. It has flavors of both France and Germany, and sits right on the border of the two countries. In fact, Strasbourg has often changed hands between the French and Germans over the centuries.

See some more beautiful "Watery" pictures by clicking here "Watery Wednesday"

St. Nicholas in Belgium

Prettige Feesten!   "Happy Holidays" from Belgium.

Yes, I am in Belgium now and today we celebrated the coming of St. Nicholas.  Belgium is such a great Country, that not only do they celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but on December 6th children wake up to gifts that St. Nicholas has left for them the night before.

There are some very close simularities between Santa Claus and St. Nicholas, but yet very different.  St. Nicholas rides a horse instead of a sleigh being pulled by 8 tiny reindeer.  His black helpers are called Zwarte Piet which is the Dutch name for the Moorish helpers, as opposed to the little elves who make the toys for Santa.  And St. Nicholas prefers to have a glass of wine left for him along with some carrots or turnips, and a sugar lump for the saint's horse.  Hmmm, makes cookies and milk sound a bit boring.

St. Nicholas and his Zwarte Piet assistants come in November by boat, train, or on horseback to get ready for his feast day, the 6th of December.

So today, little Ella, Stijn's niece, came decked in garland to grandma's to see what St. Nicholas had left for her the night before.

Our day was spent enjoying family, good food and watching Ella enjoying her gifts.

I wish all of you a Happy and Joyous Holiday Season wherever you may be!