Europe

From Paris’s Louvre to the Streets of Porto, Portugal

With only a few days in Paris and a wedding taking up a lot of time, we certainly couldn’t see everything Paris has to offer. However, besides the Eiffel Tower, the one other must see location is the Louvre. We headed there Wednesday morning. The Louvre is one of those places one could spend hours, even days going through. Filled with a variety of art from different eras, locations, and styles, it is an art lover’s dream location. We didn’t…

Continue Reading “From Paris’s Louvre to the Streets of Porto, Portugal”

Destination Wedding Celebration in Paris

We went to Europe to celebrate the wedding ceremony of my son Aaron and his fiance Michelle in Paris. Destination weddings have become quite popular these days so let me take some time to explain a little about how having a wedding in Paris worked. I didn’t have much to do in terms of planning the wedding. However, I heard about it so I can provide some insight. First of all a couple cannot get legally married in Paris unless…

Continue Reading “Destination Wedding Celebration in Paris”

Touring St. Chappel and Other Famous Paris Sites

After struggling through three days of cold and rain in Belgium, it was a relief to wake up on Monday morning and see it was not raining. In fact there was actually some spots of blue sky. It was a great day to travel by train to Paris and see some sights including St. Chappel and the Arc de Triomphe. The train to Paris leaves from the Midi train station in Brussels. We didn’t want to miss the train so…

Continue Reading “Touring St. Chappel and Other Famous Paris Sites”

Returning to Bruges, Belgium on a Cold Day

Last year my daughter Andrea and I visited Bruges as part of our trip to see the tulips in The Netherlands. We had a fun and interesting time in this old city. This year as my wife and I were deciding where to visit in Europe, I felt like it would be good to take Silvette to Bruges as it had been such an interesting place to see. Originally I had thought we would go Friday, but the rain was…

Continue Reading “Returning to Bruges, Belgium on a Cold Day”

Exploring Antwerp Despite the Drizzle and Wind

I wish I could say that we awoke to our second day in Belgium to sunshine and warm spring weather, but I can’t. It was another cold, windy day with occasional rain showers and near constant drizzle. Nevertheless, we had planned to spend the day in Antwerp so we set off to do just that. Our first challenge was buying train tickets. With some help we were able to do that, but then we needed to know where to find…

Continue Reading “Exploring Antwerp Despite the Drizzle and Wind”

Wandering Through Brussels in Wet and Windy Weather

My son and his fiance decided they wanted a wedding ceremony in Paris rather than a big wedding at home. Destination weddings seem to be quite popular, and this was their choice of destinations. My wife Silvette and I decided since we were going to Paris for the wedding, we would make this a longer trip and fulfill some of the travel goals we have had. We planned a three week European trip starting in Brussels, Belgium. My daughter Andrea…

Continue Reading “Wandering Through Brussels in Wet and Windy Weather”

Andrea’s Thoughts: Better Late than Never to The Netherlands

As the world started to fall apart in February 2020, I was all but certain it would not impact our trip to Belgium and The Netherlands. April was a couple of months away, and there was plenty of time for things to settle down. As we all know now, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Two years later we decided to try again. This time, however, there was a little more apprehension. Would we have to quarantine upon arrival? Where…

Continue Reading “Andrea’s Thoughts: Better Late than Never to The Netherlands”