Nat, Peter, Kate, Nick, Steve and Karin in our lounge for a pre-christmas dinner.

Belgium....!!

Well, last weekend we finally made it to the continent. We "Eurostarred it" to Belgium on Friday night to stay with friends for the weekend, planning to do a little sightseeing and see the Christmas markets. The weekend, however, held much more.

We spent our first night in Belgium at Margo's parents house, a very old, stone country house in the south of Belgium. We were greeted with wine, cheese and chocolate on arrival, as the De Wulf family showed us their legendary hospitality. It was great for me to catch up with Margo and her parents again after so many years (7 to be exact), to meet her husband Gianni, and for them to all meet Nick.

On Saturday we headed up to Brussels after a walk in the Belgium countryside. Brussels is a really beautiful city, with many old buildings melding french and dutch influences. We immediately had a waffle, followed by a traditional Belgian lunch (quiche) complete with Belgian beer. This proved to be indicative of the entire weekend, which we spent sampling local delicacies. Margo and Gianni were adament that we had to try as many traditional Belgian foods as possible (including a white sausage called Boudin!). After visiting the Grand Place, we met up with Jocelyn, a friend of mine from Melbourne Uni who is working in Belgium for a few months, and headed off to another cafe for hot chocolate/beer and chocolates. This was followed by the Christmas markets, and yet more food and drink (including apple gin!), and then onto dinner at a traditional Belgian restaurant!

On Sunday, Margo, Gianni, Nick and I headed off to Bruge, a picturesque town further north of Brussels, made famous (and rich) by its linen trade sometime in the past (sorry, not up to date on the history here), resulting in wonderful buildings and architecture. It is known for its spanish-style buildings, the ones with the step-like fronts (see pictures). We wandered around Bruge, trying mussels and frites (fries), purchasing chocolates, beer and Christmas decorations, and generally taking in the sights. Margo and I lost the guys for a while (we thought they'd been locked in the bellfry - turned out they were in a bottle-shop!), and then we had some pancakes/waffles and coffee before heading home.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful weekend. It was great to spend time with Margo and Gianni, they made it a really fun, relaxing weekend! We'll definitely be back to Belgium soon!

Buying waffles! 

The Town Hall in the Grand Place 

The Mannekin Pis (peeing boy), famous in Belgium for peeing I guess. Interestingly, in the early 1990s, in the name of equal opportunity, a peeing girl statue was commissioned and built in Brussels. However no-one seems to know where it is! 

Eating beignets (like donuts) at the Christmas markets in Brussels 

Dinner in Brussels. Clockwise from left: Laura, Jocelyn, Nick, Gianni and Margo. 

Us in Bruge - for those who remember my last trip to Belgium, note the bridge is the same one I had a photo taken on last time! 

Bruge at night - notice the step-fronted building on the right.

Hampton Court Palace

Well, today Natalie and I went to Hampton Court Palace (well, we're on holidays!). It was actually a fabulous day, complete even with some blue sky! The palac itself was wonderful, with many exhibitions including the Kings rooms and the kitchens as they were in the reign of Henry the VIII. One of the hallways is supposedly haunted by one of Henry's wives! The gardens were beautiful. Enjoy the pictures!

The palace.

Look at the tudor chimneys, and the palm trees! 

The gardens... 

Latest Update

Well, it's been a long time between drinks (again), but we really have been very busy. There's been the Messiah, the Elton John concert, Christmas carols, shopping, exams, more than one bout of the flu, a few dinner parties, hockey, Christmas parties, balls, theatre, markets, bowling......

One sad event was saying goodbye to Em and Wog at the end of November. We spent a great few days with them before they left, going to Camden markets, a few pubs and even doing the Jack the Ripper walk! It was great to spend some time with those guys, and we'll miss their games of dice and pub crawls!

Hockey is taking up a signifcant part of my week. I'm playing for Wapping Hockey Club, a hockey club full of young professionals based in east london. It takes me a good 45 mins to get to and from training, but away games can take up to 2 hours to get to, which means that my Saturdays are well and truly full. The long travel time, however, is made much easier by the fact that our team is undefeated for the season, with a goal difference of around 60. I have even scored a few goals myself, something my hockey career is not built on! But in all serious, I'm loving playing this season, and have met a great bunch of "real" londoners (yes, despite popular belief and common experience, english people do live in London), who are introducing me to the english life and their (unique!) language.

We're really enjoying life here at Goodenough. Last week we had our Winter Ball, complete with a 17 piece jazz band. It was a great night - see the photo of Nick and I below!

We have also been getting into the Christmas spirit. We went to the advent carols service at St Paul's cathedral, followed by the Messiah there last week. Both were amazing: the carols service was a processional candlelit service, while the Messiah was just an an incredible concert. I also sang in the carols service here at Goodenough. We have also been eating lots of mince pies with Nat and Peter (sitting round their huge Christmas tree!), and our flat also has a few decorations. There has also been many Christmas drinks and parties (I'll leave Nick to tell you about his!). I think this newfound excitement for Christmas comes from the weather - when it's this cold you really need something to look forward to. As for our plans, we are heading up to spend Christmas with Trish and Pete (my aunt and uncle) and their family in Nottingham. Nick isn't taking time off, so we're coming back to London in before the new year.

I hope all of you reading this have a wonderful Christmas, and a really memorable new year. Lots os love and best wishes from this side of the world!

Laura and Wog at Camden markets

Us in our finest!