Our 15th Anniversary Get-Away

 

Our exact 15th anniversary date was February 5, 2025, but the actual get-away was February 24-28, Monday to Friday, last week.  A mini-vacation!

There was one thing in particular we chose to see, which was in Belgium, just over the border, so we chose a Fletcher hotel in Kerkrade, NL, near the 3-country border of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, knowing we'd have several side trips across the 5 days, 4 nights.  We had visited the "three country point" back in 2017 when we went to the Aachen Christmas market.  But this time it was Maastricht we wanted to see again.

Monday, February 24, 2025:  Maastricht, NL: 

Maastricht is the capital of the Limberg province in the Netherlands, at our southernmost border.

We had visited the Dominican Church bookstore back in 2010 and wanted to see it again!

It did not disappoint, with fond memories of the last time we drank a latte macchiato there!

And because this was the week before Carnival, we got our taste, without the chaos.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025:  Genk, Belgium:

THIS was what we most wanted to see this trip:  the "Cycling Through Water" path,

in the beautiful Bokrijk National Park and Open Air Museum.  We had visited the Moses Bridge

in the Netherlands in 2012 and wanted to compare.

Again, we were not disappointed.

After eating lunch in nearby Rijkhoven, we visited the 16th century Alden Biesen Castle.

It was a totally unexpected delight to our already wonderful day!

Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Heimbach, Germany:  

Of course, being so close to Germany, we HAD to get our German "fix," especially with food.

Heimbach is a darling town of only 4K+ people, 15 km from Belgium and 30 km east of Aachen,

situated on the river Rur in North Rhine-Westphalia.  The 11th century Hengebach Castle

was visible from everywhere and, regrettably, still closed for the season.

But, as in Maastricht, they were getting ready for Carnival!

We also made a quick trip to the nearby Mariawald Abbey (top-right), where we hoped to have lunch,

but, not impressed with the menu, we drove back to Heimbach center for our wurst and schnitzel.

Thursday, February 27, 2025, Aubel, Belgium:

The Val-Dieu Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Aubel, Belgium, less than an hour's drive from our hotel, worth seeing and where we wanted to eat.  But again, the restaurant was closed for the season.

So we drove to nearby Verviers, just to say we did it, where we ate pizza for lunch.

The joke on us, however, was that we thought we had ordered carbonara and one pizza,

only to find out our carbonara was a carbonara pizza.  Who knew there was such a thing!

Friday, February 28, 2025:  back to Home Sweet Home!  It was a total of 771 km (479 miles), 405 (252 miles) of which were while there on our out-n-abouts.  Like I said, a mini-vacation! 

The trip was totally lackadaisical and without any rushing about from one place to another.  We just let thing happen, apart from the basic research Astrid did for our time away.  We needed to change scenery from the renovation going on here at our senior-living complex (another post!), and chose our anniversary time as a perfect "excuse."

We were reminded again of how mistletoe grows plentifully in that area.

We saw it everywhere in the naked trees of winter, something we don't see in our neck of the woods.

And besides the hotel breakfasts we looked forward to every day, 

eating differently than "normal" was just plain fun...like spaghetti carbonara and pizza.

Oh, and the Belgium and German beers!

Can you tell???

HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY to US!

A Mini-Break in Spa, Belgium

 

And a mini-post (ha!) to remember it by, for the record!

It was a Monday to Friday mini-vacation, August 26-30, that was a total of 615 km/382 mi. roundtrip.  The direct back-n-forth actual mileage was 450 km/278 mi., which means the sight-seeing mileage was 165 km/103 mi.  Just perfect for that amount of time.  And, yes, we keep details like that.  LOL.

Before we got to Spa, Astrid found 3 (count them!) BELGIAN windmills for us to see, just because she knows I have a thing for windmills everywhere we can find them.

Windmill #1:  the Sevens post corn mill in Overpelt, Belgium, built in 1745/1853:

Windmill #2:  the Lisle tower corn mill in Sint-Huibrechts-Lille, Belgium, built in 1820/1908: 

Windmill #3:  Lemmens tower corn mill, in Kinrooi, Belgium, built in 1856:

This was my favorite.

After the windmills, we even visited the Church of Our Lady in Sint-Truiden:

And even though I DID take pics of other ususal suspects inside the church (pulpit, organ, nave, etc.), these ornamental, carved faces (23 of them) at the tops or nooks or corners of pillars everywhere totally grabbed my attention:

Do they have a name?  I have no clue.

After that, we headed to Spa, our home base, where we stayed at the Van de Valk hotel in the middle of the city for 4 nights.  Situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains, it is a tourist attraction known for its mineral springs and production of Spa mineral water since 1583, exported worldwide.  I first learned about the water here in the Netherlands where its bottled water is known as Spa rood (red cap = sparkling water) and Spa blau (blue cap = still water).

But here's the fun part:  after a competition in 1923, Spa's logo has been the leap-frogging Pierrot...  

...who greets you as you enter the city!

So, the main memory of Spa for both Astrid and me will always be the city walk we took to find the 11 Pierrots around the city in honor of his 100-year anniversary last year:

(In the middle row above it's the same Pierrot, to show also the side view.)

This one's my favorite...

with Astrid giving it scale.

That was Monday!

On Tuesday we drove to nearby Liège (Luik in Dutch), 102 km/63 roundtrip, mainly to see its famous staircase called Montagne de Bueren: 

Because it has 374 steps, there was no way we planned to climb up or even down it.

But we did want to see it both ways, so we started at the top and got this view of the city.

"Thank you for visiting without screaming."  :)

And then later, when we were down in the city, we looked back up.

"Thank you for your quiet visit."

The staircase is named after Vincent de Bueren, who defended Liège against an attack by the Duke of Burgundy,

Charles the Bold in the 15th century.  It was built in 1881 to honour the 600 soldiers who died in battle.  (Wiki)

The other thing we made sure we saw was the early 12th century baptismal font inside the Collegiate Church of St. Bartholomew which had been spared from the French Revolutionary Army and is now considered one of the Seven Wonders of Belgium. 

As a baptismal font, all the scenes depict baptisms.

On Wednesday morning we walked the Spa route to find all the Pierrots (described above) and then drove to nearby Coo (47 km/29 mi. roundtrip) to see the waterfalls that Astrid had seen with her parents when she was 12.  

The waterfalls is 15 meters high and was created in the 18th century

by cutting off a meander from the river Amblève.

The is the river side of the falls...

and looking out from the bridge to the area beyond.

Totally worth seeing a piece of Astrid's Memory Lane!

On Thursday, our last full day, we drove to Dinant (174 km/108 mi. roundtrip) which also is a piece of history from when Astrid was 12.  

On our way, we stopped at a specialty food store with a wine cellar, where I got these pics.

You know me!

We then spent the rest of the day in Dinant, on the Meuse/Maas river.

The Collegiate Church of Our Lady from the 13th century is it's main landmark...

but so are it's colored houses alone the bank of the Meuse/Maas river.

In fact, somewhere under those black umbrellas we ate lunch.

As you see, yes, we took the cable car to get the overview from the Citadel of Dinant.

During our 5-day, 4-night stay, we enjoyed the kind of food we love, with an incredible breakfast every morning at the Van der Valk.  

What can I say except that "we should do this more often," like daughter Amy often said when little.

Sometimes the mini-breaks like this are as good if not better than the big breaks.

As we get older, we pay attention to this.

The Antwerp-Aspirin Saga

 

Here's the short version:  I ran out of my daily dose of children's Aspirin (81mg) and had to replenish it.  The Netherlands doesn't sell it over the counter so we went to Belgium, where it does, choosing Antwerp to make a day's trip out of it.

The longer version is that back then, when I turned 50 in 1995, doctors were automatically putting their patients on the children's Aspirin daily dose as a blood thinner to help prevent heart attacks/strokes.  So, doing the math, I've been faithfully taking it every day for almost 28 years...until a study came out last year, questioning the efficacy for those not at risk.  To which I then asked my doctor here (last fall) if he thought it was okay if I stopped taking it.  He had no problem with it.

Then all hell broke lose as winter took it's toll on my body.  Without the photos, which you don't need to see, I ended up getting "winter toes" on my left (knee-replacement) foot and one "winter finger" on my right hand...something I've NEVER HAD IN MY LIFE, even though I've always had cold hands and feet, due to poor blood circulation.

DUH!  Have you connected the dots????????  With my poor blood circulation over all these years, the daily Aspirin was helping my blood get to my extremities at least enough to keep me from "winter" toes and fingers!  Without the Aspirin thinner, my blood thickened and had no chance of doing its job.

Why children's Aspirin is only prescribed by a doctor here, and not allowed over the counter, I do not know.  I always got my supply while in America each year, where I could always buy a twin pack of 2 bottles at Walmart (lasting at least a year) for under $6.  Because I stopped taking it, I didn't replenish my stash last November.

So, in Belgium I paid €8 for a pack of 112 pills and bought 2 packs to last me till I get back to America in October!

Which is to say I PLAYED DOCTOR and, with Astrid's total "no-brainer!" went back immediately on my daily Aspirin dose, with the improvement I wanted and expected.

All that to explain why we drove the 60 miles to Antwerp to make a day of it in the area of the train station!

Our Antwerp destination of choice was at their landmark train station.

The camel, to the left of the station (in the top photo), advertises the Antwerp Zoo nearby.

In eye-sight of the station, we stopped first for a latte macchiato...of course.

The signs alone were worth the visit:

"Tomorrow is a lovely day."

"Don't steal:  the government hates competition."

"Let the music play."

...etc., etc.

But the train station itself was the winner for the day.

This is from when we were last there in 2012...and why we wanted to go back.

Lucky for us, we both love architecture.

After passing under the clock inside, you see what it looks like from the train platform outside.

It's a cozy, protected platform...as though lending a helping hand to travelers.

And it's a looooong covered platform, looking back to the station.

This is Astrid's photo, showing the VPP (vanishing point perspective) which I love.

Past the covered part of the platform, you get the lay of the land.

Believe it or not, a pharmacy for my Aspirin was in the train station, which we visited after our sight-seeing.  Serendipity.

From the station we then walked a couple blocks to Wagamama for lunch.

Of course, I had to take this for our Shutterchance photoblog's Bike Friday.

This was Astrid's Bike Friday...with her famous signature placement (can you find it?).

Lunch at Wagamama (only 2 of them in Belgium) was the perfect ending to our outing.

All of that just to say we did it, making lemonade out of the lemons!