I found a website with an entire list of more US-UK terms after looking up for Jeremy how many pounds a stone was...it is interesting if you want to know more about British English, it really is a language in itself...Cheers!
posted by Chris @ 1:00 AM
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Though the weather was a bit chilly (low 30's with some wind) it was a busy trip. Gent is very much a walking city and we were able to visit many sites in our four day trip--all within walking distance of our hotel, which was fantastic!
Thursday
Jeremy had to work on Thursday and Friday so Sophie and I (having become accustomed to exploring on our own) set out in Gent and walked for hours. The first site we explored was Sint-Baafskathedraal a.k.a. St. Baaf's or St. Bavo's. This magnificent structure is worth visiting for the building itself as well as for the treasures inside. The large Gothic brick and granite church was built over several centuries. It is well known for holding the Gent Altarpiece or The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a painting of Jan van Eyck's. It was an interesting piece to see in itself. The remaining art works in the church were gorgeous as well as the sculptures and altar in the center of the church. It has no less than 22 altars! Unbelievable!
Next we walked by the Belfort tower (Belfry) which was completed in 1380 and is the symbol of the city's independence. Unfortunately it was off-season so we couldn't take the lift up to the top of the tower. The building has an ornate copper dragon at the top to add to its interesting look.
In the afternoon we visited St. Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk). Another absolutely stunning church filled with beautiful art and sculptures within a gorgeous Gothic building. The oldest parts of the church date back to the 13th century but it was not complete until the 18th century. The baroque high altar is a typical energetic design of the period--it was very beautiful and huge!
Across from our hotel was the City Hall, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city! It is described as partly flamboyant Gothic and partly Renaissance, built in the 16th century. It really was interesting and extremely detailed. It was a great site to see everyday when leaving/arriving at our hotel.
That evening after dinner Sophie and I took a stroll down the walkway on the Lys River and enjoyed the wonderful buildings of the Graslei and Korenlei. It was beautiful. Water plays a prominent role in Gent, as it arose at the confluence of the Lys and the Schedlt.
Friday
Gent has two history museums, perfect for children! The first one we visited was De wereld van Kina: het Huis. Sophie enjoyed looking at the fossils, shells and insects. They had a special display on reproduction obviously for older children. Had I been able to read Dutch I had no doubts that I would have learned something!
In the afternoon I enjoyed the Design Museum. The periods rooms were by far my favorite, although the glass exhibit was interesting, Dale Chihuly had one piece on display, sadly I did recognize any other names.
Later, Sophie and I visited the De wereld van Kina: de Tuin. This museum focuses on plants and some insects. There is a botanical garden outside that I'm sure is spectacular in the right season. The highlight for us was the collection of living spiders.
Saturday
The Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) was the focus of our morning and is one of the main attractions in Gent. In 1180 Philips of Alsace, Count of Flanders, gave the medieval castle its actual appearance. Gravensteen originally had a military function which was lost in the 14th century. Since then the castle has been used as a mint, court of justice, a prison and cotton mill. It includes dungeons, historic rooms, and a crypt and two museums which highlight torture instruments (very disturbing!) and guns, crossbows, swords and battle clubs.
During Sophie's afternoon nap in the buggie we visited the most popular and talked about art museum in Gent called S.M.A.K. (Munical Museum of Contempory Art). It is a trendsetter on the contemporary art scene in Belgium. Jeremy and I however were not fans; it was actually our least favorite museum we have ever visited. It is much too "modern" for us. We did enjoy a video about anti-social behavior, which was amusing.
Next we shopped a bit and explored the many stores of Gent. There is a quite a bit of shopping and some real unique shops. In the end, chocolate won out as our main purchase.
Sunday
On Sunday morning we visited the House of Alijn. The museum is housed in the 14th century Children Alijn's Hospice, the only remaining hospice in Gent. It offers an introduction to the culture of everyday life in the first half of the 20th century. There was a special exhibit on Eskimos which was very interesting; we watched a video on how igloos are made. Sophie ventured into a room where people were making lace by hand (lace is something Belgium is known for), it was really interesting to watch and was a highlight of our visit! This museum was more interesting than we thought it would be and all three of us enjoyed it.
The last museum that we visited on Sunday afternoon was the Caermersklooster (Provincial Center for Art and Culture). The restored church, cloisters and outbuildings of the former monastery of the Carmelites allows individual artists to exhibit in a monumental space. While smaller than SMAK but still hosting contemporary art, Jeremy and I enjoyed it. There was a video playing that highlighted the work of the 3 major Belgium artists whose work was currently on exhibit. Again, we were amused by another video on anti-social behavior which must be a current theme in Belgium modern art.
Food
Who could want more than waffles, chocolate and french fries? Belgium, not France is home of the french fry! Really! We of course had to try all of the local specialties. Overall the food was good, having a huge selection of restaurants. Jeremy claims some excellent lunches with colleagues while working.
Gent was a great visit, especially if you stay in the city center. It is a quick trip on the Eurostar under the chunnel and relatively affordable. Worth a stop if you are in the area. Gent is authentic Belgium with a little tourist flavor...
All additional photos from our trip to Gent can be found at Shutterfly. Just click on the Shutterfly link to view...
posted by Chris @ 1:00 AM
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Guten tag! Munich was a great first city to visit in Germany. Located in south Germany, it is the capital of Bavaria. There was so much to see and do that we could not get it all in during this visit, but we did see the major attractions the city has to offer during our 4-day trip. 
We started with the Residence Museum in Munich which was absolutely gorgeous. The former residence of Bavarian kings has housed a museum since 1920. Over the years, the original Wittelsbachs' castle, which stood on the site since the 14th century, was gradually extended. The entire building was large it took us 2 hours to get through it. We listened to the audio tour as we walked and caught only a small fraction of it unfortunately. The rooms were magnificent and richly furnished. There was an incredible amount of art on the ceilings that was absolutely stunning. Some rooms were so over the top and then the hallways so plain, grey, and bleak. One room housed bones contained in extremely ornate pieces of art, really interesting and odd. It was quite sad that much of the building and art was lost in World War II and recreated or left without replacement. 
Munich is filled with churches, all free and open to visitors. Because of the religious conflicts and 30 years of wars, the Baroque style did not flourish in Germany until the 18th century. Then it did so lavishly in southern, Catholic regions of Germany, as in Munich. Influenced by Italian architecture the Baroque style reached new heights of flamboyance (a great way to describe it!). The churches include sculptures, fine stuccowork, and vivid colored paintings. The ceiling frescos are unbelievable. We have never seen such elaborate churches! They were amazing! Those that we visited include Michaelskirche (St. Micheal's Church), Frauenkirche (well known for its outside appearance, inside was not as impressive), Asamkirche (Asams' Church, the most incredible by far, no surface is left unembellished!), and we walked by the Theatinerkirche (St. Cajetan's Church).
Munich is known for its love of arts and no wonder it has over a dozen musuems. We only made it to one of the Museum of Modern Art Pinakothek der Modern. The gallery was built to complement the Alte and Neue Pinkotheks nearby (three major musuems within walking distance--gotta love it!). This musuem includes Cubist pieces by Picasso and Braque, paintings by Matisse, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc (one of my new favorites), Dali, Kandinsky, Klee, Warhol, Max Ernst and many more well known German and European artists.
Schloss Nymphenburg is another must see sight in Munich. It boasts of being one of Europe's most beautiful palaces and it is. It was built in 1663-64 for the Electress Henreitte-Adelaide and was dedicated to the pastoral pleasures of the goddess Flora and her nymphs, thus the name. Several additions have been made over the years. We only had time to visit the carriage house and porcelian room, but the palace also includes a variety of other exhibits and wonderful grounds which includes ponds with more swans than we had ever seen in one location. It was a beutiful day and the Schloss was crowded with German families out for an afternoon stroll. There was no fee to walk around the gardens/grounds of the palace. It must be even more amazing in the summer with all the trees and plants in bloom.
The carriage house at the Schloss Nymphenburg was really interesting! It included carriages that once belonged to Bavarian rulers and they were magnificent! So ornate and detailed it must have taken an extreme amount of money and effort to create these carriages. We could have viewed them for hours! I am sure that our pictures will not do justice...The porcelain room was also interesting, but definitely takes a back seat to the carriages.
The food in Germany was excellent! The weather was fantastic. The tube system was relatively easy to figure out we only went the wrong way once and quickly figured that out. Our hotel was nice with a great view over the city and of the German Alps, and a pool which kept Sophie and I occupied while Jeremy worked hard. Overall it was a fun trip. We need to increase the amount of German we know for our next trip to Hamburg in a week....Auf Wiedersehen!
All additional photos from our trip to Munich can be found at Shutterfly. Just click on the Shutterfly link to view...
posted by Chris @ 1:00 PM
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For Valentine's Day I took Sophie to a half-term (what we call spring break) workshop at the Theatre Museum in the Covent Garden area of London for 2-4 year olds. It was a 45-minute introduction to drama using games, movement, mime, voice and imagination, inspired by West Side Story and My Fair Lady. Not having been brought up with musicals I had no idea who the characters were from either story, but Sophie did quite well being one of the younger kids in the group dancing around and acting as best a 2-year old can...It was a fun outing for Valentine's Day and always a miracle when I can find my way around the city on the tube by myself and the streets using my A-Zed London map...
It is amazing at how many activities there are for children in London. On any one day we have several activities we can attend within our area of London alone. We enjoy going to our local library on Mondays for "rhyme time". This includes the reading of one story, some signing and playing with other kids. It is always packed with kids and their mums/nannies. The children's room at the library is fantastic! It has all of the children's books of course, plus toys to play with and a coloring area. There are always other kids there for Sophie to play with. On Tuesdays we usually like to go to gymnastics or what they call "baby gym" at a local community center. Sophie is working on her jumping right now. She is such a mellow kid I have to gently encourage her to run around...In the same building is a great 3-level soft play area we hit sometimes too. On Wednesdays we signed up for a class called Jumping Jacks at a local theatre which is close, but we take the train to get there and back. This class is less than fun for me, but Sophie is really enjoying it. It is a very gentle 30-minute movement class with about 10 kids and it is really affordable. Sophie likes it and has learned to walk on her tip toes, be a jack in the box, and do some stretches because of it. Thursdays is an open day which has included drop-in music classes or playgroups with friends we are meeting. On Fridays we like to go to a Christian based playgroup called "Springers" at a local church. The people are really friendly, and the toys clean. They do a craft, sign songs and tell a short bible story at the end. Plus the tea and snacks are always nice too.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!
posted by Chris @ 1:00 PM
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The Wallace Collection is one of the world's finest private collections of art. It is the product of passionate collecting for four generations by the Hertford family. It actually remains much as it was in 1897 when it was bequeathed to the government, which was part of their agreement. The collection includes European art up to the late 19th century. There are paintings, furniture, sculptures, porcelain, and the extensive collection of the amour is the second largest in the UK. The detail on the amour, weapons, shields, etc. is unbelievable. I'm not an advocate of weapons, but this collection is really something! Each room is in itself art, with amazing chandeliers, wall decorations, curtains, etc. Rembrandt has two portraits in the collection as well. It is an extremely beautiful building/space and the art is fantastic. This collection is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the Regent's Park/Marylebone area of London!
posted by Chris @ 1:00 PM
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This blog is a diary of the 2005-2007 adventures of the Welsand family living in London, traveling throughout Europe, experiencing life to the fullest.
