New Year's Eve in Brussels

Dodging the rain by hopping from bar to bar to sip Belgium's finest beers, meeting European locals in a brasserie who bought us rounds and filled my purse full of old bottle caps, 4 friends squished into a table made for 2 in a Grote Markt cafe eating crepes & laughing at the poor souls stuck out in the rain...these are just a few of my favorite memories of our New Year's trip to Brussels, Belgium. The crowds were thick, the bars huddled full of tourists, and the fireworks shooting off in the streets as the sun went down basically terrified the pants off of each of us, but what else do you expect celebrating NYE in Europe? 

When I got a call from my college roommate saying that she and her hubby Mark wanted to spend New Year's somewhere fun in Europe with us, Brussels was my first thought! D and I had never been (although we were no strangers to Belgium) and had heard while there isn't too much to see, the festivities surrounding the winter season in Brussels were worth braving the crowds for. We spent our first half day exploring the city, getting our bearings, and introducing Nancy & Mark to Belgian beer. The city was bustling with activity, much more than we expected. After eating a late lunch in the Grote Markt (Brussels beautiful town square), we visited the winter market (a mega huge Christmas market scattered throughout the city), ate Liege waffles, and got birds-eye view of the city atop a giant glistening Ferris wheel (recap to come...so beautiful!). We also stopped in for some Flemmish stew at a brasserie on Lombard street and met two of the funniest Netherlanders we'd ever encountered (stories to come)! Our NYE day (also known as the LONGEST DAY EVER) went something like this:

+ We souvenir shopped (Brussels has some pretty decent shopping areas). 

+ Gobbled up Neuhaus chocolates (a must in Belgium!).

+ Took the Brussels hop on-hop off bus to see more of the city. 

+ Had a mini photo shoot in front of the Manneken Pis (Brussels' famous bronze "peeing man" sculpture).

+ Bar hopped (Brussels has no shortage of amazing bars).

+ Ate NYE dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (because when D and I were missing yummy American food).

+ Made a stop at the famed Delirium Cafe (super touristy and super crowded, but the beer selection is extensive!).

+ Bar hopped some more (recommendations to come!).

+ Huddled into a small brasserie on the Grote Market to order crepes & cappuccinos for some energy...and laughed as dozens of people were turned away as they tried to storm the cafe when the rain started pouring. 

+ And finally made our way to the Mont des Arts with about a million other tourists to watch the midnight firework display. The place was a firework war zone. Terrifying & awesome.

WHEW, right?! Our bones were frozen and feet were bleeding by the end of that day, but we wouldn't have changed a darn thing. I warned Nancy & Mark that NYE in Europe was no holds barred when it came to fireworks and debauchery. Needless to say, Brussels did not disappoint! We all feared for our lives at least 5 times that night, but having experienced NYE festivities in both Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, I knew what we were in for. The crowds of people, however, made enjoying the fireworks a bit hard. Loud, drunken teenagers are annoying no matter the location. Thankfully, we made it back to our hotel by 1am, unscathed and filled with memories of another exciting NYE abroad. Would I recommend Brussels for future New Year's Eve celebrations? Sure! Just make sure to get a hotel away from the loudness of the Grote Markt, Mont des Arts, and the Rue des Bouchers (bar/restaurant alley). And prepare for crowds EVERYWHERE you go. If you can handle that, then Brussels is a wonderful place to ring in the new year! Bonne Annee, everyone! 

The Night That Wiesbaden Exploded

Happy 2013, friends and family!

Now that we're 2 days into the new year, how's it going for everyone so far? Kept your resolutions? Did you even make any? Us? Well, we're all kinds of screwed up...with our sleep, that is. I wrote an article for the squadron newsletter about how to beat jet lag during the holidays. Turns out, writing that article must have been the kiss of death, because D and I have been experiencing the worst jet lag of our lives since returning back to Germany 5 days ago. I'm talking inadvertently taking 6 hour naps, being wide awake at 3 am making pesto pasta and PB & J's, and falling asleep at the table in a public restaurant kind of jet lagged. Needless to say, it's been super fun awful here lately. That's why we decided to keep our New Year's Eve plans to a minimum and tried to enjoy the holiday alone from the comfort of our own living room. Interestingly enough, at 10pm that night, we got a second wind (probably because we napped from 9am to 1pm that day, on accident of course). We could have driven 20 miles to Frankfurt and got all up in the NYE craziness there, but that sounded miserable. Two jet lagged Americans trying to push their way through crowded bars and firework lined streets? No, thank you. Besides, we spent our last NYE in Frankfurt, so we wanted to try something a little different...even if it was a last minute plan. I remembered a tip a friend of ours mentioned to us just a few weeks after we moved to here in 2011. He told us that the best place to spend NYE was at the top of the hill in front of the Commissary (our on base grocery store, for all you non-military peeps). He said it offered amazing views of the city (which we already knew having frequented the Commissary practically every day since we moved here), and at midnight, Wiesbaden virtually explodes with fireworks.

Dear Lord was he right.

I realize the video I've posted is just over 3 and a half minutes long, but I recommend you watch it in its entirety to get a better feel for the awesomeness we experienced that night. The word awesome is hardly the right word to describe it, though. I simply can't find the  words that perfectly embody the sights and sounds we witnessed atop that Commissary hill. It's like nothing I've ever seen before in my life. It's one thing to see a fireworks show at a baseball game or a concert, but seeing them across an entire city, lighting up every square inch of skyline with color...mind blowing! Truth is, I cried. Like a 3 year old. I welled up just reveling in how blessed we were to be able to see this kind of celebration. A celebration of new beginnings that rang through an entire city. An entire country. The world. I get chills each time I replay it in my mind. Watch below and see for yourself. Although this video hardly does it justice. 

{Please ignore all the silly things I said in this video. And definitely ignore the crying. Definitely.}

10 minutes after midnight, the fireworks were still going strong!

After braving the cold and enjoying the most spectacular fireworks display we'd both ever witnessed, we made our way back to our flat to sip some champagne and dig into a NYE cake I'd made that afternoon. On the drive home, we encountered dozens of people shooting off firecrackers in the streets, and a few dingbats throwing poppers at our car. NYE is seriously crazy around here. Happy to be home again, we popped our champagne on the balcony and listened as the fireworks continued crackling in the distance (our neighborhood had finally calmed down). We also continued our tradition of saving the champagne cork and inscribing it with the year it was popped. We've got every New Year's Eve cork from the year we were married until now. Although, we are missing the one from the year D was deployed. The missing cork is a quiet reminder of all we went through that year, so its absence really isn't an absence at all.

As for resolutions, we didn't make many. It seems like with the birth of each new year, we bog ourselves down with lofty goals and aspirations, but as soon as the sparkle of the holiday wears off, we forget the promises we made ourselves and fall off the wagon of change, so to speak. This year, we took the pressure off and resolved to just be happy.  Be happy and enjoy the brief life God's given us in this beautiful country. Be happy and count our blessings everyday and remember to thank the one who divinely placed them. Be happy and be good to our bodies, nurture the marriage we have, and give to those who have not. That's our resolution this year. My challenge to you, dear friends, is to do the same. Don't let another day go by without joy. Cheers to simply being happy in 2013!

Frohes Neues Jahr! (Happy New Year!)

Glückliches Neues Jahr!

Prosit Neujahr!

Guten Rutsch!

No matter how you say it 

(granted, I can barely pronounce any of them), 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I can pretty much sum up New Year's Eve of 2011 in two words:

FOOD & FIREWORKS

We ate a lot and encountered a crap-ton of fireworks. I'm not even kidding you. I've never seen fireworks, of this magnitude, in such sheer chaos. INSANITY. Let me start from the beginning of the evening....

...we got all dolled up (ok, I got all dolled up & D kept it simple)...

...I added a little sparkle for the night...

...and we headed off to Frankfurt to ring in the New Year with friends from our international bible study group!

Our lovely hosts, Raehyun and Zie-Man had a spread of delicious food ready for us when we arrived. Ohhh em geeeee...

Anyone else ever have Raclette & Fondue night? Well, if you haven't, you're missing out! Not only is playing with your food fun as heck, but anything having to do with CHEESE is high on the top of my "Oh Yeahhh!" list. Everyone know's what Fondue entails, but Raclette...well, let me break it down for you.


Raclette is dish of the Swiss & French persuasion. Back in the day, the Raclette cheese (yumtastic, by the way) was kept in it's round form and was heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, and then scraped onto diner's plates. The word raclette is French derived and literally means "to scrape". It was served with small, boiled potatoes, sweet gherkins, cured meat such as ham, and pickled onions. Today, it's been modernized a bit with the use of a nifty table top Raclette grill.

In between the grill plate and the base, there is a broiler area with these cute little trays. On the trays, more commonly known as coupelles, is where you load your slice of Raclette cheese. You place it in it's designated place under the broiler and the cheese melts and gets all bubbly brown. To liven it up a bit, you can make a Raclette pizza of sorts by adding veggies, meats from the grill-top, and chopped up bits of boiled potato underneath your cheese (shown below). 

Voilà! Then you scrape the cheesy goodness off the tray onto your plate and enjoy!

I love a good meal that you have to work for. Makes it all the more scrumptious! And, as if the Raclette wasn't already enough cool fooding for the night, we also had yummy fondue! This was a winner of a New Year's feast if I ever saw one. 

After dinner, we sat around and chatted for a while. In the distance you could hear the sounds of fireworks going off every few minutes. As it grew closer to midnight, the fireworks became louder and more frequent.  Just before midnight, we all grabbed our coats and headed outside. We walked over to a park right beside the apartment complex to see if we could catch a glimpse of the fireworks we'd been hearing. Just as the clock struck 12, this happened:

{In the beginning, you'll mostly hear what sounds like continuous gunshots...0:30 seconds in is where I almost crapped my pants}

As the majority of you know, most states in the good 'ole USA count fireworks as illegal contraband, thus making firework displays at concerts, baseball games, and Disney World a sight to behold. If you're lucky enough to visit, oh let's say Myrtle Beach, SC on any given day, you could buy yourself a few poppers, a stingy bottle rocket, or a little fountain cone...but no major arsenal of wicked cool fireworks. When I heard about Germany and how German's go nutso for fireworks, I thought...Oh, so a bunch of the little aforementioned fireworks set off in open areas with minimal spectators sounds nice. Holy crapballs was I wrong. How about German's EVERYWHERE shooting off MEGA fireworks in HEAVILY POPULATED TREED AREAS!

These (I say "these" because there were numerous mini firework displays going off around every square inch of the city) were not the most extravagant nor well thought out display of fireworks in the world by any stretch of the imagination. But if you weren't paying attention to your surroundings, you could have easily gotten a bottle rocket to the noggin. Thrilling, to say the least.

The popping and crackling lasted a good TWO hours after we entered the New Year. D and I were literally watching our backs everywhere we walked that night. On the drive home, we drove through thick clouds of smoke and saw fireworks going up all along the Autobahn. Saying that German's love their fireworks is a serious understatement.

Before leaving the Raeman house, we popped a bottle of Sekt and toasted to the New Year! And of course, I got my New Year's smooch. A little after midnight, but better late than never!

I also got a text message from my Mom asking what 2012 looked like so far (because you know, I live in the future to her). 

I said, pretty darn fabulous, Mom. Feels like a winner.

Gosh, I love that woman.

How did you guys ring in 2012? 

Any resolutions you want to share?

{I usually never make them, mostly because they're all broken by February 1st.}

Happy New Year, loves!