Amsterdam, Netherlands (Part 2)

When I was planning our trip to Amsterdam, a friend of mine told me about a restaurant that was a must-see! After hearing about it, I knew Rick would be the perfect friend to take to enjoy this experience! My friends, Dan and Pam, also came along for the ride!

The name of the restaurant is the Supperclub! You do not come to the Supperclub if you are in search of a traditional restaurant, have lazy taste buds or are scared of new experiences. But, if you are looking for an unusual dinner experience in an unexpected place and are not afraid to discover the creative corners of your personality, then the Supperclub is for you!

We had a blast! We were first escorted to our "bed"....yes, I said "bed". I was told to reserve a "bed" and I was so happy I did! Basically, there is a huge mattress lined up around the outside of the main restaurant with tiny tables to rest your glasses, plates, etc. on. So, we took off our shoes and jumped onto our bed and watched the party begin.


Our first course was raw tuna.....which I quickly handed off to Dan as I am not much on raw food! Next came the baked salmon, which was awesome! Then, there was a dance course and little mini concert (which was just ok, by the way)! Funky music was being played throughout dinner and the atmosphere and lighting was incredible. It is definitely a mix of food, dance, and performance art. Our next course was beef which was fantastic and I think there was a soup that I cannot remember. And I am find this really funny....I cannot remember what we had for dessert! HA! That is definitely a first for me! Oh, there was also a masseuse who gave me an incredible massage!


People-watching was the best part for me. There was a group of gay guys who were at the table in front of us and they were having soooooo much fun! We laughed at them so hard I could barely stand it.

We also met some friends while waiting in line for the bathroom!

We loved these signs indicating which bathroom to go into!!



All in all, it was a fantastic and memorable evening!! If you are ever in Amsterdam, I would highly recommend this experience!

Amsterdam, Netherlands (Part 1)

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. Its name is derived from "Amstel dam", pointing to the city's origin: a dam on the river Amstel. The city is known for its historic port, the Rijksmuseum, its red-light district, its liberal coffee shops, and its many canals which have led to Amsterdam being called the "Venice of the North".

After living in Brussels for almost 1 year, this was my first trip to the city of Amsterdam. My good friend, Rick, arrived on the 14th and we were off to see as much as we could! He must have brought the sunshine with him as the weather was beautiful the entire time he was in town!

Rick arrived on Thursday so we did not plan much for the day as I knew he would be a little jet-lagged! We did manage to walk all over the entire city (so much for being tired) and found the BEST Italian restaurant for dinner! It was a little hole in the wall close to where we were staying! What a great find!


We also toured the Van Gogh Museum!

Amsterdam is a great city to walk around and enjoy the sites! I was in desperate need of some American food, so on Friday we met up with my friend Pam and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe! Oh this place hit the spot with some potato skins, nachos, chicken wings, cheese sticks, and Long Island Ice Tea! Yum!!

After lunch we walked around and checked out the famous coffee shops and Red light District. Let me just say it now.....it is everything you have ever heard it to be and more. Wow! I have never seen so much craziness in my life! I think Rick had a little too much fun looking! For more details....email me!

After walking around all day and checking out the sites, we decided to head back to the hotel and rest up before dinner. Dan (Pam's husband) was driving up from Brussels to meet us and we wanted to get back in time to meet up with him. We stayed at the Hilton in Amsterdam and since I travel a lot I am an elite member with access to the private lounge where you can get free food, drinks, etc. Well, Rick LOVED this little treat and made it a point to not let a day go by without making an appearance! By the time we left, they all knew us by name and what we were having! The lounge is located on the top floor of the Hilton so the view of the city was breathtaking! Can you tell we spent a lot of time up here getting free drinks??!!

Friday night we took Dan and Pam to the yummy Italian restaurant (it was that good we had to go twice!). They LOVED it!

Saturday we got up and took a little tour of the famous canals in Amsterdam. I love how quaint the city is and how beautiful. Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration at a height, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals with their ends resting on de IJ bay.


Because the soil on which the houses were built was not entirely firm, many houses along the canals are leaning. We also heard that some houses were built to lean forward on purpose, so that the furniture and other goods raised to the upper levels with ropes would not bang against windows. All structures in Amsterdam were built on pilings sunk deep into soft soil. They get added reinforcement by being built adjacent to one another, so each building "leans" on the others in a block. These pilings can be made of wood because the muck they sit in doesn't allow oxygen to break down the wood. Way back when, people used to put in their own pilings when building a house. Not everyone was good at it, nor did many have the resources to set big pilings very deep. So houses started to lean; then whole blocks started to lean. So the government finally said "enough" and put in pilings themselves. They taxed residents to recoup the costs. The tax was based on how wide your house was. So, of course, you built the narrowest, longest, highest house you could. How cool is that??!! Makes for one interesting house!




Something else we found very interesting in Amsterdam were all the bicycles!!! They were everywhere!!!!!! It definitely a city built for bikes. Not only are there bike lanes on nearly every major road, but some stairways have special steel tracks underneath the handrails so you can slide your wheels up the staircase. I think we were told that over 300 bikes are stolen each day...amazing! We saw many bikes locked up with locks the size of my hand!

A Dutch friend told me that Holland has more bicycles than people, and more bicycles per capita than any other European country. In Amsterdam this statement seems particularly true. It is the first place that I've ever visited that has a real bicycle parking problem. There just isn't enough space on the streets and sidewalks to put them all. And because the theft rate of bicycles is extremely high you find them securely latched on to all kinds of odd fixtures; anything that is cemented to the ground or bolted to a building is fair game. They have piles of bike racks around town, but I've never seen one that isn't filled to capacity. The scene in front of the train stations is especially amazing; hundreds and hundreds of bikes chained to the racks, railings, sign posts, each other - and stations typically have special covered garages where you can lock up your bike for a fee. I'm told those are usually filled too. I loved the little horns they would beep at you if you got into their way!!

I think I am going to buy a bike this weekend! I am inspired!

More on Amsterdam will be coming soon! We had dinner Saturday night at an incredible restaurant that I have to tell you about!!

Getting Caught up!

Whew, what a week I have had! Rick and I had so much fun over the past 10 days!! I now have to sort through all of our pictures and start telling some stories! We laughed the entire time so hard I could barely stand up! I will get the pictures posted soon!

In the meantime, I will catch you up on a couple of things...

1. I got my car back! I went through 2 loaner cars while my car was getting fixed! I was very happy to get my little Fiesta back and it looks great!
2. My poor poor Tigers lost on Saturday night to the Tennessee Vols. It was such an awesome game...but I am sad for the Tigers! They are now ranked #2...but I still love them anyway!

Updates coming soon!

I am alive!!

I am so sorry for not posting any updates lately! I have been busy getting ready for a friend coming into town. Rick arrived last Thursday and we have been to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and leaving for the Champagne Region of France in the morning! We have had so much fun and I have many stories to tell when we get back!

More later!

Ghent, Belgium

This past weekend was beautiful (with the exception of my little accident on Sunday). Dan, Pam, and I took Maxie and Zsa Zsa with us to Ghent, Belgium (or Gent in Dutch) on Saturday. We had a wonderful time walking around the quaint streets and checking out what this little town had to offer!

Ghent is about an hour from Brussels, so the drive was not bad at all. Ghent, like Brugge, has canals which run through the city and all kinds of cafes set up along the water.


We were starving when we arrived so had lunch at an Irish restaurant. I have mentioned before that Pam spoils Zsa Zsa as much as I spoil Maxie! What Pam did at this restaurant was hilarious...and she is going to kill me for telling this story! Oh well! Anyway, we all ordered what we wanted for lunch...then Pam decides the dogs need a little something too if they are going to be walking around all afternoon...they need their protein...so she ordered them a chicken sandwich! Dan and I busted out laughing and thought it was the funniest thing we have ever heard! Pam glared at us...and did not think a thing about it. Anyway, we all enjoyed our lunch (including the dogs)!!!

The 91-meter-high belfry of Ghent is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city center.

The Saint Bavo Cathedral (also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral, or the Dutch Sint Baafskathedraal) is the seat of the diocese of Ghent. It is named for Saint Bavo of Ghent. This church was so beautiful on the inside! Check out all the pictures I took inside in my Shutterfly album.

Beautiful woodwork on the door leading into the church!

Dan stayed with the dogs as Pam and I took a look around!

There was also a really cool castle called the famous castle of the Counts, a typical medieval fortress built for Philip of Alsace, who was the count of Flanders from 1157 to 1191! Cool!

I loved the canals!

Can you believe this???

I have the best luck....can't you tell? I LOVE BELGIUM!

Maxie and I are ok....sore, swollen knee, and a tremendous headache where my head hit the driver's side window.

It all happened with a plan to go to the park for a walk since it was a beautiful day in Brussels! As I was driving along a street in my neighborhood, a guy (obviously in a hurry) never looked to see if anyone was coming as he tried to make a left hand turn and plowed right into me.

I love my life in Brussels...........

Oh, and this is how Maxie is doing....

Go Tigers Go!!

The University of Memphis men’s basketball team has been ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in 25 years.

Go Tigers!!!!!!!!!!

Coming up next...

I am enjoying being in Brussels for the next few weeks! It is a very weird feeling not to have much planned...so I am getting over that and starting to plan some cool trips!

My friend, Rick, is coming over in February and we are heading to Amsterdam, Paris, and the Champagne Region of France! I am so excited! I have never been to the city of Amsterdam nor to the Champagne Region of France! This is going to be great! In Amsterdam, we have reservations with some friends to go to the Supperclub restaurant! Now, this is going to be a story to tell! You will have to check back for the stories that will come from this adventure!

Then in March, I am going to Istanbul, Turkey. How cool is that??!! My friend, Pam, has friends from Turkey and they have invited us over to visit. I enjoy going to 'different' places and seeing things I never thought I would ever see! Turkey is a country that was not top on my list of must-see places....but when you have an opportunity like this one...you gotta jump on it! So I did! From what I hear, their home is fabulous! They live on a cliff which over looks the Bosporus Strait. The Bosporus separates the European part of Turkey and the Asian part of Turkey. Istanbul is the only city in the world sitting on 2 continents!!! How 'bout those apples!!?

Should be fun!!!

January 21st...Most Depressing Day of the Year

I was in a really bad mood yesterday. I really could not figure it out...my boss was out of town (freedom!!!) so you would think I would be looking forward to going to the office. Well, that was not the case.

My day started off by having to go to my local Commune (basically a city town hall) to get a form legalized to renew my work permit. I live in the city of Ixelles where there are actually 2 separate buildings I have been to for various things such as registering with the commune and getting my Belgian driver's license. So I knew this would be interesting trying to figure out which building I needed to go to as I have never gone to the Commune by myself....I have always had my relocation agent with me. I went to the building where I thought would be most appropriate for what I needed to get done today. After waiting for about 20 minutes, I found out this was not the correct building (figures) and I needed to go somewhere else that I have never been to before. So, I went to that building and no one spoke English to tell me exactly where I needed to go. Once again, I resorted to the universal language (gesturing) and we were able to figure it out. After about 2 more wrong stops, I made it to the correct person and got my form legalized.

The day really did not get any better as I was just plain moody. It is also winter here in Belgium and the weather, quite frankly, stinks. The skies are gray and the rain just won't go away. I have not seen the sun in weeks and it is cold. It is really depressing! Someone told me the way to get through the winter is to plan a trip south in February to get away from all the rain and gray skies. I am wishing I had done that about now.

As I was laying in bed at 7:30PM (yes, I said 7:30....I was moody, remember??!!) and watching FOX news, a report came on about how January 21st was the most depressing day of the year. I thought...WOW, that is what is wrong with me!!! It did make me feel a little better to have a reason behind my attitude these days....so I rolled over and went to sleep to get that day over with!!!

Check out the Time magazine article about The Most Depressing Day of the Year at http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1704887,00.html.

Christmas 2007 and New Year's!

Sorry....this posting is a little late!

I have always taken for granted being home for the holidays and never have really travelled to see family. I have actually thought it was kinda cool to have to travel to be home for Christmas and the anticipation of everyone waiting on you! Well, let me tell you.....traveling around the holidays is not all it's cracked up to be!!!

The flight home was uneventful and my family was very happy to see me. Time at home is never enough and there always seemed to be something going on, someone to see, and never enough time to just 'be at home'. Luckily, I was just home in October so it didn't feel like I had been gone for a long time.

When I was home in October, I managed to fill up every single night seeing friends, family, etc. I was exhausted by the time I got back to Brussels. This time, I made it a point not to fill up every night and it seemed a bit more relaxed! I was so excited to see everyone that I was able to see and thankful for the time we got to spend together!

Christmas at the Glover's is always great. Our big event is Christmas Eve and we had a great time with all of my extended family. Christmas Day was mainly my immediate family and Graham and we had a great time. After opening presents and eating (of course) we all sat down and played cards! What great family time!

Mom, Dad, Angie, me and Maxie!


Maxie was, of course, decked out for the occasion!



I was really not in the mood to do something crazy for New Year's Eve. My friend Rick had a small get together at his house and we all had a great time hanging out and doing karaoke!

Rick and I
Kathy and I
Marvin and Charlene


I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a great start to 2008!

Absolut Icebar - London, England

I made it to the Absolut Icebar....but for only a few minutes!!! What a crazy night!

I was not able to talk the guys I work with into going to see Wicked with me...so I decided to go alone. I knew we had reservations for the Icebar at 10:15PM and Wicked started at 7:30PM so I thought the show would be over by 10PM, at the latest. I was wrong! I looked at my watch at 10:10PM and we were probably on the 2nd to last song. I knew I could not jump over the people sitting beside me because something huge happens at the end of the show...and that would be just rude!

When the standing ovations started I jumped up, ran to the underground, jumped off at my stop, ran (or rather briskly walked) to the hotel (where I left my camera.....and I cannot go to the Icebar without my camera), jumped into a taxi and made it to the Icebar about 10:40PM.

When I arrived I had to get my ticket from the front desk where the lady said I only had 3 minutes left of my reservation. I thought....what the heck, I am going in anyway! They dressed me in a 'designer' cape and gloves and off I went!

With the hat up!

I got in and found JR, Carrie, and Baptiste.




I was in the Icebar about 10 minutes in total but I managed to snap a few pictures and get the feel of the place! I got a drink at the bar, which was in a glass made completely of ice.


Everything but the floor (that could be dangerous) was made of ice...bar, walls, seats, fake TVs, fake DJ booth, fake speakers, etc. It was really cool (no pun intended).....although I could not stop sweating the whole time....remember I ran halfway across London to get to this place! They say the temperature is kept at minus 5 degrees...now I am not sure if that is Celsius or Fahrenheit as I really didn't care because it felt so good to me at the time!

Bar in the back of the picture and walls to the side...

Fake DJ booth...
Walls...
Ice glasses...

Benches with reindeer skin to sit on...


The Icebar staff monitors the time you are in the bar due to it being so cold as those intoxicated would never realize their fingers were turning blue!!! So, unfortunately, we were ushered out of the bar about 10 minutes after I arrived...but I did get to go and experience what this place was all about.

Afterwards we warmed up (or continued to cool off for me) at the Cellar bar which was apart of the Icebar....just warmer!

The Absolut Icebar was incredible and a must-see for anyone in London...even for only 10 minutes!!!