Schinnen, Wijnandsrade & Maasmechelen

I cried. The moment I saw the house in Wijnandsrade when we drove up the hill, I cried. I was so happy to see the farm and the second house we lived in, it was just too much for me to handle. Maybe it's the heavy travel or lack of sleep that's heightening my emotions - I don't know.

Needless to say, Kate and I made it out of Maastricht alive. We might have taken a few wrong turns at first, but I would never admit that, would I?

So, once I knew where we were, we stopped at the local ABN AMRO bank in Nuth so that Kate could take out more Euros for her shopping. From Nuth, we drove to my mother's most favorite flower shop to buy flowers for Otmar and the Niessen family. I spent about 40 Euros on flowers (which was about 4 times the amount of flowers I would get in the US for that type of money) before returning to Wijnandsrade.

To my delight John and his wife were at home. They gave hugs and kisses and invited Kate and I into the farmhouse for pie (vlaa) and coffee. One of the grandchildren, Solange, returned home from school for lunch so she sat and ate with us (her two siblings were in Austria skiing on a school trip). John gave us a tour of the stables to see the new foals, one was born at the farm this year - there was a disease that took the lives of the 5 others born - and the slew of other foals that he purchased.

I took a ton of photos of the farm, our old house, and the surrounding area before we said goodbye and thank you for the visit.

The next stop was Schinnen where our first house is located. I took pictures of the village center, the road leading up to the house, the house, and just about everything else. Kate was anxious for us to move down the road - to the Alfa brewery - which we were disappointed to discover is closed until Saturday.

Otmar's restaurant, Restaurant Thull, was just across the street from the brewery, so we poked our heads inside and Otmar turned around and could not believe I was standing in front of him. He's so sweet! He was spending the morning changing out the holiday decorations and when I asked to take a picture with him and his wife he said, "It's a Monday picture!" as he was without his famous chef hat. Otmar and the Niessens send their love to my family - they loved the flowers and were very surprised with my visit!

Kate and I promised Angela we would pick her up from school in the afternoon. Considering we had taken her car for the day, it was the least we could do! We drove around the center of Brunssum before driving to school. AFNORTH hasn't changed that much in the past 5 years since I graduated! I was able to see a few of my former teachers and then it was time to head out of the compound in search of dinner.

Our threesome decided that it would be fun to have dinner in Belgium - Maasmechelen Village, to be exact. The outlets were still open for about 20 minutes and so we were able to wander around and look at the shops before finding a restaurant.

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant called Cellini. Kate had a linguini with veggies and shimp in a very light tomato sauce. Angela had a mixed green salad with cheese with a house dressing. I chose a ciabatta alla caprese with a side mixed green salad - oh, and one can't forget the smooth glass of pinot grigio to go along with my dish.

After dinner, we decided to see the 8 p.m. showing of 'The Holiday' at Maasmechelen's EUROSCOOP (http://www.euroscoop.be). I love that movie theatre! It has an intermission, as do most European theatres, and the movie will cut out in the middle of a sentence for the break. At this point everyone gets up, goes to the loo, smokes, and goes to the concession stand for alcoholic beverages and sweets. I'm not quite sure how America hasn't been able to grasp this concept.

The posse is back in Maastricht and it is just past midnight. Angela returns to work tomorrow, I think we're stealing her car again, and Kate and I will most likely repeat today's morning routine of coffee and a grocery stop for breakfast before deciding on the adventure du jour.

We don't want to leave!

Koffie

Kate and I managed to walk out of Angela's apartment around 9 a.m. to
walk across the street for coffee at a place called Coffee Lovers. I
had a cute little vanilla latte and Kate had a mocha. When we
finished, we walked back down the street and into Albert Heijn for
some groceries. Gotta love the AH! I got big bottles of my favorite
Spa water and some Coke Light before we walked back to the apartment.

Everything is put away in the kitchen and we are ready to head out for
the day...Tot ziens!