Osteria dei Cavalieri

Oh, what a wonderful night! I made new friends, ate delicious food, and we were all serenaded by a delightful old Italian man. It was wonderful! Let me tell you more about it =


There is a group of women formed around the NPC called the International Ladies Club. Women working at the NPC and wives of men working there can be a part of this group. Women from America, Canada, England, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and so many more countries are all part of the ILC. They have a very active social calendar with coffee outings, dinners, excursions, and so many other fun things. The first event I attended was the ILC Spring Dinner this Friday. And, it was amazing!

We all meet up at this hole-in-the wall, though very quaint and cute, restaurant just outside of Tongeren - the Osteria dei Cavalieri. As we walk in the door we are handed a flute of this delicious, berry-infused sparkling drink. It's lovely. An older Italian man is in the corner, crooning to us as he sings his delightful Italian ballads and songs. I just can't get enough of him!

I find Sherry, whom I met at the '80's party Adam's work held last weekend. Sherry is an American; her husband runs Adam's group.

Sherry and I walk around. She introduces me to some of the ladies. Oh, they're wonderful! There are about 30 women here tonight. As we're all talking and getting to know each other, we are served a thin soup in little cups. It's warm and delicious.

 

We realize that most everyone else has taken their seats, so Sherry and I and the other ladies I've been talking with decide to sit down as well. The little Italian lady who's been running around serving us seems to have things ready. She and her helper come out of the kitchen with these delicious plates of food for us all. I'm shocked when I'm told that this is just the appetizer! There is some salad, a little piece of bread with cheese rolled in the middle, three thin slices of prosciutto, a melon slice,  and the most delicious bruschetta I have ever tasted!!!! Oh, it is just sooooo good! The melon and the prosciutto are wonderful together, making a sweet-and-sour taste like I've never had before. I want more of it all!! On the table are bottles of red and white Italian wines. I want some of these so bad. But, I'vealready had the spritzer on arrival, so I say 'no' when offered the wines. It's hard, but I manage.


After we've thoroughly enjoyed our appetizer, we're told to get in line to dish up our main course.  There are several large stainless steel serving trays filled with the delicious, savory smells of the pastas and other yummy foods we'll be eating next.

The lasagna is a cheese lasagna, and the best I've ever had. There are so many savory herbs and spices, and the cheese - indescribable!

The manicotti is filled with another cheese mixture that I can't get enough of and topped with a yummy marinara sauce.

Surprisingly, the meatball was ok. Yes, just 'ok.' I've had better meat balls, but these were still good. And, I enjoy the potato and pepper mix.

My two very favorite parts of the main course are the tortelloni and the stuffed tomato. Oh, the tomato! I'm really not a huge tomato fan, but this one is amazing! It is cooked just right, and the cheese mixture is so yummy, slightly salty, with a tempting blend of Italian spices. It all just melts together so wonderfully. The best piece of all is the tortelloni, though. Now, I'm usually not a fan of goat cheeses, either, especially feta (yuck!). This tortelloni wi home-made, and the filling just dances on my tongue. It is definitely a goat cheese, but it actually tastes good, really good! The pasta and the cheese together make just such a happy couple in my mouth. I could eat it every day for a month and not get tired of it =)

So, we're all sitting around the table, eating yummy food, drinking sweet wines, feeling pretty good. Many of the Italian ladies (at the other end of the table) get up and start karaoke-ing with the old man. It's hilarious! They know all the words, they're being goofy and silly. I can't understand a thing they're saying, but we all have such a good time. I do recognize a couple songs. One is a song my mom used to sing around the house all the time when I was little: That's Amore! The whole place gets all kinds of raucous when he puts that song on =) The little Italian lady and her helper come out once more. This time, they have dessert. First, know this about the strawberries here: they are heavenly!!! Whereas you need to put sugar on your strawberries in America to eat them, the ones grown here instead are just so sweet, so juicy, so flavorful. Adam, Rachael, and I have been on a strawberry binge ever since we arrived and found some at the Carrefour.

Anyways, dessert comes our. These little parfait cups are filled with strawberries and real whipped cream topped over two delicious mousses - one raspberry, and the other coffee flavored. I would have taken a picture of this desert to show you, but mine was gone, as was everyone else's, before I could even think to snap a shot. Everyone was raving about this delicious, sweet, fruity dessert. I wish I could describe it better because I truly am not doing it any justice with these words!

Anyways, our parfait glasses are taken back to the kitchen. Some of us have espresso afterwards. Some start leaving. We've all had such a good time. I met some wonderful women. I ate some delicious food. And I leave the restaurant knowing that this group of women will be so good for me, giving me the cultural experiences I crave, creating friendships between many countries. I can't wait to get to know these women more and to share many more wonderful experiences together. Again, thank you God for the fantastic opportunity you have given us.

Zach's Walking

Before we left for Europe, we spent a few days back in Idaho with our families. We all kept saying that Zach would learn to walk while we were up there. Well, he didn't. We made it to Belgium, and we spent 3 weeks living in a hotel. I kept thinking that someday I'll be telling Zach that he learned to walk in a Belgium hotel. Well, that didn't happen, either. Now, we are proud to announce that Zach has finally learned to walk!!! Here are a few videos showing his progression from not quite there to full-on walking! =)

I love you, Buddy!! Ta ta!

Moving In

Well, the day has finally come. As much as we love staying at Hotel Malpertuus and enjoying the friendly people and their delicious breakfast, we finally get to move into our new house! Joël agreed to let us start moving some of our stuff in on Sunday since we have such a tiny car and big luggage bags. This is a big help.

On Monday morning, Adam and I are up at 6am (waaay too early! =). We have to be at the house by 8am  because we are expecting to have our unaccompanied baggage delivered anytime between 8 and 5. Oh, joy *sarc* I wake up and get ready. Adam makes several trips to the house before the kids are even awake. They're none too excited about getting up early, but at least they're cooperative. We head downstairs to enjoy one last delicious breakfast. I get one last croissant, some of the delicious cheeses, and a roll on which to spread some delicious jams and jellies =)

Once we finish eating, we have to get going. We're already late! Adam packs a few more things in the car. He'll come back later and get the rest of it. The kids are loaded up in the Peugoet. I get to walk Shasta over, so we get going. Adam and the kids pass us as we're walking.

This walk feels soooo good! I love my kids, but it's nice to have a break from them once in a while. It's hard to do anything when I have to take along two kiddos wherever I go. This morning it's just me and my dog. I am really missing my gym time. I bought a new pair of gym shoes several months ago, and they still look brand new! Today, I get to use them. Shasta needs the exercise just as much as I do, so we walk fast. I can feel my muscles working - it's been a while. The air is crisp; the sun is shining. Oh, I wish this walk could last forever!

Shasta and I arrive at the house about a half hour later. The kids are already playing in the house. It's pretty empty except for some bags, some luggage, and a dining set and living set Joël has left in the house for us to use. The kids and I stay at the house, exploring our new place. Adam heads back to the hotel to get the last of our stuff and check out. Then, we wait for our stuff to show up.

And we wait.... and wait.... The Telenet guy shows up and installs our Internet. Goodness! I don't know how I survived without it for 4 hours! =)  Adam goes about setting up all the electrical stuff, wireless networks, transformers, and the Du@lPhone. The Du@lPhone is awesome! It works as both a landline phone and a Skype phone. For a few bucks a month, Adam was able to get a Cottonwood, Idaho, telephone number for his Skype account. Now, our parents can call us overseas by dialing a local number! Cool!

By the way, we're still waiting. We've called some of our grandparents from the Skype phone just to say "Hi." It's 4:30, and our stuff still isn't here. Now, it's 5:03. Adam calls the delivery people. Oh, guess what? Our delivery was cancelled! Really? When were they going to tell us that? We could have stayed at the hotel another night and slept in real beds, dried off with real towels, cooked dinner with real cookware, and eaten our food with real utensils! He has some choice words for them and tells them they will have our stuff at our house tomorrow morning! We go get a pizza at Tekin. I get to talking with the Tekin guy. He says this kind of thing happens all the time. Stuff usually comes two or three days later than when they plan. Time over here is different, kind of rubbery and not always set in stone (this might be hard to get used to! =). Lutgard and Joël come over and ask us how we're doing. Lutgard is kind enough to lend us some towels for the morning. They ask if we're ok sleeping for the night. We say "Yes, we have a plan." We don't want them to have to fix our problem. We take the cushions off the chairs and couch and put sheets on them to make beds for Rachael and us. Zach has his Pack 'n' Play.

Honestly, we sleep pretty well. The cushions are rather comfy. It's not too bad. Poor Rachael though. Her cushions split apart during the night, so she ended up sleeping on just a sheet over the floor between the two cushions. But, she seemed to be ok. Poor kiddo!

Adam and I ate cold cereal out of a red plastic party cup with plastic spoons this morning =)

As I'm getting her and Zach ready this morning, I hear some commotion going on downstairs. Our stuff is here! Yay! As we're opening up the boxes, it seems like Christmas. We'd forgotten some of what we'd put in this shipment, so it was nice to see a few unexpected things. The nicest part was just having our stuff! Not hotel stuff, not borrowed stuff, but our actual possessions. We're finally settling in!

Later today we get our loaner stuff from the Army. They have a program that will let us borrow a table and chairs, some beds, and a couch until our stuff gets here. They also let us have four wardrobes, a washer and dryer, and an American refrigerator for the whole duration of our time here. It is a fabulous program that saves us and others in our position the money and hassle of trying to find these things just to have to get rid of them in a few years.

Things are returning to normal. The kids and I are getting back into a schedule. I can make our meals at home now. We have a place to stay that we won't have to leave for several years. It's good. We're still missing the majority of our items, but we're making do. The neighbors are fantastic, so very friendly. The area is quaint with cute little houses and farms. And the beauty of Europe is all around us, just waiting for us to discover it all. What a fantastic opportunity we have been given. Thank you, God!

To the Movies

We went to the movies Sunday afternoon! The show was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. And, it was Awesome! Adam and I both agreed that it was our second favorite of the series. Our most favorite was the first one. The plots of both of these movies feature Captain Jack Sparrow - Johnny Depp (swoon!) - in all his awesomeness instead of some warped love triangle. But, since I'm not a movie critic, I'll just leave off on my ramblings about Mr. Depp and instead tell you about our first experience at a European movie theater.

The first thing we had to do was find a showing in a language we could understand that wasn't in 3D because 3D sucks. It's dumb; it's hurts our eyes and heads; and it's just dumb. Moving on... Movies over here are done two ways. One requires voice actors using to translate the audio to other languages. The other shows the movie as it is with subtitles. The one we found was like this with both Dutch and French subtitles.

We told Rachael we were going to the movies. She got all excited and wanted to go to the parking garage. Huh? Well, we parked in one of these every time we visited our favorite theater in Ogden. Silly girl =) She also started talking about getting pop and popcorn. Yup, she knows the drill! =)

Now, we drive by the Euroscoop Lanakan (http://www.euroscoop.be/nl/lanaken/home/) often. It should be easy to get to since it's off a major roadway. Not! We ended up driving through residential areas and one-ways streets just to find the front entrance. Nothing is easy in Belgium, nor is it very intuitive! But, we made it.

When we arrived, there was a long line to the two ticket booths. Thankfully Adam had bought the tickets beforehand. So, we just walked up to the attendant, he scanned our e-mail barcode, and we were through. Slick!

We found our way into the theater and to our seats. Wow! This place is plush! The seats don't flip up or down. They're so comfy. And the legroom! A person can easily walk in front of someone seated without causing a big stir. So nice!

Adam headed out to get some goodies. He came back with some peanuts and two Pepsi's in bottles. Fountain drinks are so rare here! Whether you're in a restaurant, a theater, or whatever, most beverages are sold in cans or bottles, no 128-ounce mega cups! =) The Pepsi itself was also rare, since Coke is so much more dominant over here.Also, there was no popcorn. Sorry, Rach!

Then I head out to find something yummy. There's so much to choose from. There are about 10 different varieties of something that looked like potato chips. Behind the counter was something colorful and fluffy.  Their selection of chocolate candies, many familiar to Americans, was very large. I wanted to try it all! But, since I didn't know what anything was called, I just got a Twix and a Rolo.

I returned to my seat. We started eating our goodies. Zach ate his food and started to crash. And the movie (awesome!) began. I didn't realize how hard it would be to not pay attention to the subtitles. It's worse that closed captioning because so little of it made sense. But, we made due.

Then, about an hour into the show, during a dialogue-intense scene, the screen cut out and the lights turned on. We looked around and started balking, "What's going on?" Then we realized we were the only ones fazed by this. Upon returning our attention to the screen, we saw this:

Obviously, we were supposed to get up and go by more food. Zach woke up (cranky!). I asked Rachael if she needed to go potty. (No.) Adam left. And I fed Zach again. As everyone's returning to their seats, Rachael pipes up and says she needs to go potty. Hmmm. Her and I left and came back. The show had already restarted. Adam caught me up. And we enjoyed the rest of our show (wow!).

The whole experience was rather enjoyable, except for maybe the stinky people as they were filing out of the theater (anti-perspirant, anyone? deodorant, at least, c'mon!) I'll have to look into what their delicious treats are so I can get them next time. We'll be back. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will be out July 15!! And Breaking Dawn: Part 1 will be out in November! Until then, Ta ta!

Interieurs Eycken

Rachael, Zach, and I have been pretty bored lately all cooped up in the hotel. We go for little walks here and there, but the road we're on is pretty busy, and hauling two kids around isn't always easy, so we usually don't go far. One day last week we wanted to get out of the loft, but it was kind of windy, so I decided to take the kids to Interieurs Eycken. This big home decor store is just the next building over from our hotel, and I've been wanting to go in and see what they have pretty badly. And, I gotta tell you, these Europeans have an odd sense of style! Granted, some of the stuff was pretty reasonable. But, some of it was just plain weird or hilarious or both. So, I took the liberty of snapping a few shots with my camera to share with all of you some of the latest in European home decor. I hope you like it!

Interieurs Eycken is on the left, just a couple hundred feet from Hotel Malpertuus, whose signs are on the right.

Cool Lighting and Sculptures

Interesting Bedrooms and Other Furniture

Who's never dreamed of having a round bed!?

I could sleep in this bed.

I thought this was a neat setup.

I loved this chair, and apparently Rachael did, too =)

They were so proud of these chairs that they made them in miniature =)

Sumo Wrestler and Other Odd Things

Everyone needs a fat sumo wrestler sculpture to put on their endtables!

These made me think of the sculptures that woman made on Beetlejuice!

American Influence

Huge Things to Put In Your House

Celebration of Fat Ladies

Probably my favorite!

I thought this one was really cute!

The Red, White, and Black Collection

I loved this place! It was so huge, and so much fun to walk through. I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I sure had fun taking them and learning a little more about European culture. Please comment and share your thoughts about this post. I'd love to know what you think of all of this, because I thought much of it was really funny or just plain weird! Ta ta!