Why did I wake up at 4:45???

So, as if having to take a taxi to the airport at 6:30, isn't early enough. We didn't realize Europe changes time a week EARLIER than the US!!!! So we are up right now, at 5:32 waiting another hour until our taxi gets here. HA HA HA. Of course we are too excited to sleep. I woke up still with a sore throat and aching ears. When I pulled up the blinds I saw the big church clock outside said an hour early than I thought it was. Of course this was after I was already showered and dressed. Sure enough it was an hour early or I was an hour ahead. So now we have an hour to wait. I might lie back down a bit but now we have some time to relax before we go and actually eat a proper breakfast.





This week has been crazy. I was out Thursday and Friday due to an awful sore throat. I even managed to go to the doctor Friday to make sure it wasn't strep and see what he could do. He said I was fine just a really bad cold, no swollen lymph nodes or anything. The nice thing about this doctor is it has a pharmacy connected right with it. So I did get some stuff to help. Nothing does the trick like IB profen though for me. The office is a ten minute walk from our house which was nice. Though feeling sick and having to walk yourself to the doctor in the cold morning wind wasn't too nice. Our assistant principal had to take her daughter too so I saw them and it was really nice to have a familiar face there.



Last weekend:

Matt and I had an asweome weekend. We went out for dinner on Friday with my teaching partner Suzanne and her husband Mathew. It was fun because we got to go to their house first. Suzanne was a great hostess. She gave us tea and pie while we waited for Mathew to get home from work. Mathew is English and he and Matt get along great. Mathew is a musician so they have lots to talk about. Suzanne and I also get along great. They are newly married too with their first baby on the way. We went to dinner in a German city, Aachen. It was really cute and Matt and I hope to take a day trip there soon. We ate at a Mexican resaurant and then went to another little bar and caught a late train home from there town. They live about 30 minutes from Maastricht.

Saturday we had dinner with the other American teacher at our school and her husband. Haley and Ken. He is here for his job and she came with. They just got married this summer. They are from Seattle and going back in January. We went to a great Italian restaurant right near our house. Yum.

Sunday after a great morning of church we went to the mill for some soup and tea. Hopefully a new Sunday ritual! Yum! It was so beautiful out we finally decided to rent bikes. We got to keep them until Thurday because the company was closed until then. So we rode for about two hours all along the East side of the river. (pics in fb) We rode to the city of Eijsden, there was a little castle there we saw. We then crossed the river into Belgium via a ferry and rode back up to Maastricht. It was so beautiful and great to be out in the country.





Bruge:

We had a great time a few weeks ago in Bruge. We took the train down on Saturday checked into our great hotel early and then walked around the city. It was market day so we went to the market and then toured the big belfort there. It was cool and is where the movie, In Bruges is formed (yes this movie despite how horrible it is made us want to go to Bruges.) We climbed a bunch of stairs and then could see the whole town. We could also see all the cogs and wheels for how the clock tower worked. After that we saw the main church and went to an old hospital that is now an art museum. The sun finally popped out after that so it was time for a boat tour. There are so many canals, Bruges is the Venice of the North. ON the tour we saw the towns only brewery. So of course we had to go there next for the tour. Matt loved it and I did too. We had a great tour with a funny guide and then enjoyed a tasting of course. After that we headed to a lovely dinner at The Flemish Pot and had a yummy stew. When dinner ended we went to relax at the hotel.
Sunday we had a great English Buffet breakfast and then enjoyed the hotels pool and sauna. After that we walked around the town some more and went to the fry museum and the chocolate museum. Then we caught the train home. It was a lovely weekend.

Please keep us in your prayers this week as we travel to Barcelona for some much needed R and R and my sister as well as she is leaving for AFRICA to teach for 8 weeks before coming to stay with us. Can't wait!!!
Lots of Love!!!!