Team USA!!!!

sunday was the last day of racing. it got CRAZY with everyone supporting their country!

this is my brother, ricky….hes so cool ….

after the race all of the little French and Belgian kids came to Team USA’s trailer to get autographs, and see if they could score some of the tee shirts and such that say USA on them… let me just tell you, it got ROWDY.

Ricky signing an autograph for Tom….(i want to take him home)

it was the most chaotic thing i have ever seen!

we didnt have enough extra shirts for everyone, so me and emily LITERALLY gave people the shirt off our backs!

after all the insanity of becoming shirtless, we went down to the awards ceremony, which was really long and in french, but still really cool.

we werent totally sure which country finished in first place, so we anxiously awaited the results….

TEAM USA WINS FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!

it was so exciting! all the team and the dads got to go up on stage, and they played the National Anthem….it was really, really cool! i am so proud of my brother for representing our country in his field, and so proud of all the riders. its a BIG hassle to race in another country, but it was such a great experience

Belgian Grocery Shopping!

on the way to the races yesterday we stopped by the grocery store in Arlonto pick up some supplies(namely, peanut butter and jelly )

lots of fun things to look at!

pickle flavored chips!

“tea time cookies”…yum!

i LOVED these little old people at the store! they were so European

Limes, Belgium MX Kids Masters

so we are hanging out this weekend in the VERY small town of Limes, Beglium (pronounced Leems). My brother was invited to represent the USA in an international MX competition here! it’s a really fun event, and we are all sporting our countries colors proudly!

the snack of choice at the races, baguettes!

our cute little Belgian friends that speak NO english! Tom and Virgile. i want to take them home

excuse the grossness, but here is my brother using the public urinals, that are outside, where everyone can see you. SO WEIRD!

here is a more appropriate picture of my brother!

i really like these friends that hang out in the fields at the track! so cute!

today is rickys second and last day of racing, and we are believing he will do GREAT! then, its a 4 am wake up call to catch the train to Paris!

PS- so me and emily had to run an errand back in town. well the roads to get back and forth are SO tiny and not well marked! its like being in small country towns with dirt roads back home, except these were villages. we got a little turned around, but we got to see some cute stuff along the way and of course we stopped for some frites at a friterie!

Bastogne, Belgium! Part 2

so after the war memorial, it was time for something a little bit more lighthearted…..so we went shopping!

Bastogne is a cute little town, and we had alot of fun exploring!

one of our first stops was my FAVORITE stop…. a tea shop! i love love loved it

…the BEST chocolate croissants i have EVER tasted!

i bought a pink tea tin with pink tea, and even the bag is pink love it!

after warming up (it feels like winter here right now) with some tea and coffees we just walked around the town a bit, enjoying the european-ness of it all

Bastogne, Belgium! Part 1

Not too many kilometers away from Arlon is Bastogne, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought back in World War 2. There is a HUGE memorial to the United States because they helped the Belgian Army, and the surrounding towns survive the battle. It was an incredibly moving memorial, and the story of the fight is inscribed in the walls. You always hear how much Europeans hate Americans, but right in the middle of this little town is a sign of respect and gratitude for what our country did for theirs.

the memorial is in the shape of a star, and has all the US States inscribed…

the fields where the tanks came over the hill to save the day…

after the memorial, we went into the war museum which had the actual uniforms and guns and such found in the fields after the battle. there were no photos allowed in the museum, but there were no rules in the gift shop

i highly recommend clicking on the link above, or reading up on this battle more. im not usually into war museums and stuff, but the bravery of our countrymen to help out the soldiers who were trying so desperately to save their land and homes, is the kind of thing that just makes you so proud to be an American. we didnt get to celebrate July 4th while in Rome, but just a week later, i think this was a great way to celebrate our freedom and our country.

The Netherlands!

So, Arlon is not a very big town, and being here for more than a day or so can get kind of….boring, you might say. so yesterday the girls had some free time while the boys were at the track. we googled to see what was around us, and we were very surprised to see Maastricht, Netherlands(Holland) was only a short road trip away!

we were a little nervous, because we’ve been trying to speak italian and french this week, and not always doing a great job of it! in Maastricht they speak Dutch, so we werent even going to TRY to speak that! (although our waiter taught us thank you….Dank U Well heehee) the street names were crazy there, but most people spoke good English or good hand movements

we ate lunch at an adorable cafe! it was a bit dreary outside, but the cafe was cozy and dry

kind of connected to the cafe was what we thought was a church, but it was actually a really really cool bookstore!

while walking through the streets we absolutely could not resist the belgian waffles with powdered sugar…the were FABULOUS and warm, perfect for a grey day!

EVERYONE rode bikes through the city, and the bike parking lots were INSANE!

we stumbled upon a parade going on in the town center! apparently the famous conductor(composer?) Andre Rieu was in town for a concert so the local band marched through the streets…so cute!

here are a few shots of what we saw…

so we didnt see any tulips, windmills, or real wooden shoes, but we did find these in a cute little souvenir shop, so i guess they counted….

it was such a random trip, but i really enjoyed the Netherlands, and i would love to see more of their country now!

Arlon, Belgium!

the reason we were able to come to Europe in the first place is because my brother Ricky is racing in the Jr. Masters, a motocross race with riders from all over the globe. its pretty cool to see everyone representing their country and wearing their colors proudly so the race is in Limes, Belgium, which is not even on the map. we stay in Arlon, which is SUCH small town, especially after we have just been in giant cities like Rome and Paris! they hardly get any English-speaking tourists here, so no in the town speaks English. its quite humorous to see us all using hand motions trying to order food and such

its a really beautiful town though. and a nice chance of pace form the schedule we were keeping in the larger cities. theres not much to do here, so we are catching up on lots of sleep!

so, funny story. we could not find ANYWHERE that was open for lunch the first day we got here. the restaurants in the town center close from 2-6 every day so we missed our chance, and were getting quite desperate. a nice lady finally told us about a place called “lunch garden”, and we hightailed it over there, excited about the prospect of finding food….well when we got there it was pretty hilarious. it was basically a golden corral type buffet restaurant! we came all the way to Europe to eat cafeteria food! plastic trays and all!!!

another funny thing about this leg of the trip is that we went from staying in an incredibly nice hotel on the Champs-Elysees, to a Best Western in the middle of nowhere….

the train station…

our lunch today was “chix fingers and frites”….i liked how our ketchup came with little colorful spears

i also ordered a “pita with fries”….oh it had fries all right! fries stuffed right into the sandwich!!!

some shots from around town…so cute!

at dinner tonight we were so excited that they actually gave us ice!!!!

dad wouldnt let me take his picture with his coffee, because he thought it looked too girly …

the girls split a plate of profiteroles…. the perfect little sweet to end the evening

we are laying low here in Arlon for the next few days until the motocross race, so im not expecting anything too exciting, but if something exciting comes up, ill be sure to post it!

Paris!

Bonjour Paree!!!

we had one day in Paris on the way to Belgium, and we will be spending two more days on the way home.

our very first stop was Laduree, for their incredible macaroons!

…they are scrumptious! vanilla and coconut are my favorites, but the taste tests are still going on

ok, i guess thats enough pictures of the pastries….on to the rest of the trip

mom and i had been to Paris before, but no one else on this part of the trip had, so we hired a van to take us around and show us the sights. our guide took us to a few places we hadn’t seen before! Paris was beautiful as always, and the weather was just perfect!

our hotel was on the Champs-Elysees, and right down the street was the Arc de Triomphe…

random shots from around the city…

Notre Dame…

The Louvre…

the oldest Patisserie in Paris…

…i agree

Sacre-Coeur Basilica, overlooking Paris. incredibly beautiful,and worth climbing all 300 stairs!

and now for your viewing pleasure….way too many shots of the eiffel tower …

Rome to Paris!

we took a sleeper train from Rome to Paris, which none of us had done before. it was a little different than we were expecting, i think but a fun experience just the same

at bedtime, the steward turned our couches into bunk beds! magic

we went to bed gazing at the italian countryside, and woke up looking at the french countryside cool!

this was me and emily’s shower that morning like camping….but not

even with minor bothers like not having a shower, the coolest part of the train ride was that we ended up in Paris!

next up….the city of lights.

Rome! Day 2

our second day in Rome, we had a very “touristy” day we only had a few hours, so we hopped on one of those sighstseeing buses, where you hop on and off, and rode around the city so we could see as much as possible it worked out great!

julius caesar…

st. peters basilica…

look! really long spaghetti …

after the bus tour we headed back to the hotel to grab our luggage and head to the train station!

next up, our night on the tracks