Bonjour from Belgium

For the first time in a long time, I am writing in my blog about events that just happened. In other words, I am caught up (well, with the exception of the entire time when we were between SF and Montreal!).

We got to Belgium on Tuesday and flew into Charleroi which is outside of Brussels and close to the area in which we're staying in: Mons.

Mons is a cute town near the French border that has 4 Universities and about 91,000 people. It has a great small European city that is pretty much untouched by tourists, but close enough to major cities (Brussels is about 40 min and Paris is about 3 hours away). It reminds me of Hilo, where I grew up because of its small town feel and friendly people. It has a great pedestrian square with cafes and restaurants. It's a great place to enjoy a Belgian beer and people watch!

We're staying with Mai, who we met while she was in Hawaii visiting her friend (and my former co-worker), Valy (who we stayed with in DC. Whew!)

Last night, Mai took us to a "bbq" in Mons which was out in the woods, but it ended up being more of a bon fire event with a bunch of boys in their mid-20s who spoke French and no English. (I know what some of you are thinking, and cut it out!) It was great to get out of the city and enjoy some fresh air and see the stars, esp after the crazy times we had in London and Ireland ... It was exactly what we needed and we would never have been able to find this sort of thing if we were playing tourists and staying in a hotel.


Gav & Mai and a great spread of fine cheeses and wine!


Chateau de Havre


The Belgian boys and their fire.

Ireland and a TON of pictures

Ireland is a stunningly beautiful country and we were blessed with four days of perfect weather, so you can only imagine how many pictures I took (being the trigger happy camera wielding boy that I am). I've tried to whittle down the ones that I thought were the best and put them in my Picasa Web Album, by Google.

The pictures are from our stay in Dublin then Cahir Castle, Kellarney & Kerry, Galway & Clonmacnoise.


We're such rebels (with or without causes?)


The freaking Xmas Card

Ireland Slide Show

Sep 14, 2006 - 32 Photos

Luck-O-The Irish

editor's note: written on Thursday, Sep 9

After our crazy time in London, I felt that anything would have been a disappointment but boy was I wrong when we got to Ireland. Sure Dublin seems like another large British city since the architecture and building heights feel quite like London, but that’s where the similarities end. Filled with incredibly friendly people (and HORDES of American tourists), Dublin is a now a major European Capital city that is experiencing incredible growth and a hungry economy that is surging faster than the Guiness can be poured.

In an attempt to Create Value™ (Dublin is one helluva expensive city) we decided to give the Back-Packer’s thing a go. The first time Gavin visited Europe after college, he did what most recent college American college graduates do and got a rail pass and stayed in hostels along the way. I didn’t get a chance to do the whole Europe thing after I graduated, so I figured this would be my first time at it and boy was I in for a shocker. Some say that I’m a coddled and spoiled brat, but I’ve really gotten accustomed to having my own living space and privacy and it was quite a rude awakening when I found out that we had to share a 6 bedroom closet with a middle aged German couple and two young Aussie girls. (I figured it would be all male or female or trans-gendered or something, but that’s not how it works in Ireland! So much for the conservative Catholics!) Let’s just say that after a few beers to calm my nerves and some well needed ear-plugs and a face mask, I was ready to have quite a nice sleep. If you can get over the smell of feet, then staying in a European Hostel is quite the way to Create ValueÔ.