muggle not Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 We travelled across to France on Thursday first thing. We wanted to visit a few military cemeteries before heading across to Brugge in Belgium for the night. We had a moving and tiring day that filled us with such sadness and gratitude. We slept like logs on Thursday night with all the fresh air and walking knocking us out. On Friday morning we headed off to catch the first day of the Brugge Snow & Ice Sculpture Festival, an event we try and catch every year. This year's theme was 'The Land Of The Hobs' - that was The Hobbit inspired! Wonderful stuff as always, and once we had walked through it twice we stopped to have a hot chocolate at the in-house Ice Bar where we sat on fur rugs that had been thrown across ice seats. From there we walked around the first day of Brugge's Christmas Market, had lunch, bought some chocolates and then made our way back to the car laden down with bags containing some wonderful crafts as presents. We got home on Friday evening exhausted but happy, and have spent the rest of the weekend taking it pretty easy - giving our feet and legs time to recover. I will echo Anna's request. Do you have pictures. What a wonderful trip you must have had. It sounds terrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I haven't downloaded the photographs from the cameras yet, but I will over the next few days! It is a lovely trip to take. Brugges is such pretty place to visit, and the people of Brugges are so nice too, We genuinely didn't want to come home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 We travelled across to France on Thursday first thing. We wanted to visit a few military cemeteries before heading across to Brugge in Belgium for the night. We had a moving and tiring day that filled us with such sadness and gratitude. We slept like logs on Thursday night with all the fresh air and walking knocking us out. On Friday morning we headed off to catch the first day of the Brugge Snow & Ice Sculpture Festival, an event we try and catch every year. This year's theme was 'The Land Of The Hobs' - that was The Hobbit inspired! Wonderful stuff as always, and once we had walked through it twice we stopped to have a hot chocolate at the in-house Ice Bar where we sat on fur rugs that had been thrown across ice seats. From there we walked around the first day of Brugge's Christmas Market, had lunch, bought some chocolates and then made our way back to the car laden down with bags containing some wonderful crafts as presents. We got home on Friday evening exhausted but happy, and have spent the rest of the weekend taking it pretty easy - giving our feet and legs time to recover. What a wonderful trip again Chrissy, so glad you had such a lovely time. Doesn't sound like you needed to sing 'You Are My Sunshine' on any cable car trip this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 What a wonderful trip again Chrissy, so glad you had such a lovely time. Doesn't sound like you needed to sing 'You Are My Sunshine' on any cable car trip this time Husband has taken a pic or two of me wearing a certain hat - I can confirm without hesitation that it kept my head super warm in the sub zero temperatures in the Ice & Snow sculpture marquee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Husband has taken a pic or two of me wearing a certain hat - I can confirm without hesitation that it kept my head super warm in the sub zero temperatures in the Ice & Snow sculpture marquee! Must have known you were going to be hobnobbing with some of our little hairy-footed natives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Your trip sounds amazing, Chrissy! I agree with the others, I would also love to see some photos . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 My granddaughter (the one that ran in the Boston Marathon)and her family have been visiting us for the last several days. She leaves tomorrow. We really enjoyed the visit. She told me that after running in the Boston Marathon she found out that she had a fracture in her ankle. Evidently she ran in the Boston Marathon without giving her previous injury enough time to heal properly. In any case she is healed now and is planning on running again next year in the "Boston". She will start training sometime in January. Come on now Chrissy, we all would love to see the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 My granddaughter (the one that ran in the Boston Marathon)and her family have been visiting us for the last several days. She leaves tomorrow. We really enjoyed the visit. She told me that after running in the Boston Marathon she found out that she had a fracture in her ankle. Evidently she ran in the Boston Marathon without giving her previous injury enough time to heal properly. Brave girl! How's your other granddaughter doing ....the one in Alaska? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 My granddaughter (the one that ran in the Boston Marathon)and her family have been visiting us for the last several days. She leaves tomorrow. We really enjoyed the visit. She told me that after running in the Boston Marathon she found out that she had a fracture in her ankle. Evidently she ran in the Boston Marathon without giving her previous injury enough time to heal properly. In any case she is healed now and is planning on running again next year in the "Boston". She will start training sometime in January. I'm glad you enjoyed the visit and that you all had a good time . I'm glad her ankle has recovered! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Brave girl! How's your other granddaughter doing ....the one in Alaska? Her internship in the job in Alaska is finished and she is now in New Jersey helping her aunt with the Christmas Tree farm. She takes weekend trips to NYC. In mid December she will fly to Florida to be with her parents for Christmas and in late December will come and visit with us for a week and then she is flying across country to San Francisco for a couple weeks to visit her best friend who is attending college there (been friends with her since about 10 years old) and then flying back to be with us for another week and then we will drive her to Florida to her parents........whew - long story. Next year she is planning on going back to College for her Masters degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Her internship in the job in Alaska is finished and she is now in New Jersey helping her aunt with the Christmas Tree farm. She takes weekend trips to NYC. In mid December she will fly to Florida to be with her parents for Christmas and in late December will come and visit with us for a week and then she is flying across country to San Francisco for a couple weeks to visit her best friend who is attending college there (been friends with her since about 10 years old) and then flying back to be with us for another week and then we will drive her to Florida to her parents........whew - long story. Next year she is planning on going back to College for her Masters degree. Wow- I wish I could live a life like that! Good for her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Her internship in the job in Alaska is finished and she is now in New Jersey helping her aunt with the Christmas Tree farm. She takes weekend trips to NYC. In mid December she will fly to Florida to be with her parents for Christmas and in late December will come and visit with us for a week and then she is flying across country to San Francisco for a couple weeks to visit her best friend who is attending college there (been friends with her since about 10 years old) and then flying back to be with us for another week and then we will drive her to Florida to her parents........whew - long story. Next year she is planning on going back to College for her Masters degree. That's a good bit of travelling there! I'm sure you're all going to have a wonderful time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 (edited) Not in the Thanksgiving plans- a nice, little unnerving earthquake just hit. Let's all be hopeful that another big one doesn't hit like in August. Edit: it was a 3.0 Edited November 27, 2014 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Blimey, stay safe Anna. Wow, Chrissy, sorry for being a little late, but your trip sounds fantastic. I've always wanted to visit Bruges after I watched - yes you guessed it - In Bruges. It feels like my kind of city. In any case, I'm glad you had a wonderful time. I took a trip to the Barbican centre in York to watch some first-round games for the snooker - the UK Championships to be precise. We were going to just go for the morning session but found out the tickets covered the afternoon. As my favourite player was on, we stuck around. It's all before the televised stages this weekend so was quieter and more intimate, but we might have been caught on camera for a segment they were filming about Ali Carter. Not everyone's cup of tea for sure - speaking of which don't buy from the café there, £2 a cup. *gulp* - but I enjoyed every minute. Definitely going again - if not this year then in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virginia Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Anna, I must have missed that one, glad you're ok! Chrissy, you always seem to have the bestest trips!! I've been busy with the bookstore, the kids, etc... been pretty worn out last week. I normally work weekends only but I had the opportunity to get some extra days during the week as I let the kids go a day early for the Thanksgiving holiday. I worked from Wednesday thru Sunday, 8 hours a day, on my feet. By Sunday I could barely walk but had to travel 2 hours away, in pouring rain, to pick the littles up. Then it was time to drop them off again this past Thursday and pick up my two sons. When I went to work today I kept thinking it was Monday. After getting my paycheck I have decided not to work anymore weekdays, or not to work more than 20 hours a week. For all the extra work the pay cannot compensate for the pain. Black Friday wasn't too bad at the bookstore. Mainly because we seem to know how to behave!! Iabsolutely refused to do any shopping yesterday or today, just on principal. Those poor workers having to leave home and hearth to go to work on a day given to "family." Best believe those who are in charge and are owners got to spend the day with THEIR families. Ugh...off my soap box, lmbo!! I'm now going to do a quick peruse of the net and then head to sleep as I need to be up by 0530 in order to do my hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I'm glad things are going okay in your life, Virginia . I hope you can rest a bit now. We don't have Black Friday here in the Netherlands, I've heard it can be quite a madness for those working in retail. I've had a busy week, next week should be less busy so I hope I can rest a bit then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 I can understand why commerce sees it as a good idea to encourage people to spend money in their shops, but for nothing other than commercial reasons, the UK retail industry has decided to adopt the US idea of Black Friday. As someone who likes to shop when no-one else is around, going into Bath yesterday morning was awful. I had no idea that Black Friday was happening (I rarely go shopping in areas with lots of high street shops, and even when I do, I'm fairly oblivious to lots of these things, as I'm a head down, get on with it, sort of shopper. Bath was packed with people, and with the Christmas Market (the reason I'd gone back again to try and get in early and actually browse in the market rather than just try and avoid other people's elbow and feet) it was one of the worst shopping experiences I can imagine! I ended up staying just for an hour, but did manage to get to the few stalls I wanted to revisit, so I think most of my shopping is now done. In a way, I guess I'm lucky I don't have many people to give presents to. I feel for parents of young families who must feel enormous pressure to give their children all the things they see on television. I don't have a problem with the concept of Black Friday in the US, as it ties into the holiday weekend and signals the start of Christmas, but we have no reason for it here at all. Sorry for the moan, but I'm getting old and feel nostalgic for my childhood festive season. I think it's one of the reasons I want to bake and make more homemade gifts this year, make it a bit more personal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Oy, I avoid shopping from now until way after Christmas. Can't stand the crowding and general insanity. A couple of years ago we passed the Wal-Mart on the main highway here the night....must have been Thursday, Thanksgiving night. The huge store is set way back in the lot, behind a huge parking lot and a strip of businesses in front along the actual highway. Those businesses also have parking lots. The cars were parked in all of the spaces, acres of cars, in all the parking lots. People were milling about at that very late hour.....must have been close to Midnight. The lines were already out to the highway. INSANITY!!!!! No piece of merchandise is worth it, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookmonkey Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I can understand why commerce sees it as a good idea to encourage people to spend money in their shops, but for nothing other than commercial reasons, the UK retail industry has decided to adopt the US idea of Black Friday. As someone who likes to shop when no-one else is around, going into Bath yesterday morning was awful. I had no idea that Black Friday was happening (I rarely go shopping in areas with lots of high street shops, and even when I do, I'm fairly oblivious to lots of these things, as I'm a head down, get on with it, sort of shopper. Bath was packed with people, and with the Christmas Market (the reason I'd gone back again to try and get in early and actually browse in the market rather than just try and avoid other people's elbow and feet) it was one of the worst shopping experiences I can imagine! I ended up staying just for an hour, but did manage to get to the few stalls I wanted to revisit, so I think most of my shopping is now done. In a way, I guess I'm lucky I don't have many people to give presents to. I feel for parents of young families who must feel enormous pressure to give their children all the things they see on television. I don't have a problem with the concept of Black Friday in the US, as it ties into the holiday weekend and signals the start of Christmas, but we have no reason for it here at all. Sorry for the moan, but I'm getting old and feel nostalgic for my childhood festive season. I think it's one of the reasons I want to bake and make more homemade gifts this year, make it a bit more personal. Retailers are bringing the Black Friday thing to NZ too. And I agree with you Chesil. It's an American thing, and there's no need for it here. We have the big boxing day sales. They're probably equivalent to Black Friday sales. They're mad, hundreds of people everywhere, and huge discounts. I know last year one store was selling Ipads for $30 (normally over $400 here)!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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