We went to Frankfurt this weekend!
On Friday we left very early to be ahead of the so called snow storm we were expecting here in Belgium. They'd warned us for 10-12cm of snow in a few hours of time, turned out that there was only a thin layer of snow... Oh well... So we left at 5.30 am (we'd expected a little bit of snow then already, but nothing). After 4,5 hours of driving we arrived at Frankfurt. It was freezing cold, but the city is so nice that you forget that for an instant. And girls, there's a whole lot of shopping to do in Frankfurt! :)
Covered in a few layers of clothes, hat and gloves we went to do some shopping and strolling over the Christmas market. We all bought new shoes! And we also bought an Elvis Limited Edition Coffee machine and Toaster.
The Christmas market was sooo busy that it was impossible to take a look at the first few stalls. The stalls were all decorated beautifully, but as I've said before pictures always say more than words.
Of course we actually almost never go to Germany without a concert of these guys: The Baseballs. This time however it was a Christmas Concert in Alte Oper. We loved what they'd done with the Christmas songs and we absolutely loved the concert (of course, we were in second row, what more could anyone ask for, he). And they looked GOOD:
Basti
Sam
Digger
Digger & Basti
Sam
The Baseballs & the Neue Frankfurter Philharmonie
Guys, we enjoyed is very very very much! :)
The way home was a little bit more dangerous than the way there:
This was what we woke up to...
We got home alright, all save and sound.
But I won't let you leave my page without one of the songs the guys played on Friday in Alte Oper.
There's no way around it anymore: in shops slowly appear the first signs of Christmas lights and jingle bells, people wandering around stores to see what to put on their wish lists or to buy as a Christmas gift for their loved ones and yes, girls and women around the globe are looking at something to wear, because 'we can't wear what we bought last year'.
It's official: Holiday season kicked in and it kicked hard, especially for our family...
Almost two weeks ago now The Baseballs' Good Ol' Christmas was released and of course mom and I already got our copy and yes, yes, yes, the signed copy! :)
The Baseballs' Good Ol' Christmas
So at our place there's no way around it anymore, we can't stop singing Christmas carols (even my brother sings them!!!)!
Anyway I tried to ban the Christmas songs for as long as possible, but let's face it when it's The Baseballs singing them, I have to cave-in (voluntarily of course!)...
Last week I started looking for Christmas gifts myself. I wanted to buy mum a vintage sewing box, so I started searching the net for the good old stuff. I think it must've been no longer than 10 minutes that I was clicking and closing and clicking and closing dozens of advertisements until I found something I wasn't quite looking for... I encountered the one thing my mum always wanted to have... Retro, yes, vintage, of course, but not a sewing box... Not a sewing box, no, bigger, a lot bigger... Something I knew my mum was going to be sooo happy with...
Since I didn't know for sure if I should ask the lady that posted the ad if it was still available, I called my brother. He was at home so I knew he could go to the computer to look at it and give me some advise. I was stumbled with my find, I needed some confirmation that it was really there and that it was really what mum always dreamed of.
As I called up my brother he said mum was at the computer, but that he would happily ask her to leave for a moment. ;) I hung up and we agreed that he would e-mail me his reply... It seemed like ages before he replied. Why did it take so long???
Then finally I got a text (not an e-mail, he tried to call me 3 times, telephone was on silent, so here you go that's what made it seem like ages...) 'Will she really sell at that price?'. I told him I thought so and that I would send her a mail to ask if it was still available and if she would sell it to us for 50 euros.
Her reply was yes and yes. YES, we had what we always wanted to buy her, but couldn't afford...
I already told you it was bigger than a sewing box, a lot bigger.
Yesterday we could pick it up at the lady's place in Rotselaar. She had it from an aunt of her's and now she had to get rid of it because she moved to a smaller apartment. If no-one bought it, it would've ended up in the 'Kringloopwinkel', that a Belgian society that buys furniture and all kinds of stuff at really low prices and then puts them up, if necessary, and resells them at low prices.
On the way back home my brother and I decided to give it to mum right away and not wait until Christmas, because we didn't know where we could hide it until then.
We stopped at a supermarket to by some wrapping paper and then we went home, a little bit nervous, but so happy we bought it.
Back home we told mum to stay in the kitchen until we said it was 'safe' to come out.
We wrapped our gift in fleece blankets and wrapping paper (the two rolls we bought weren't sufficient :s). Then it was time to bring mum to the stairway and let her unwrap the gift...
She didn't know what it was at first, but when the wrapping paper got off, I saw she cried tears of joy...
She couldn't believe what we bought, she thought we were the best kids in the world (she didn't say it, but I could tell from the look upon her face ;) ).
Now of course you still don't know what we bought... :)
Sometimes pictures tell more than words, so here are the picture of the 1920's Singer Sphinx:
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
1920's Singer Sphinx
So with Christmas carols all around, one gift given and trees losing all their leafs, we could definitely say Holiday season is there and we are ready for it!
'Now is it gonna be a bag of love or just some knick-knack things?'
Source: You Tube: The Baseballs, Ring Ring, 2012 - www.youtube.com
It's been a long time already!
Well, last weekend we drove up to Weinstadt, close to Stuttgart, to go to a car meeting.
The car meeting itself was really fun, but what we did afterwards was so nice! We did some house hunting in Baden-Wurttemberg, so we decided to ga of the highway and take the little roads.
We passed Reutlingen first. Man, that is one lovely town!! From there on we went to Sigmaringen. The streets were sometimes really narrow, but the nature is undescribably beautiful! When the evening kicked in there were so many birds of pray sitting in the meadows.... Beautiful, really beautiful. From Sigmaringen we went to Messstetten. Beautiful town and the nature there is also sooo beautiful. I really loved it!
Unfortunately then the weekend was alsready in half and we needed to drive back home.
Driving home in the rain is not much fun, but fortunately some good old rock n roll from stars like Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis made the ride a little more bearable. :)
Hey guys!
I hope you enjoyed my photo-blogmessage from my trip to Berlin. ;)
Today I want to blog about something more serious, something that's been in my life ever since I was born: a PWS or Port Wine Stain.
As all of you know I have a birthmark, PWS is just a fancier name for it. It doens't bother me at all and I don't think other people should be bothered by it. I don't care what they think. It's there and they're going to have to accept that.
Since I'm a Facebook member I discovered a lot of people are bothered by theit own PWS. I think they should be blessed with their particular stain. Of course, mine is a lot tinnier than some of the people I met on FB, but still...
Mostly (and in my case) the PWS is harmless, but it can be something bad too unfortunately...
I'd like to link you to the site of the US National Library of Medicine, there's a whole explanation on what it is. When I was a kid I never really thought about what it was, but lately I've been searching the net to understand it a little bit better.
Up till now I don't see any reason why I should get it removed. Maybe one: most people recognize me immediately, so if I ever want to do some shop lifting they'll know it was me... ;)
Hi guys!
Last weekend my mum, brother and I went to Berlin. We saw a lot of different things so I decided to divide this blog post in chapters, because there's a lot to tell! :)
Chapter 1: The Baseballs at Zitadelle, Spandau
Happy coincidence: we wanted to go to the US Car Classics in Diedersdorf and we found out The Baseballs, my mum's and my all-time favorite band, would be playing in Berlin-Spandau. Of course we immediately booked our tickets!
It was the fifth time we'd see them live (second time this summer, first at Concert @ SEA) and it was AWESOME once again. ;)
My favorite moment of this show was the Elvis tribute: A Big Hunk O' Love
The King died 35 years ago and is still missed...
Thank you, Sam, for looking straight into my lens! ;)
Digger on fire!
The Elvis-belt!
The end... :(
Mum - bro - me
Chapter 2: Berlin!!!!!!!!
I have to say I would've never thought Berlin was that beautiful! Really, I mean, if you've never been there you SHOULD go there. It's definitely worth it. Because of limited time we could only visit the most obvious tourist attractions. Although, 'tourist' might not be the right word. Berlin is touristy, sure, but I never had the feeling the landmarks tourists visit are exploited to the bone. I like the way Berlin acts around it's landmarks: just the landmark, a bit of information and voilà: one of the most beautiful cities I ever visited (and although I'm still quite young, I've visited a lot of cities already). Unlike Rome, Berlin never gives you the feeling that you're being a tourist. I know I'm making it difficult to understand, but maybe some of you recognize this feeling (or so I hope, because otherwise I'm really making a fool of myself here)!
Pieces of the Wall
Brandenburger Tor
Memorial for the murdered Jews
I Love Berlin!
Chapter 3: US Car Classics
The wonderful location at Schloss Diedersdorf and the wonderful weather made it a success: lots of classic cars came out. I think in this case pictures say a lot more than words. Enjoy!
That was that for my photo-rich blog post about our trip to Berlin! :)
To end this post I want to share Elvis' A big hunk o' love:
