Aristotelian planetarium, Italian ca. 1600
Day Six was a full day of sightseeing! With only two days left, we really needed to narrow down what we still wanted to do and make choices.
Eggs Florentine on focaccia for breakfast!
Day Four was our first day spent together with everyone. One of the big things everyone wanted to do while in Tuscany was to see the countryside, visit vineyards, and sample Chianti wines. After a bit of searching we decided on the Chianti Afternoon Wine Tour.
Mom and me with Michelangelo’s David
Day Three was a Sunday – the first Sunday of November, sooo all the museums were free! After a bit of discussing, Koen, Tamar, my mom and I decided on Galleria dell’Accademia, most famous for housing Michelangelo’s David. We left early in the morning and luckily the line wasn’t too bad!
Starting the day off great! Fresh ciabatta with grilled tomatoes, eggs sunny side up, and pancetta!
Day Two was my first day waking up in Florence. Koen and I woke up to an empty apartment (my parents left to meet Grayson, Tamar, and Edward at the airport), so we decided to spoil ourselves with brunch. Luckily right across the street is a supermarket, so we bought a few Italian staples like ciabatta and pancetta and other breakfast essentials. I don’t think I mentioned it in my last post, but the weather was in the high 60s, low 70s the whole time so we ate every meal outside on the terrace!
Overlooking Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo
Just got back from spending a week in Florence, Italy with my family! We don’t get to see each other so often, so why not make it even more special by heading to Tuscany for some family time?
Plantin-Moretus Museum
Koen and I just celebrated 7 years of being married! We decided to spend our long weekend off together exploring Antwerp a bit more. Tourists in our own city!
Roger Van Damme preparing one of our courses (photo from flamant.com)
In my Roger Van Damme, Part One post I mentioned that Koen and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary at Het Gebaar, from Roger Van Damme. It was the best meal I’ve ever had, and I was lucky enough to win a 9 course brunch/cooking presentation with none other than Roger Van Damme!
The contest was set up by Flamant, who supplies all of the interior decorating for Het Gebaar. Luckily Flamant is only a 3 minute walk from our apartment, and Koen and I were able to wake up and go straight to brunch! After 9 delicious courses and a few glasses of wine, we walked a little bit slower back home and took a long nap!
Het Gebaar
When Koen and I hit the milestone of 9 years together, we decided to celebrate with lunch at the Michelin star restaurant Het Gebaar, from Roger Van Damme. I’m not exaggerating when I say this was the best meal I’ve ever had. My mouth is literally watering as I’m typing thinking about this delicious lunch. I dream of the steak tartare…
And now I can’t wait to go back in November to celebrate with my parents for my mom’s birthday!
Sinterklaas is a special holiday celebrated in the beginning of December in the Netherlands and Belgium. I love drawing a name and writing poems and creating the “surprise”, or handmade gift that embodies some attribute of the person. It makes it that much more special than just giving a gift because of the time and effort spent.
Started our day at the NYC Aquarium
After the wedding, Koen and I had a couple of days to explore NYC. Last year we didn’t have time for Coney Island because it was too far from where we were staying, so we wanted to make sure to go this trip. I am so happy we planned it in. Coney Island is unbelievably beautiful and iconic. It was like walking onto a movie set. The sunny weather also helped! Because we were staying in Park Slope in Brooklyn, traveling to the bottom of the borough didn’t take too long. We started our day at the NYC Aquarium. Then we walked along the boardwalk until we found the original Nathan’s Famous that opened in 1916. If you don’t know, the hotdog was invented in Coney Island in 1870, so of course we wanted to have hotdogs for lunch! After lunch we went back to the boardwalk for a cocktail to-go, which we enjoyed on the pier. In the photos you will see the amusement park, but it is only open on the weekends after the summer holiday. Because it wasn’t so busy, we had a nice, relaxing day!
An American in Antwerp 