Welcome back Wombat!

[Millymollymandy]

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere but I've had problems getting on the site.

Did you have a great holiday? What interesting things did you see/visit? did you eat moules/frites with mayo???

And how did you get on with the COLD!

Glad you are back, and how are the chooks?

[Andy Hamilton]

I was not sure about saying welcome back Wombat, so I did not cover it. Good to have you back on , was better meeting up with you mate. Did you manage to bring the elderflower cordial back with you and did you like it?

[shiney]

I'll add my welcome too!

Did you ever get to the UK? Did anyone meet up with you?

[wulf]

Yes he did - see the One Night Only thread for details.

Wulf

[shiney]

Ah thanks Wulf! Good to know some SSF'ers got together.

[Wombat]

Thank you all!

I had a wonderful time in Belgium and the UK.

The newest word in my vocabulary is "Frituur" and I would yell it every time we drove past one, which was often! I was talking with my son-in-law about starting one of these in Aus. I think any shop where everything is deep fried would resonate with Aussies, but the mayonnaise is unavailable here so I would have to import direct - Hmmmmm.

I bought myself a new scythe, scythe stone, Belgian farmers hat, butter mould ( at a German Christmas market no less) seed planter, aerator and chipping hoe of a type I have not seen in Aus, as well as sundry small self sufficientish related bits and the obligatory souvenirs (if the weight of souvenirs does not come up to scratch they won't let you leave Europe!)

I was able to visit - Brugge, Aarchen (Germany), Genk, Hasselt, Bastogne (wonderful and moving war museums) Luxemburg; Maastricht (The Netherlands) and London. And saw lots of medieval houses, the odd museum, shops, did some bushwalking, saw enormous wind generator (Oooooh woooooow!) an old windmill and spent time with my son-in-laws parents as well.

As for the cold..........well as I write his I am having trouble sitting because I froze my bum of! Where we stayed (in a rural area!) was centrally heated and we had plenty of clothes but it did get down to -10 Deg C. When we flew in to London, we spent some hours the first night walking around and both commented on how warm it was a 9 Deg C so it is surprising how quickly you adapt. We saw (and drove in) falling snow which was lovely and a first for us. I am afraid that I couldn't live there because of the climate, but it was wonderful to see and experience.

I pick the chooks up today so I will keep you posted on that one.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Andy and Dave, Stew and Wolf and Andy's mate Rohan. It really did finish our trip on a high note but make me a bit sad that we are so far away from all of you.

Anyway I have been told that we will come back, and spend some more time in the UK next time so hopefully we will do it again in a couple of years.

Thanks again all!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

Sounds great! I have visited Bruges (Brugge) and it is beautiful. Were you staying in the Dutch or French speaking part of Belgium? OK I know it's called Flemish but the language is the same as Dutch - when I lived in the Netherlands they always laughed at the Belgians and their accent. Oooh and how about those chocolate shops?

[Guest]

G'Day M3,

The dutch speaking area was where we stayed. This is good because most can speak English and will speak it to you if you speak English to them. In the French speaking area they just continue to speak French, but louder and clearer ( the old theory about there being no such thing as a foreign language).

The chocolate was good but the Frituur is better!

Nev

[wulf]

... but the mayonnaise is unavailable here so I would have to import direct - Hmmmmm.

You could make your own - mayonnaise is just an emulsion of eggs and oil!

Wulf