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Little series of Chris Surfing the remains of Bertha’s wrath…
This is our first summer in our “new” house. We’ve been enjoying it. Especially the new garden, firepit, and proximity to the ocean. And our neighbors. One couple is like us: under 40, no kids. So they have a lot of stuff to keep them busy. In the summer, it’s surfing. After talking about it with them a bit, we decided to give it a try. Now we can’t stop.
Our first surf outing was on July 4. Our friend Tracy was visiting so we scheduled a lesson at Cinnamon Rainbows Surf Shop. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it. Instead of a planned bike ride on the following Sunday, Tracy said he’d rather surf. So we rented boards, Chris bought a wetsuit, and went surfing again. Sunday evening we were all exhausted. And then on Monday, we could hardly lift our arms…Haha!
Since Chris was away the later part of last week, I hooked up with my surfing neighbors. I surfed Wednesday and Thursday on a board borrowed from my neighbor (he has two). By Thursday, I was so hooked that I bought a wetsuit. Chris was jealous that I got two days of surfing without him.
On Saturday we hit the beach with friends visiting from Boston. It was such a busy surf day that the surf shop had NO rental boards available. Chris made it until about 1pm, then bought his own board. Here are a few photos from that outing:
A ton of surfers in the water
Waiting for waves
Here’s Chris arriving to the beach with his new board
Getting ready to go in the water with the new board
Surfing!
After a good session
This past Tuesday night, I went to Wahini (ladies) night at Jenness beach. It was hosted by Pioneers Board shop and sponsored by Oakley. I had a one on one lesson with Jessica and improved my skills. Lots of stuff that I was doing wrong that I didn’t realize are now starting to be corrected. It really helped!
And I won a pair of Oakley sunglasses…sweet!
So we’re both fairly tired most of the time now. We’ve started running again. That, added with the surfing, makes us a tired bunch. But sore muscles means good things, right?
Day two of Chocolate Week.
I had a whole itinerary planed today to go to Place du Grand Sablon. There are several “haute couture” chocolate shops there. And I figured I’d swing by Mary Chocolatier for a few photos of the exterior (last time, a huge truck was parked right out front). Alas, Belgium is doing what it does best in winter…raining. Normally rain wouldn’t deter me from the promise of chocolate, but today it’s rain + high wind (30 mph). This means umbrellas will be in vain and I will most assuredly get soaked to the bone. One of my least favorite things: cold and wet.
Anyway, I still have enough for a lovely post on Mary Chocolatier. When I go tomorrow I will take some exterior shots and add them to this post (I think it’s easier to find if you know what the storefront looks like). ***I’ve added the exterior shots***
Tuesday: Mary Chocolatier
Mary Chocolatier is old school, upper crusty, posh. It’s not a chain (there are only 2 shops). They are Royal Warrant holders since 1942.
Mary is directly across from the Colonne des Congrés (The Congress Column) which marks the tomb of the unknown soldiers from both World Wars and includes an eternal flame.
The shop is much bigger than Passion Chocolate and is decorated in white and blue with gold guilt furnishings. Elegant. But where Passion Chocolate made me feel at home, Mary’s makes me feel like I shouldn’t touch anything.
This is the display when you first enter the shop.
The marzipan display is facinating! How do you eat pieces of marzipan that large? Knife and fork? If I didn’t think it weighed 5 pounds, I would be tempted to bring the giant pig home for Stacey (YOU KNOW IT!)!
The praline is the traditional filled chocolate.
They have so many varieties to choose from, it’s a little overwhelming. If my black Amex hadn’t gotten lost in the mail I might have said “One of everything!”…alas, only 100 grams.
The women working at the shop were so kind. So while the decorating intimidated us, the staff did not. They were very patient while we tempered our excitement long enough to choose what chocolate we wanted. Since we aren’t gluttons and this kind of chocolate should be eaten within two weeks, we selected only 100 grams to take away.
After we settled on a piece, the white gloved shop keeper placed it carefully inside the tiny white box. Then she tied it with a lovely little blue bow.
Here is the sweet little box of 100 grams that we selected.
This is the box opened with the Royal Warrant card displayed.
Once again we savored each and every chocolate. Savored.
I need to go back, but there is so much unexplored chocolate in this city. And then there is the city of Brugge!!
