A Very Spencer Visit

Today is January 22nd, and there is a beautiful blanket of snow covering the ground. Somehow the past couple months have flown by so quickly and before I delve into the exciting happenings 2013 has already brought, I want to touch on some of the highlights of 2012 that occurred in the final two months of the year. One of them being the long-awaited visit from the Spencers! Kelly is my oldest and dearest childhood friend, more of a third sister actually, who I've shared so many memories with over the years; from our childhood play dates, to summer visits in our teenage years, trips to our universities during our college years and now transcontinental visits in our adulthood. Ever since we knew we were moving to Europe in 2007, Kelly has been promising to come visit. Now in our final year here, 5.5 years later, she and her husband Nick finally made it over.... just in time! We were thrilled to host them at our house and give them a taste of Europe with trips to nearby destinations.

On November 2nd, they arrived in Amsterdam where we spent that day and night exploring this most famous Dutch city. Between roaming the canals, and visits to some of the most famous sites, we simply enjoyed experiencing this lively city with two of our favorite friends.

The Prinsengracht Canal, Amsterdam, on Spencer arrival day

Touring the Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam

On our way to Sittard the following day, we stopped at the Kinderdijk for a photo op with these famous windmills as our background. 

We spent the next couple days in Sittard, showing off our quaint Dutch town and doing as the Dutch do - biking everywhere. We also visited nearby Maastricht, Aachen, the Dreilandenpunt, and the American Cemetery in Margraten. 

Kelly and Nick on the Sittard square

Our super cool bike gang

Standing in 3 countries at once

We planned an overnight trip to our favorite Belgian destination, Bruges, which turned out to be the highlight of the trip for the Spencers. There's something to be said about visiting these smaller European towns that have so much ambiance and beauty. And it helped that we were visiting during the middle of the week of a non-touristy season, where we truly had the city to ourselves (along with the locals, of course).

Bruges by night

The Bruges Square

The Bruges Square

Bruges by night

Prepping for our canal trip of Bruges

Atop the De Halve Maan Brewery 

The finale of their week-long visit was a trip to Paris for their final two nights. Nick, Kelly and I train-ed to the City of Light together and hit the ground running, touring the Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, St. Germain, Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin des Tuileries and of course my favorite, Angelina's Tea Room. They managed to see a lot on their own (Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe) while I spent some time shopping at some of my favorite haunts.

 Jardin du Luxembourg

Jon met up with us on their last night in Paris, which also happened to be his 33rd birthday. We had a fantastic dinner with our Parisian friends, Thomas and Clemence, before hitting up some tres local nightspots. At 3:00 a.m. we said our adieus to Nick and Kelly and they headed for the airport, after a lively send-off from Paris.

The following day and night, we spent Jon's birthday visiting the Montmartre arrondissement. We began at the St. Ouen flea market followed by lunch at the over-the-top French locale bistro, Chez Louisette. Afterward, we walked to the Sacre Cour before wandering through the artist-filled Place du Tertre. That evening, we enjoyed the City of Light in all it's nighttime glory by wandering through the Latin Quarter, and across the Pont des Arts bridge to the Lourve. It's hard to believe that out of my 11 trips to Paris, this was only my second time with Jon. The city can truly become such a romantic place with your love, and I am so happy we were able to spend his birthday in this incredible setting.

Sacre Cour

Place du Tertre

Pont des Arts

Lovers' locks lining the Pont des Arts

The Lourve

All in all it was an incredible week of many memories made during our travels with the Spencers, which culminated in a fantastic Parisian birthday celebration for my main squeeze. Thank you, Spencers (aka, Frank and Marissa) for making the effort to come visit us in Europe. We will cherish these memories spent with you forever and look forward to many more get-togethers with you in the near future stateside. Dank je wel, Danke schön and Merci!