Belgium

Here are some photos of our time in Belgium.

Actually, this first one is a picture of the kids just before we got on the Eurostar in London. We were too worried about actually getting on a train (what with all the disruptions to service occasioned by last week's fire) to spend a lot of time looking around the newly renovated St. Pancras station, but what we saw was astonishingly beautiful. Apparently there are plans for a 5-star hotel to open in the Victorian fantasy building above the main train station.

Here we are upon our arrival in Mechelen. Note the skepticism on Margaret's face. I was a bit tired from hauling bags around the train, but Margaret clearly was not pleased with her first impression of the city here. That impression improved when she got her first taste of Belgian chocolate, not long after this.

On Saturday, we took the train up to Bruges, where we spent the first half of the day at the seapark, pictured below, and the rest of the day in the town proper. The seapark is to Sea World roughly what Story Land in New Hampshire is to Disneyworld. The kids loved it, and even the adults marveled at the dolphin show.

Bruges is the most amazingly well preserved late medieval city. Here is John, working as a street musician (the real musician is standing off to the side in this shot), just outside one of Bruges' fine churches.

Here are John and John relaxing with hot chocolate after their work on the hand-crank organ:

The parents, not pictured, are sampling some of the local Bruges beer. Yum.

On Sunday, we had a more relaxing day, sleeping in and spending a couple of hours at the park in Mechelen. The park included several playing fields, a running loop (3.3K), many bicycle paths, an elaborate playground, a formal rose garden, an informal rose garden, and a spectacular dahlia garden. And, of course, a cafe/bar. Here is a shot of Margaret stopping to smell the roses:

Finally a picture of a most extraordinary sight: Mark and Karen's local "convenience store."

In addition to sodas and snack foods, this vending machine sells butter, eggs, milk, cheese, prepared foods, and several kids of beer and wine. And, of course, chocolate.

Hello friends,
This will be just a quick up-date. We will post some photos later today or tomorrow morning.

We managed to get to Belgium with no problems on Friday. Eurostar was only slightly delayed. We left London at 1:30 and arrived in Brussels at 4:45 (Brussels is an hour ahead, so it wasn't bad at all).

We are staying Mechelen, half-way between Brussels and Antwerp. We are staying with the O'Connells, minus Mark (Mark and Joe were friends in high school in Garden City; Mark and his family have lived in Belgium since 2001). Unfortunately, Mark was sent off to Japan on business. But, Karen (his wife) and his kids (John, age 9, and Lydia, age 7) were kind enough to take us in anyway! We stayed with them for a couple of days in 2004, so the boys were especially eager to get re-acquainted.

Karen made a delicious Belgian dinner for us Friday evening-- Waterzooi and rice pudding for dessert. It was delicious.

On Saturday, we got up early and walked very fast to the train station. Our goal was to get the 8:05 train to Brugge (Bruges). It was quite the effort to get all of us up, dressed and out, but we did it. The day was gorgeous. Sunny and warm.

Once in Brugge (about an hour and a half journey from Mechelen), we went to an amusement park that featured a dolphin show. The kids loved it. After lunch, we went into Brugge. Since it was such a beautiful day, the city was quite crowded (although, I guess, not nearly as crowded as it would have been in August). We mostly just wandered about, checking out the architecture, the canals, a couple of churches, and, of course, the local delicacies-- waffles, beer and chocolate (although the children were not allowed to sample all three!!). We picked up some delicious waffles and ate them as we watched boats on the canal. Then, it was time to sample some chocolate. We all had different opinions about what we liked best. Then, it was time to rest our weary bones at a cafe. The grown-ups had beer from a Brugge brewery. The kids had some yummy hot chocolate.

We arrived back in Mechelen at 8:00 in the evening. We had dinner out.

By the time we got back to the house, we were exhausted! We got the kids ready for bed and then Karen, Joe and I chatted some over another local delicacy-- genievre.

It's Sunday morning. We go to church late this afternoon, so we are having a lazy morning. The kids are preparing a skit. We'll go to a park in a bit and then to Brussels after lunch.

We are all still having a wonderful time. We hope all is well where you are.

Cheers,
Susan