Brussels - Day 1

Last week Tom and Liz went on a little vacation to Brussels. The children stayed with Opa & Oma, so it was just the two of us. After dropping the kids of at the creche we raced to the train station and got the 9:30 train directly to Brussels.
The trip lasted just over two hours and gave us a great opportunity to relax and play a game of Scrabble.
While walking to the hotel, we came across a monster vuvuzela!
Some old and some new.
After dropping off the luggage, we found our way to La Grande Place/Grote Markt where we had some lunch and Belgium beer, of course.
Manneke Pis. At the museum of the city we got to see all of his costumes, which was so cool. Unfortunately camera's weren't allowed. Just days earlier he had been wearing a stars & stripes outfit with an Uncle Same "Yes We Can" hat in honor of 4th of July. Too bad we missed that.
This is a little piece of the original city wall.

The view from atop the Musical Instrument Museum. We decided to have a drink after the somewhat long and very hot walk to the museum.
Inside the MIM we wore headphones that played the appropriate music for the instrument we were viewing. Very cool.
While eating dinner nearby our hotel we noticed a steady stream of orange-clad people passing by. Upon inspection we found a bar that had gone all out in supporting the Dutch soccer team. We had thought we would go to the Irish bar to watch the Uruguay v. Netherlands game, but instead found a place among the other Dutchies. It was awesome.