Brussels - Day 2

Day 2 in Brussels was the day of our third anniversary. Besides the fact that we were there, we didn't do anything special in particular. After breakfast at the hotel we took a stroll to the otherside of town to visit the comic strip museum. Along the way we found the female counterpart to Manneke Pis - Jeanneke Pis. We also found the National Bank museum, which was also quite interesting.
Jeanneke Pis
Beautiful Brussels
The passage.
Many, many famous comic strips originate from Belgium, so it is only natural that there would be a museum about it. We probably could have stayed for hours had we wanted to read each and every cartoon. Most of them were in French actually, but a lot of them were in Dutch.






At the museum gift store we saw a cut cardboard Waldo hidden away in the corner. It had obviously been part of a display but was no longer in use. We decided to try and see if we could buy it. First the lady said no, but when she saw which one we meant she said we could just have it! COOL! We love the Where's Waldo books, and now we can make our own Where's Waldo photos! We started by taking pictures in the metro on the way to the Atomium.


The atomium. We decided we wanted to go inside and that it wouldn't be too high up for Tom (who sometimes has a fear of heights). But after assending to the top in an elevator that only took about 4 seconds, we realized it did actually feel a little bit too high up.



The top sphere was really cool and offered panoramic views of the city. We were planning on eating lunch there, but decided against it.
The other spheres had museum exhibits and a snack room. This picture is taken from an escalator in one of the connecting tubes.
Liz in front of International Home of Cooking, the Brussels DOK store.
Before dinner we had some drinks at the Grote Markt again.

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.

Creche Pictures

Last year we missed the school pictures because we were in Maine. This year we got individual shots and a sibling photo.

Championship Day

The day of the World Cup championship game we were sure to have our best orange! Evie had six "Beesies" in her hair.
vie had six "Beesies" in her hair.
The kids were running around the house with thier giant beesie.

Evie practices her cheers.
For the game we went to Martijn & Danielle's house. The kids went to bed at their normal time and missed the game, but I don't think they mind too much.
Having gone through two orange t-shirts, Felix had to wear red. It's a good thing he has a flag on his cheek!
By the end of the day, Evie only had four Beesies in her hair.
Olee olee olee oleeee!
Holland! Holland!
Get that vuvuzela out of my face!
Danielle and Martijn
Oma Oma, Dick Kaat, and Danielle's parents were also there!
No post-game photos. :-(

Second Place!

Last night's World Cup final was one of the worst matches ever. Unless you are Dutch or Spanish, the match was mostly boring. Spain ended up winning shortly before the end of the extra 30 minutes. Up until then, the game was riddled with the blowing of the whistle by English referee Howard Webb. He gave out 14 yellow cards, nine for the Dutch. The Dutch were playing a bit on the edge and deserved some of the cards (one of them probably should have actually been a red), but the Spanish also certainly knew how to make the most of a whistle-happy ref. They took every opportunity to lie down and act in pain - and often it worked. There were also at least two missed calls that could have made all the difference for Holland. Shortly before the Spanish goal we were not awarded a corner when we should have. And the winning goal was played off side, then back to have a legit goal. But the play should have been stopped before the goal! But that's the way the cookie crumbles. Spain played a great tournament and deserved to win the World Cup. The same can be said for the Netherlands, but there can only be one winner. Well done, Spain. The Netherlands is now in a state of dysphoria. It took the Dutch team 32 years to make it to the final game again and we don't want to wait that long again! In the mean time the Dutch should be proud of their second place title. We are.

World Cup Final!

Holland has played an incredible tournament and has landed itself a place in the Championship game against Spain! Both teams have a good chance of winning. Holland is the only team to win all the qualifying and tournement games and is a very strong team. Spain is the reigning European Champions and are also very strong. It's destined to be an exciting game. We are thrilled and are suffering from a little "Orange Fever" - mostly Liz. She even got her dork on enough to make this video in excitement for today's game! GO HOLLAND!!!!

Cartoon Murals

Brussels is filled with murals of their famous comic book illustrations. Every time we saw one (almost), Tom took a picture of it. Here is a selection of the murals to be found in Brussels.