Back Home Safely

We arrived home safely on Sunday, October 1st after a direct, 9-hour flight from Brussels. We are very happy to be home. We've missed little things--like just relaxing, watching TV, and sitting down to a home-cooked meal! And we definitely missed our dogs.

We did not update from Amsterdam or Brussels. We really enjoyed both. In Amsterdam we went to the Rikjsmuseum (spelling?). We saw lots of Rembrandts and Vermeers....it was a great museum. We also went to the Anne Frank House. No....we did not go to a "coffee house"! The Anne Frank house was my favorite. I had reread the book just prior to getting to Amsterdam and it was so fascinating to see where she had written the book from....the tiny place where they stayed for over two years. It was also very interesting to learn about some of the things that took place after the diary ended. There were interviews from her best friend--who was constantly mentioned in the book, as well as her father and the women who helped them hide. All in all, I thought it was a great memorial to an extraordinary little girl. Aaron is now reading the book....but I don't know if he will finish because he says he feels like an adolescent girl.

In Brussels we stayed at the lovely home of Don and Sue Hutchins, and were definitely spoiled! We got to do actual laundry and have wonderful meals the whole time! They really showed us Belgium--in Brussels we went to the smaller town of Leuven, which is where one of the oldest universities in existence is. It was a great little town--very picturesque town hall and other buildings. We also went to the Atomium, which is a large iron molecule (basically spheres connecting by tubes that are hundreds of feet in the air--see picture above). It was built for the 1958 World's Fair. Then we went into the Grand-Place....which was really beautiful (picture, above left). And we also saw the Manneken-Pis statue, or the "peeing boy".

Then we had a really yummy dinner...."mussels in Brussels". Well, I didn't eat mussels, but I had another Belgian specialty of Waterzoi with fish....a really good soup. Aaron had mussels and I tried some of his. We also had Belgian fries with mayonnaise....yum!

Aaron and I also went into Bruges, Belgium....a beautiful old town with lots of canals and quaint buildings. I'l have to put up pictures of Bruges later. We went to the Market Square to look at the town hall. We also went to a chocolate shop and bought lots of yummy chocolates! Then we went on a boat ride through the canals, which was amazing! Finally, we had one of the best hot chocolates I have ever had. They served a mug of hot milk, and a small plate of melted chocoalte (the best I have ever tasted!, so you can add the chocolate as you desire...I added it all. Then they served a small plate of whipped cream as well as 4 small chocolates from their homemade chocolate company. It was delicious!!

Bruges is only about a 50 minute train ride from Brussels.

So all in all, we had a wonderful, wonderful trip. It was long and tiring at times....but we are so thankful that we had the opportunity to do this. It truly was the trip of a lifetime! So thank you all for reading and sharing this experience with us!