Beautiful Belgium

Another German holiday gave us the chance to leave the country!  We went next door to Belgium for the Ascension Day holiday week-end.  You might be thinking, wow, they travel a lot.  We do!  Living abroad has been an amazing experience so far.  Along with this experience we have good, bad, and unexpected emotions that can strike any of us at any given time.  So, it is fun to look forward to the adventure of getting away and seeing as much of Europe as we can in the two short years we are here.

When we first got to Belgium I was tongue tied.  I heard that people speak German, French, and Dutch in all different areas of Belgium.  I found myself combining German and French.  I laughed after I heard myself say to someone, "Excusez-moi, bitte".  Which means "excuse me, please" in French and German.  Oops!  After a while I realized most everyone spoke English.

Brugge
We started off the day with a River cruise

What a great spot for a nap!

We also took a walk through the city and peaked inside a few churches.  As we wandered through the first church we noticed a small group of people waiting in line for something that was guarded by religious officials.  We went up to take a look and found out it was a vial said to contain a few drops of blood and water washed from the body of Christ by Joseph of Arimathea.  I read some tourist info that said this was held in a different church across town.  So we asked someone why it was here.  It just so happens that there was an Ascension Day parade in Brugge that day for the very purpose of carrying the Holy Blood from this church to its home church.  In the picture below is the vial on the table.

We also stopped in this church to light a candle in honor of Mark's mother!

It was so much fun stumbling upon this amazing parade.  This parade displayed all the familiar stories in the Bible and the life of Christ.  It also showed the legendary story of how the Holy Blood came to Brugge.  Who knows if this is truly the blood off the body of Jesus, but it sure was fun to witness, wonder, and appreciate this tradition in Brugge.

If you want to examine this legend further, feel free to visit:
http://www.in-bruges.co.uk/procession-of-the-holy-blood-in-bruges/procession-of-the-holy-blood-in-bruges.html
or
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/belgium/bruges-basilica-of-holy-blood



Brussels
Brugge and Ghent reminded us of the Netherlands because of the canals and small towns, but Brussels reminded us of Paris with the French restaurants, the huge city, and the architecture.

Mannekin Pis

Popular statue of a boy relieving himself!  Its claim to fame was founded in the 12th century when the son of a duke was caught urinating against a tree in the midst of battle and was a symbol of military courage.  Kind of strange how much attention this landmark gets! 

 Grand Place

Atomium

Ghent

We stayed at a lovely hotel in this town which happened to have a nice outdoor heated pool.  Ghent is located halfway between Brussels and Brugge.  The weather wasn't to warm for swimming, but the kids went swimming regardless.

Ghent was much like Brugge with a Bell tower, canals, churches, and beautiful old buildings.

 Below is the view from the Castle of the Counts from the 12th century...

 Another cool view from the Bell tower looking at a church...

We indulged in Belgium chocolate and (many) waffles!  

There were many lace stores.  This was a beautiful store window display.

Ghent at night.