To Belgium and beyond!

So we did it. Today we took an epic adventure, and we made it home intact. What is this nonsense you may ask? Well, I will tell you. Coming to Europe my dear husband and I decided that we were going to become bike riders. Not just your every day hop on and stroll through the neighborhood kind of riding, but people who ride their bike to places. Ever so slowly-for me, and not so slowly for my husband- who by the way is very quick on the bike, have been building up our stamina.

Now to put this into perspective, I think my stamina is the one who needed the building. So almost daily, when the weather permits, I've been trailering W. over the local hills. To the base, to a friends house, to the park. Where ever we needed to go, that we could reasonably ride our bike to. J. on the other hand has been steadily riding his bike EVERY day to and from work- about 8km one way since January. So you see, it is now July, and we should be able to do more then a quick outing.

Belgium. This is where I thought it would be fun to go to. To get there, we had to cycle through the outskirts of Germany, and then traverse through Holland over the bridge and through the woods to Belgium. What a cool way to spend the day! Finally looking at the logistics, we figured that we would drive to Belgium- Massik, and then ride home from there. Somehow we'd figure out a way to get the car back. After an hour and a half of riding, we all decided that we were getting pretty hungry, and stopped at the local train station, 10 minutes from our house. It was a great setting to finish our goal. We rode 30km today, and through 3 countries. How many people can say that they did that this weekend?!

Post script: Here's a few pictures from last weekend. W. and I went to the neighbors house to ride their horses. We both loved it. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such great people living by us!

Brussels, Belgium

On Friday the 11th of April, the Archer family decided that we'd had enough of Germany, and that we needed to see the sights in Belgium- that and we were running low on good beer. So we loaded up the Subaru and ventured the short way to heart of the European Union- Brussels.


What a beautiful city! What crazy drivers! Now if you've never driven in a large European city, you're in for a treat when you visit Brussels by car. Not only are the streets incredibly narrow, but there are little to no road markings. It's like running with the lemmings... you're all going somewhere, you have an idea of where, but most likely it's not going to end up the way you thought. Thankfully we have our trusty GPS. Not that she does a lot of good when a double Decker sightseeing bus is double parked in your lane, but she helps.


So we arrive at our hotel in the center of Brussels. A nice place with in walking distance to all the places you'd like to visit or take the tour bus to. We were able to comfortably walk around the city with a toddler and a stroller. http://www.eurostarshotels.com/en/hotels-in-belgium-bruxelles-eurostars-grand-place.html

The first stop on our afternoon walking tour was of the Grand Place. Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful squares in Belgium, I now could see why. The Hôtel de Ville is a now the town hall for the city of Brussels; it is absolutely beautiful, and you can read more about it here: http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-town_hall.htm

The Grand Place was bustling with activity, and a weekly market was just coming to a close. There were all kinds of unusual sights to behold- did you know that the Belgians walk their children on leashes? What a great place!

Over the next few days we gorged ourselves on waffles right off the iron, chocolate goodness on every corner, and the main staple we were here to get: BEER! If you love beer as much as we do, this is the place to be. Every cafe has a different taste, and you will never get tired of trying them all. That is unless your toddler starts wanting to have a beer party instead of a tea party... but I digress.

There is just about everything that you could want to try here. And lots of sights, here are a few that we visited: Palais de Justice, Bourse (Stock Exchange), Market Place, King's House, The Town Hall ( Hôtel de Ville), The Guild houses, The Royal Palace, The Royal residence, The Heysel with the Atomium, the St. Hubert gallery (has fantastic chocolate!), and of course Manneken Pis (adorned in his karate outfit). To read about where we've been, check out this web page: http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-buildingsandmonuments.htm

And now I'll leave you with a few parting shots!