Mini Europe

Today we went back to Brussels to visit the area around the Atomium. There they have an Imax theater, some shops and restaurants, and of course the attraction that we went to see, MiniEurope. It is a fairly large park like area with scale models of major European cities. The park has a few buildings from each country that is a member of the European Union, as well as a few other random models. So, they of course had the Eiffel Tower (about 20 feet tall), Big Ben, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but also there is the main EU headquarters here in Brussels, and Mount Vesuvius complete with smoke, sound effect, and shaking ground to simulate an eruption. The whole area had little rivers and lakes, complete with little moving boats and giant Koi that made the models look tiny. It was fun to see the building that we have already seen, as well as get some ideas for travel while we're out here.

In other news, we took Bailey to the vet this week to make sure everything is in line for her registration here in Belgium. Apparently she gets a little "passport" too, with vaccination reports instead of visas. The vet is a very nice younger lady who an American friend out here recommended. Her English isn't perfect, but we were able to communicate pretty well. She converted her garage into a vet office, and she boards dogs and cats in her house as well for only 17 Euro / day....much cheaper than back home. We've found several boarding places, but this is the only cage - free way we could find so far.

Due to the Easter holiday, I have this Friday and next Monday off work, so we decided to do a more major trip next weekend. Our first choice was Rome, but we forgot about the draw of the Vatican on Easter, so prices were just too high. After some more research, we decided to go to Amsterdam. It's only a two and a half hour drive, so we don't have to pay for a flight. The hotels there are outrageously expensive, but at least the transportation is cheap. The hotel we found is right on the water and in the heart of the city, so it should be fun.