Wally World

Last weekend we decided to take a break from sightseeing and do something Amercian...go to an amusement park! The place is called Walibi World, and it's about 45 minutes from our house. We weren't really sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. To start, the weather couldn't have been better. It was 26 degrees (that's almost 80 to you American types) and not a cloud in the sky. (On a side note, both Saturday and Sunday were like this...then the clouds came in Sunday night and it hasn't stopped raining or broken 55 degrees since...ahh Belgium)

The park isn't very large, probably half the size of King's Dominion, but it has plenty of stuff to keep you busy for the day. We started off on the wooden roller coaster. They are very proud of this ride and are quick to tell you that it's the only wooden coaster in Belgium. It sounds impressive at first, but I have to wonder how many amusement parks Belgium has...I'm guessing one. The first thing we noticed was that the cars were spacious and had nice padded seats. It was as comfortable as our car! The rides in general aren't quite as impressive as King's Dominion, but a lot of fun just the same. The had a log flume that actually rotated you twice during the ride, so sometimes you were going backwards down the hills. They also had a white water canyon ride (that broke down as we were on it...the water drained out just after we got off), a laser tag type ride, and a huge coaster that was a lot like a ski lift.

The park itself is clean and quite beautiful. There is a nice lake in the middle with rides and attractions surrounding it. Even if it didn't have the rides it would still be a nice place to spend a Sunday afternoon strolling around. Overall, it was just a really pleasant day. We will certainly be returning to Walibi World this summer.

Nice little weekend

Saturday was pretty rainy so we hung out around the house and had a bit of a West Wing marathon. There really is very little on TV here to watch, so the DVD's of TV shows are really fantastic for those times you just want to chill. For a break we drove around Mons a bit to find the car dealers. We're finding that our rental is getting pretty expensive and probably need to think about buying something. We were pretty impressed with some of the used cars and it seemed that the prices at the dealer may be better than the ones being sold on the base. They even include a one year warranty in the cost, which is very comforting over here. We are both nervous about the idea of breaking down so a warranty seems like a big deal. So we'll continue our research and try to make a deal soon.

Sunday was spectacular! Sunny, bright, warm, just a perfect spring day, so we decided to take a day trip to Ghent. Ghent is another major Belgian city about an hour and fifteen minutes from us. Of the cities we've been to so far Ghent has a more medieval feel, large churches and a castle. Because Bailey came with us Keith and I decided to just stroll around the city, but Bailey decided we wanted to be pulled around the city. We weren't really stressed about seeing anything specific, but more just wanted to take in the city. We figure it's the type of place we can head back to on any weekend. Bailey did sit pretty well with us at the cafe where we had lunch, but in general she was clearly overstimulated and was exhausting us so we headed home fairly early. It is certainly a city that we will be revisiting though.

After dropping Bailey off at the house we headed into Mons to hang out in the city for bit, the weather was just too nice to pass up a chance to relax at a cafe. I think we'd both be pretty happy to have a couple hours a weekend at a cafe become a routine.

Beer Glasses

Belgium is well known for its beer, and I now see why. We have been sampling many different types since we've been out here and found almost none that I don't like...and quite a few that are just amazing. The Belgians are clearly very proud of their beer and they take it very seriously. In fact, they take it so seriously that every, and I mean EVERY, beer out here comes in a matching glass. If you order a Mardesous, it comes in a special Mardesous glass. If you order a St. Fuillon, it also has its own glass. Every beer glass type is different, both in shape and decoration, and absolutely no place will serve you a beer in a generic glass. This even holds true for the cafeteria in my office. What I want to know is what happens when too many people in a bar are drinking Mardesous and they run out of those glasses...I truly think that they would make you order a different beer, or wait until someone else was done with their glass. You can purchase many of the glasses in the local Carrefour, so I'm starting to build my collection.

City Walking

Sunday turned out to be a nice sunny day for a change, so we headed into Mons for a walk with Bailey. She hasn't been into the city center at all, so we wanted to practice walking her there before taking her on any of our day trips. Since all the stores are closed on Sundays the crowds were pretty light which gave us an opportunity to get Bailey use to the smells, sights, and having to pee on concrete! Despite Keith and I having been in Mons several times this was the one of the first times the weather was kind enough to let us stroll. It was fun to discover beautiful gardens tucked behind several buildings. The real test with Bailey was as we headed into the Grand Place where all the cafes were coming alive with people out having their lunch time beers and coffees. Surprisingly Bailey didn't try to jump on any body, in fact she was much more interested in the pigeons. We were so excited to see so many people out and the Grand Place so active, it just energized us for spring and summer around here. Keith showed me his favorite pastry shop with the most gorgeous treats, I still don't understand how people here can be so small. We sat outside to have our own beer and coffee :) Bailey was great, she sat with us and only lunged for the pigeons a few times. Overall it gave us a lot more confidence in taking her out with us. It's clear she was over stimulated, so we may need to do a little more practicing before she goes to some of the more touristy places. Overall a great Sunday afternoon.

Friendly Faces

Last week my former coworker was in town (Brussels) with her husband, so on Friday night we drove up there to meet them for dinner. We tried a wonderful little restaurant that her daughter recommended to us. Apparently they are famous for their beer ice cream, which only one of us was brave enough to order. Fortunately, Maureen was willing to share...and not only was it much better than it sounded, it was actually quite good! After dinner, we took a walk through Brussels to make Elizabeth see the Mannekin Pis. Now her life it complete, she's seen the two foot tall peeing statue that Brussels is so famous for. We also walked through the Grand Place at night, which was a first for us. I was so disappointed that none of us had our camera, as the main square is even more beautiful at night. Anyway, we shared stories about life here in Belgium and got some updates from back home. It was truly a wonderful evening, and it was so nice to see some friendly faces from home.

As we spoke, she told me about some of her favorite stories from this blog, and it occurred to me that lately we've only been reporting on our trips. It's probably more interesting to report on what day to day life is like here in Belgium. So, prepare yourselves for more frequent updates, and more stories of things outside of our trips.