Belgium 2018 Part 1

Our trip to Belgium was sectioned off into three different parts. We stayed in three different regions of Belgium in different lodging. The trip was extremely go go go but I left feeling like I had really seen a lot of the country. My sweet friend who grew up in the country helped me plan the trip which was so helpful because without it I would have been very lost in where to start. In this Part 1 I will share what we did in; Mechelen, Brussels & Antwerp.

Mechelen

 When we arrived in Mechelen we were exhausted. It was my first time really experiencing extreme jet lag and it was ROUGH! Their Saturday market was in full swing when we pulled up and we walked around for a bit. Wow; the chocolates, cheeses, olives bread, produce, crafts, and art. Farmer’s Markets are one of my favorite things and I have been to many around the country. But European ones are a whole new ball game and I hope I get to go to many more. It was wonderful to walk around a city that my friend had told me so many stories of, that was what I will remember always of Mechelen, just walking around for hours. One night at dusk we went on a walk along a canal and I saw some couples dancing in the distance. Couples from all over the city came to the town square to dance the tango together. We grabbed some gelato and just watched them. I love moments where you feel like you will never forget the magic of them. This was one of them, even more so because of delicious gelato.

 

Another thing I tried to do in this city was find the church that my friend was baptized in and her mother’s funeral was held in. Unfortunately it was under construction but I sent her pictures of what I could find.

Brussels 

Mechlen is very close to Brussels so we headed over for a day where I put together a chocolate tour for us to go on. At each chocolate chop the girls were allowed to buy one chocolate from the case and we did this at 8-9 spots. The Mary and then Elisabeth chocolate shops won unanimously. Waffles and Frites were eaten for a second day in a row. We embarrassingly looked for the Carpet of Flowers for much too long until someone told us we were a full month early and they weren’t even set up yet. Took a long tour in air conditioning through the Palace of Brussels. During the tour there was such a huge sister fight in the bathroom over doors that I hid in a corner of the palace and cried loudly. TRAVELING ALWAYS GO SO WELL AS A FAMILY!! Wandered through parks and found motherhood statues, which I always like to sit and look at. Even if I want my kids to not be on vacation with me anymore, haha.

Smurf, Elephant, and Manneken Pis was found as well.

I could just tour cathedrals, churches, and graveyards during trips abroad. However my family cannot do that so I felt lucky to choose one that ended up being the most beautiful of the whole trip. I feel very calm in old church buildings, you can feel the reverence for what Christ did for us very strong. The beautiful art and stained glass windows honoring him, God, Mary, and Joseph means a lot to me.

Antwerp

Antwerp to me was the most visually stunning of these three cities; we took the train in and found the Antwerp train station to be really incredible. I’ve always wanted to ride a train in Europe so I knocked off a big bucket list item. Antwerp was a wonderful place to window shop and also listen to street performers. So many talented string instruments to sit and listen to. We did a few more chocolate chops and at once I got my head ripped off for touching and trying to buy a chocolate that was not to be touched! Gah, I hate when I embarrass myself when I am traveling. I embarrassed myself four times badly on this trip. This was one of them, I will have to make sure I put the others into this post. We also walked around Het Steen castle and ate of course….more waffles and frites.

The living arrangements and car arrangements were so tiny! Everything is tiny, I felt like an annoying American for sure the entire time. So far Brussels is in the lead for their chocolate, Antwerp for it’s train station & Mechelen for it’s atmosphere. However they didn’t end up being our favorites in the very end.

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