April 5, 2010

Visitors

A good idea, so this one's for you:

We've had some friends come and visit us in Belgium. Although they did not stay very long in Belgium, it's been wonderful to see familiar faces and meet some new ones too.

Last month, my friend Taylor came to see me. This was the day Jon was in the hospital, so I could only meet her for dinner.
We ate delicious Flemish food at Belga Queen,

and took pictures with Flat Stanley at Churchill's.

Taylor's visit was short, but sweet. Just like Taylor!

Last week, two of Jon's friends came from California, via Paris and Brugge to visit. It was fun to play tour guide and show them our favorite sights. 

First Stop:  
Grand Place
It's a lovely place.
One of the most beautiful squares in Europe.
I always discover something new...


Second stop:
Manneken Pis
Still doing his thing...

Third stop:
Our guests were adamant on having moules frittes and rightly so. They selected Chez Léon, just off the Grand Place, to eat and we were not disappointed!
I will definitely go back and also invite you to check out their website for fun Belgian facts and recipes!

Fourth stop:
St. Michael's Cathedral, but first check out these ox or bull statues in the front.

They are covered with graffiti, but something tells me the work below is not of the adult nature...

St. Michael's Cathedral looks a bit like a mini Notre Dame to me...

This is the cathedral where Belgian princes marry their princesses. 

It was lovely time to walk around.

Very quiet.

I have a habit of lighting candles when I enter sacred places like St. Michael's.
This one is for my nephew... Michael.

Fifth stop:
Belgium's beloved Tin Tin.

Here he is again on a child's T shirt. 
I had snapped this pic earlier in the day.

My favorite piece in the museum:
An ancient writing and picture of the earliest Smurf known to man.

Just kidding. 

The museum is housed in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta. This is a picture I took of the interior, notice the red rocket on the right. It was Tin Tin's.

On the stairs, a little detail you could just step over if you didn't know it was there...

Detail:

And now for some of Jon's awesome photos... He is so good at this...

This one is my favorite.
Jon pointed out that parts of the floors were made of glass. 

The glass tiles are the light blue ones below...

Sixth, seventh or eighth stop:

I lost count, but here we are by the Royal Library, a beautiful place to walk through...


A close-up of the statue in the center.

Our day didn't end there, but this is the end of postable photos. Don't worry, I will definitely be going back to Brussels. I went ahead and started a Google map of all of the places we would go if you were here. That would be fun, wouldn't it?


View My Brussels in a larger map.

Wish you were here!
xoxo

1 comment:

steph said...

Do the Cali visitors mean you are with computer, at last?!