An Excellent Day in Antwerp

Charlie's hoping one day soon he'll have a real dog to recreate this statue with!

We had a free Saturday before the rush of school and hopped on a train bound for Antwerp.  Armed with our Rick Steve's book that gave a suggested walking route and Charlie with his scooter we set off.

We first found the amazing train station that was where the Sound of Music flashmob was filmed...
here is a link to it if you haven't seen it...was done in 2009!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

What a beautiful place!

Charlie found this chocolate fountain fruit stop!

The clock inside...

I wanted them to dance but they wouldn't!

Ferris Wheel outside the train station..

Street musicians all along our walk, playing cool instruments.

We stopped in the Chocolate Line to see the kitchen of course!  (and have a little taste)

They thought of Colin Leary with this chocolate statue!

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The chocolate shop was in a former palace that Napoleon had owned at one time, so here is he is made of chocolate!


We find a cool spinny chair for Charlie to check out.



Spinny chairs work for Charlie, Beer Festivals work for Greg...we happened to stroll through one that went for several blocks...so of course we joined in the fun!  


We even saw this thing go by, a pedal yourself party bus...there is a big table in the center to hold your beer!  I look forward to trying this another day!


The girls doing one of their famous instagram photo shoots...they do this everywhere we go...gotta have some pictures!


Cool goddess on top of a building..right out of a Percy Jackson book!

City Hall and the statue from Flemish folklore of a Roman Soldier who cuts off the giants hand and is about to throw it back in the river.

A cool statue on a building, photographed by Kelly. She brought her good camera on the trip and most of the photos in this post are hers.  We are a good team, she likes to take the pictures and I write about them!

We headed home on the train, tired but happy to have had such a fun day exploring...

I almost forgot...a new blog I could write would be women in uncomfortable shoes...I continue to be amazed at what I see ladies wearing, especially to walk on such uneven ground...see below!

 Glad she gets to step over the hoses too, the cobblestone isn't enough of a challenge!

Awesome Atomium & A Visit to the Royal Palace

What the heck is the Atomium?  We had read about it and seen it from the top of a tall building.  Our friends from Germany came to visit and we explored some of the sights of Brussels together.

This is the overall Atomium as you approach!

Rather than try to sum it up..here is what the placard inside describes it as.

Charlie going up one of the inside tubes... One of them had cool lights on the way down, but my picture didn't come out.

Phillip & Kelly holding up the top ball...

Charlie holding it up.  His vest is what kids on bikes wear everywhere here..it happens to match his bike helmet we bought this summer!  He rides his bike EVERYWHERE and he is in heaven!

Lila holding it up...

Helen pinching the top.  It really lends itself to some fun photos!!

We also took the opportunity to visit the Royal Palace.  Belgium has a royal family and every summer while the family is on vacation somewhere amazing, they open the palace for visitors.

Here is our crew outside the palace.

The royal family has 4 children, the oldest is a few months younger than Kelly and the youngest just a little older than Charlie...here they are...  

One of the chocolate shops near the main square has their annual photos displayed through the years, it was fun to check out all the pictures!  

Our German friends even brought us a Raclette machine, we promise to make it for all of our visitors...it is like a little individual omlettes that everyone sits around and makes.  We had it one night while they visited, I just forgot to take photos!  

It was fun to have friends to explore our new city with!

Moving in.. Belgian Style

Moving day came and we were delighted to see our stuff again! Belgian style is they block off the parking areas in front of your house and they bring an outside elevator lift.

 Here is the elevator..they pop open the windows on the other floors and bring things in that way-no navigating the twisty, tricky stairs!

 For some of you that we visited over the summer we told the story of Elaine's giant kitchen island that we purchased in Africa, and how we planned to cut off the granite top so that it could come through the doorway..well.. our brilliant mover had a better idea!

Empty kitchen..ready for an island...

They got it in through the window!! 4 guys...

 If you look closely in the picture, you can see the guy who went UNDER the island and used his back to support it while they got it in and flipped it!  Crazy..but he pretty much was the hero of the move!

Kitchen with the island, ready for some fabulous baking & dinner parties!

Charlie is happy to have all of his bikes & scooters.  He has adjusted to city living, he was telling his sisters about all the cars he will buy when he is a grown up, and they said where would you park them all, his reply was, "In my garage across the street"...which is our setup here-we have one garage attached to the house and another one across the street!

We look forward to some visitors...our Coast Guard buddies come tomorrow and our German friends arrive on Monday...

Arrival, happy family!

We landed in Brussels and were very happy to see Greg, all smiles from all of us!  He took us back to see the temp house, quite a place, so big it has its own guesthouse.   Lucky for us our real house is around the corner and some cleaners were working inside and they let us in to have a peek.

Kids in front of our new place!

The exciting news (for me) is the house has a grape vine in the backyard, hopefully the kids and I will be making jam again in late August!

 Do you like the knock-off McDonald's chain in the background?  

We found Katie a giant chocolate elephant!

We climbed to the top of the 50th Anniversary of Belgium arch which was built by King Leopold.  Great views of the city from the top!

The arch is right next to the Belgian Military Museum (so Dad you will have to come visit) 

The first tank from WWI.

The Red Baron's plane!

 We did learn that the August weeks of Europe really are when people take vacation- even the restaurant owners.  Our first night we walked forever to find a place that was open for dinner, finally we found a deli that was about to close!

Awesome American Summer!

WWII day with Nana & Papa O'Brien at the Wolfeboro WWII Museum

We have had a great time seeing so our family and friends!  Thanks to everyone who has let us crash in a guest room or a couch and for all the great meals and conversations.  We are also so happy so many of you have made the trek up to our little slice of heaven to spend some time with us.  We feel connected again and refreshed for our next adventure.

Charlie has loved living in New Hampshire and hopping on his bike and riding down to his friends houses or to the corner store or to the pizza and pinball place.  He keeps asking why we can't just stay here!

Bike parade on the 4th!

Cousins

Ol

Jay & Charlie

What you do when you don't have a TV!  Laugh circle!

Ice cream in Wolfeboro

Saying farewell to Chloe!

Many of my loyal readers have asked if I will keep blogging and the answer is yes!  I tried to decide if I should start a new blog or change the name of this one, if I do either it will make an extra step for my current followers.  So I've decided that I'll just stick with the existing name, and continue to update you on our adventures as we get the chance to travel through Europe the next three years!

Storyland still has charm even for big kids!

Wettest ever on the water ride-bad idea on a cold day!

Even new college grads can ride Charlie's bike!

South African buddies in New Jersey!

Walsh/Hughes reunion (with cameo by Kenny)

We depart this Friday and are eager for a new chapter in our lives.  Greg gives us glowing reports of our new city, we look forward to seeing it all with him very soon.  We hope many of you will save up and find the time to come and visit.  We have six bedrooms so I think we can squeeze you in!

Tradition now...our pre-departure farewell photo with the Leary kids!