Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
Chris’ dad sent him some family history recently (thanks!). We were surprised and delighted to learn one of Chris’ ancestors was born here in Belgium! The town of Toernich is about a dozen kilometers from the border with Luxembourg, so we stopped to see if we could find any ancestral traces. We poked our heads…
Orval Abbey is home to one of Belgium’s famous Trappists beers made by monks. It’s over two hours from Brussels, but only slightly out of our way home from Luxembourg! It is similar to the ruins of Viller’s Abbey, except the monastery was partially rebuilt and is currently active. The Mathilde Fountain, a circular pool…
It’s Memorial Day weekend so we visited the American cemetery in Luxembourg. We don’t always visit military cemeteries on Memorial Day, but we often do—a couple years ago we visited Punchbowl in Honolulu; another year we visited the military cemetery on NAS Pensacola. Chris was particularly moved to see the gravesite of General Patton, who…
This day was not like the others. From the beginning, it was different. I woke up super tired because (HOORAY!) I received my second COVID vaccine 24 hours prior. I felt bleck for a few hours about 12 hours after getting it but better and better after the 24-hr point. My friend Jenn picked me…
Everyone says if you wait for the weather to be nice before you do anything in Belgium, you’ll be waiting forever. This is true. Some of the most atmospheric, cozy travel days are terrible weather days. At the same time though, I got to a point where I was unwilling to put effort into day…
After five thousand years of winter, everything bloomed. Suddenly and everywhere. A month ago things started to bloom but then we had a week of snow flurries. Hopefully this time springtime sticks around! We walked over to check out the tiny S-shaped tree path near the metro and before I knew it, Isaac was up…
Floralia Brussels was cancelled last year, so I bought tickets for the very first weekend it was open this spring. Then the kids and I got quarantined, so we couldn’t go. Our first weekend out of quarantine promised a full day of rain–should we still go? We did! Put on your rain gear, kids–we trained…
