Belgium Vacation - Everything Else

OK, so this post is going to be about everything else we did in Belgium lest our readers think we are total lushes that sit around and drink beer all day. Our trip began when we landed in Brussels and then made the drive to Bruges. We spent our first night in the city and spent most of our time here exploring the medieval city, wandering the streets and the Christmas market.

On the streets of Bruges

On the second day we headed south to the town of Dinant in the Ardenne region. We got in around dinner time, so we pretty much just wandered around a bit and then got dinner.

The road leading into Dinant

Dinant by day

Dinant by night

The third day we spent exploring the area around Dinant. We first went to the Maredsous Abbye, which has a large playground for children, so that we could let Eli play for awhile. Later we headed to the nearby town of Rochefort where we walked around the Christmas market and then went to a few chocolate shops to buy truffles.

Maredsous Abbye

On our fourth day we checked out of our hotel in Dinant and headed to the citadel overlooking the city. We never actually made it inside though because Eli just wanted to run back and forth across the bridge to the entrance.

Eli at the citadel

 After letting him wear himself out for a bit, we got back in the car and started to head for the town of Tourpes. However, as we were leaving the citadel parking lot we saw a sign for an ostrich farm and decided to go check it out. After driving a few kilometers we came upon this sight in a field on the side of the road:

The ostrich were extremely curious and came right up to the fence to check us out. Eli absolutely loved it. Once we had our fill, we continued on to Tourpes for a brewery tour and then headed on to Brussels.  Our hotel in Brussels was only a block off of the Grand Place, so once we checked in we headed off to explore the Grand Place area. We ended up catching a Christmas music/light show in which lights are projected onto the buildings around the Grand Place set to classical music. Eli really enjoyed it. We then wandered around a Christmas market for few minutes before heading back to the hotel.

The following day we went out to breakfast at a place that my Belgian co-worker had recommended. It happened to be in an area with a lot of chocolatiers, so after breakfast we visited several before settling on buying chocolates from Pierre Marcolini. Yummy! We then pretty much did all of the touristy things there are to do in Brussels. We ate some waffles on the street, visited Manekin Pis, and then took Eli to the park in front of the royal palace so he could play for awhile. When heading out to dinner that evening, we again caught the music/light show at the Grand Place.

 At the Grand Place

Eli playing in the mud at the Royal Palace park

On our final day in Brussels we pretty much only had time for our visit to Cantillion. However, we did walk by the Manekin Pis again, which happened to be on (it was turned off on our previous visit). This delighted Eli. He kept saying "Pee pee big splash" and laughing. We had a really hard time getting him to leave.

Eli visiting Manekin Pis

So, in sum we had a fabulous time, and not all of it involved beer, although a lot of it did involve Christmas markets :)