Belgium Holland Trip - Day 2

Day 2 of the trip started with a later morning than day 1, since we didn't have to get off a plane at 7am. We met up with Doug late morning and decided to explore the a newer part of Brussels, the east side where the European Union is. This part of the city is slightly higher in elevation than the older part where we spent the first day. To us it seemed like two completely different places. There were people around in the older part of the city but not anything like the bustle that was happening around the E.U.

From B&H 2009 Day 2

We saw lots of other amazing sites like this Audi, Church, and Royal Palace, on our way back to the our hotel.

While Melissa stayed at the hotel to get some much needed rest for her and the growing baby, Doug and I did some more exploring. We tried to rent bikes to head back up towards the E.U. and check out the Museum complex. Since we were not able to get bikes at the street kiosks, we hopped aboard the the subway (we think legally, since there was nothing to stop you from just walking right on without paying) and got the the Museums at 5:01. They closed at 5. We were trying to go check out the Autoworld museum. We were able to take some pictures of the amazing architecture at the Museum Park though.

From B&H 2009 Day 2

After returning to our hotel again, I did some scouting for a dinner location. We had found an really nice small and quiet French restaurant when we were in Brussels in 2007. I knew that we would be staying close by, but I did not know exactly where it was. I have a really good sense of direction and almost always can get back somewhere that I have been to once before. I quickly found a building I remembered was close by to the restaurant. I turned around to get Melissa and Doug and we all enjoyed a great dinner and end to day 2 of our trip. You can see more photos from day 2 here.Also you can check out the map view which shows the location each photo was taken.

OOps!

I guess I was supposed to make some entries about our trip to Belgium and Holland last month. Sorry. I guess that is what happens when I am busy planning for the arrival of our baby in May and planning an addition and remodel of half our house.

I guess I was also supposed to post updates about rebuilding the wall under our deck that was all rotted out too. I guess I don't really have an excuse about that one except that I still am not quite finished with the project yet. I will save that for after I get info up about our trip even though that is kind of in reverse order.

Melissa and Dan's trip to Belgium and Holland, Jan 28 - Feb 4, 2009

I promise that I will try to keep these post "light" on all things bicycles, but will try to put some bicycle "heavy" posts up at the teamWLB Blog.

Day -1 and 1

The air flights (from Hartford to Washington Dulles to Brussels) were very uneventful. Melissa got in a few hour long naps and got up and moved around on a regular basis as instructed by the OB. Dan took some Tylenol PM's to try to get some sleep. The first two didn't do to much. The second two brought a period of an hour or so of feelings of borderline claustrophobia and needing to do jumping-jacks at the back of the plane. After another hour of repeatedly feeling like I was going to fall asleep only to jerk myself wake, I finally dozed off for I think an hour. By that time we only had an hour left in the flight and were starting our descent.

Once our plane landed we were quickly (no checked baggage to pick up) aboard the train to Brussels. After finding the lockers to stash our bags for the day we headed out to stroll the streets of Brussels. We soon found the Grote Markt. We then met up with our friend Doug at the Manneken-Pis. Doug is from Easthampton and was here for Cyclocross World Championships too, and had been over to Berlin a few days earlier to watch part of the 6 day track race there. After lunch we napped at the hotel for a few hours and then met up with Doug again at night. After dinner we walked around some more taking in the beauty of the buildings and the city at night.

We didn't do a whole lot that first day as we were both rather wiped from the traveling and the time change. It was great to do a bit of strolling around the city, get a feeling of what the city was like and to get our bearings. It is relatively easy city of navigate and has a extensive public transit system, not to mention all the people that were traveling by bicycle. It was a great first day to the trip and we wanted to make sure not to over do it so that we would have plenty of energy for the rest of the trip. Here are some more photos from Day 1 of the trip, including a map of where the photos were taken. Day 2 to come soon.