Christmas kick off

This weekend marked the beginning of the Christmas season with the opening of the Christmas market in the Grand Place. In fact most Christmas markets across Europe opened this weekend.

We took the kids and some friends down to see the tree and have a hot chocolate. 

A really big tree and so many choices for hot chocolate! 

Bring on Christmas! 

Nations united

One weekend every year, all NATO nations and partner nations pull together to put on a bazaar. Nations sell goods from their homelands and serve food (and drink!) in their national cuisine. 

Being on the board this year gave me a behind the scenes experience (and access to pre-sales) 

It’s a favourite time of year and kicks off holiday season. More than shopping, it’s the ultimate cultural experience. 

We will remember them

This past month had been very busy. All of the regular school activities filled the schedule leading up to a special visit from grandpa. 

Today marked Remembrance Day (Armistice Day here). We attended a ceremony at Brussels cemetery, one of the many commonwealth war cemeteries nearby. 

In the weeks leading up to today we were privileged to visit two very important sites for the Canadian war effort. 

Essex Farm Cemetery is the place where John McCrae wrote the famous poem “In Flanders’ Fields”. There, Emily collected wild flowers to lay on the memorial while Calvin walked the rows of grave markers. This cemetery is the resting place of the youngest soldier killed in the war. 

And we also made the trip to the Vimy memorial. A stunning monument to the Canadian effort in the Great War. Solemn and noble. The preserved battlefield and underground tunnels spoke of the drawn out battle. No man’s land showed how close the two lines were. Today the fields are tended by sheep, so as not to explode any remaining munitions.