The big tree in the square - along with a life sized nativity with real sheep.
And skating replaced the carousel of the German market. I may have to find time to bring the kids back ... Or definitely a stop for next year!
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Christmas Market at the Grand Place
Today my friend and I ventured down to the Christmas Market at the Grand Place. It was more spread out than Trier and not as magical but was still fun.
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Christmas in Germany
Seeing these Two thousand year old Roman ruins, the home of Karl Marx and a church built under Constantine and seat western Roman Empire was beyond words.
After the sun went down the magic of the Christmas market emerged. Walking around drinking mulled wine and shopping the stalls was fun and magical. A fairy world set amongst ancient churches in the original Roman square.
Some reviews:
Emily: the merry-go-rounds were fun!
Sam: we went to a little train tour and I got a Dusty balloon.
Calvin: I think the Black Gate was cool because was a Roman gate to the city. I also think the nutcracker was cool because it was a new experience and maybe a one-in-lifetime seeing.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Gastrotram
For Peter's birthday we went on the gastrotram - a tram converted into a restaurant with guest chefs preparing the menu. 
Peter: what a fabulous experience. The team sparkled like the fashion district through which it drove. While it was a bit lurchy, eating was easier than serving!
Cougnou
This is traditional Belgian Christmas bread, or "Jesus bread". 
Calvin: it was very delicious
Emily: it was delicious and chocolatey
Sam: it was very delicious, and chocolatey and yummy.
Monday, 23 November 2015
Brussels lockdown
I wasn't going to write a post about this. But it is part of our "adventure" here so I decided I would.
As most of you know that Friday night Brussels went into a lockdown: metro closed, sports events cancelled, major shopping areas closed. This lock down continues and the city is still in the middle of some major operations. But what I am going to write about is our experience.
First, our neighbourhood is quite removed from the "action". We heed the same advice as everyone else and stay in or close to home. The possibilities and unknowns weigh on our minds. But aside from that little has changed. There is a guard at the park and some, but not all, stores are closed. It's been a good time to get to know neighbours better! And we hope that this is all we experience.
One observation I want to share is the mood of the city, from what I can see. A friend shared the twitter handle #Brusselslockdown and its worth searching. Apparently some people, as people do these days, were live tweeting the police operations. In response to the police asking people to not do this and to protect the police by diluting the hashtag stream, Belgian began flooding the hashtag with cat memes. It was a brilliant move to neutralize the possible threat the live tweeting presented, but also lightened the mood a bit, built solidarity and showed that while concerned and serious, the city would not overreact to the fear and anxiety.
As most of you know that Friday night Brussels went into a lockdown: metro closed, sports events cancelled, major shopping areas closed. This lock down continues and the city is still in the middle of some major operations. But what I am going to write about is our experience.
First, our neighbourhood is quite removed from the "action". We heed the same advice as everyone else and stay in or close to home. The possibilities and unknowns weigh on our minds. But aside from that little has changed. There is a guard at the park and some, but not all, stores are closed. It's been a good time to get to know neighbours better! And we hope that this is all we experience.
One observation I want to share is the mood of the city, from what I can see. A friend shared the twitter handle #Brusselslockdown and its worth searching. Apparently some people, as people do these days, were live tweeting the police operations. In response to the police asking people to not do this and to protect the police by diluting the hashtag stream, Belgian began flooding the hashtag with cat memes. It was a brilliant move to neutralize the possible threat the live tweeting presented, but also lightened the mood a bit, built solidarity and showed that while concerned and serious, the city would not overreact to the fear and anxiety.