Jon had some work in Brussels so the kids and I drove up to meet him for a long weekend. Finding a hotel for all 6 of us is always a challenge, but I found an apartment hotel that would accommodate all of us. The drive into the city was fun.
At times it was a little nerve wracking. There were several places that we had to pull onto the tram tracks. It was starting to get dark, but we were able to get to the hotel without too much trouble.
The next morning we woke up and headed into the city. This detail work on a window was pretty.
This was the view from the street in front of our hotel, hotel Saint Maria.
This is the uncropped view of the last picture. This is more of my impression of Brussels.
We were up early and had the streets to ourselves.
We had a gorgeous day to explore.
There are so many beautiful buildings in Brussels, and they are not as well known as most of the buildings in Paris.
We didn't get into the museums, but we did walk by quite a few.
The Grand Sablons market. All of the items in this market are at least 30 years old. There were quite a few amazing items and a lot of prices to match.
This gorgeous church overlooked the market.
We walked around for a bit and found the Place de Jeu market where I found some great treasures! We then made our way to a cafe for coffee and hot chocolate and then to a great museum for kids. It was one of the old gates to the city that had been restored. The coat check room had these great pieces that the kids could try on.
They had so much fun trying on all of the knight's gear.
The museum had a great duck hunt for the kids and they were so motivated to get through the museum.
This glass floor showed all the way down through several stories. Yikes!
The displays were beautiful and we had the whole place to ourselves.
You can see the little blue duck up in the top left hand side of the picture. The duck foot prints on the ground pointed the kids in the right direction.
The puppets were a hit with everyone.
The Panoramic view area at the top.
This piece in the attic was gorgeous.
The rafters were inspiring as well.
On the way down the boys used the smooth steps and slid their way down.
The statues in the middle of the staircase were so fun.
One more stop to try and on knight's gear.
We walked back by the Place de Jeu for a few more treasures and then back through the city.
I had told Ben that Belgium was famous for waffles, and he really wanted a waffle. Thankfully we found a waffle truck and Ben and Malachi ended up loving Belgian waffles.
I love these pictures of Malachi.
He was so happy to dig in.
Ben enjoyed his waffle with chocolate. Addie enjoyed her waffle too, but didn't stop long enough for me to get a picture. Garrett ended up throwing a monster fit during all of this so I avoided taking pictures of him. It is a good thing Ben and Malachi were cute enough for all of them.
After more walking we were back at the Grand Sablon church. The park across the street was beautiful and there was a great cafe with to go coffee and yummy pastries. Jon and the kids played while I went and grabbed a snack.
Brussels was not my favorite city, but we had a good visit and we had fun together.
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