"Reading between the Lines" in Borgloon

On our way home from Holland, we took a little detour to take a stop in Borgloon, Belgium to check out "Reading between the Lines" by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.

Rand enjoyed jumping in puddles in the church.

 Here is a pic of the path we took after we parked. You will walk through the apple orchard for quite a bit and then take the road on the right. You will soon see this sign and see the church off to the right. 

The GPS address is:
Grootloonstraat 2, Borgloon, Belgium

When driving on N79 (Sint-Truidersteenweg), turn south on Grootloonstraat. This road will have an option to go right immediately – take this right. Then continue on the road for a few hundred meters and you will have another option to go right. Take that right also. It will feel like you are on a farmer’s service road, but continue up the road and you will see the church on your right-hand side. 

Here is a link to a helpful map. 

Bastogne & the Battle of the Bulge

This past weekend Rob went on a day trip with USO to see Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. They headed out around 7am and came back before 8pm. Even though it was gloomy and raining, he had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures of his trip.

The tour started with a visit to the AmericanCemetery in Luxembourg, where 5,076 US soldiers are interred, including two Medal of Honor recipients, five soldiers from the “Band of Brothers,” and General George S. Patton, whose 3d Army ultimately relieved the besieged “Battered Bastards of Bastogne.” He was also able to visit the German cemetery which was close by. Next, he traveled to the Luxembourg town of Diekirch to visit the National Museum of Military History, home to an outstanding collection of World War II artifacts. After lunch in Clervaux, Luxembourg the tour took him to Bastogne and the Mardasson Memorial.  

Waterloo, Bruges & Ghent

This past weekend we took a trip out to Belgium. I was so excited to finally get out of the house and travel! Rand, not so much. He did well but traveling with a baby is a bit challenging, especially as they get older. I have already learned what to pack and what not to pack for our next trip. I definetly do not need to bring so many toys, lol.

We ended up heading out of the KMC area 2 hours later than what I wanted to. We left a little before 11am and made a gas stop at Spangahlem afb. (gps address is Flugplatz, Spangahlem 54529) Spangahlem is the last place to get esso gas before heading out of Germany to Belgium. On our way to Bruges we stopped at Waterloo to see the battlefield where 350,000 men from 7 nations fought, resulting in Napoleon's greatest defeat. We climbed the Lion's Mound Monument, it was very windy but we ventured up the 226 steps that led to the statue and observation area at the top of the mound. At the foot of the mound is a panorama of the battle that took place in 1815. 

Our next stop was our hotel in Bruges. We stayed at the Ibis Budget Bruges Centrum Station. It had a parking garage right in front that only cost a couple euros for a day. After a good nights rest we walked 15 minutes from our hotel to the city center of Bruges. 

After walking around the city and eating, a lot, we took a boat 

ride to see some more of the sites. 

 Sunday, after lunch, we left Bruges and headed down to Ghent for the night. We stayed at The Ibis Gent Centrum Opera. After we checked in we headed to the historic district which was only a 10 minute walk. As soon as we arrived at the St. Michael's Bridge I was in love with Ghent! The architecture was stunning! Everywhere I looked, I fell in love with a different building. The next morning we took a 50 minute boat ride through the waterways to see more of the city and learn a bit more about the history of Ghent. We also took a tour of the Gravensteen Castle where they had some medieval weapons and torture devices on display. 

view from St. Michael's Bridge

 my baby boy stretching his legs after our boat ride through Ghent

Vaarwe Belgiuml!

Brussels, Belgium

This month we took a trip out to Brussels with some new friends. It was our first European trip and were very thankful to have some veteran travelers with us. The drive was a little under 4 hours from the KMC area. We couldn't of asked for better weather but the city was very packed because a huge beer festival was taking place. I wish we had a bit more time to do more sightseeing but from what I saw I thought Brussels was a very large, dirty city. The food was good, especially the mussels and waffles. 

 I couldn't resist having a Belgium waffle! Don't they look delicious?

 What can you say about a city who's most famous structure is 

a little kid peeing fountain.