Visitors!

I have been anticipating the arrival of my dad and sister since before I left for Brussels. First, I was very excited to see some familiar faces. Second, I always have more fun when either of my sisters are involved. And, lastly, there is that little plastic thing I like to call Dad's credit card. With all of these things involved, I'm not sure how it could have been a bad weekend! I loved every minute of it. Dad and Caroline arrived early on Saturday morning. For those of you who know me well...you know that 7:30 a.m. is a time I rarely see (I don't even wake up for work until 7:50). So, as my family, they knew that it was probably best not to call before 10. I will say, because I'm very impressed with myself, that I had gotten up at 9:15 to shower and clean up for the day. Around 10:15 I headed over to Le Plaza hotel, where they were staying. We caught up and headed to the Central Station, bought tickets to Bruges and took the hour between trains we had to check out the Grand Place (as the picture of me and Dad shows).

Saturday was a perfect time to head to Bruges. The weather was beautiful, it forced Dad and Caroline to stay awake, and it was a fairly relaxing day trip. Upon arrival, I noticed that the town was way more busy than it had been the first time I was there (tourist season is in full swing!). The rivers weren't frozen over, as you can tell from this picture. It was absolutely picturesque. First, we wandered through the front part of town and headed to see Madonna and Child in the Our Lady Cathedral of Bruges. It was my second time seeing the statue, and the first for Dad and Caroline. One small thing we noticed while reading the sign next to the statue was the phrasing used. Clearly, whoever translated the text was a little off on their English. The phrase "one is strack" was used...

After seeing the Michaelangelo, we made our way through the town stopping to take a few pictures (like this one of me and Caroline) as well as looking through some of the junk at the flea market (another tell tale sign that tourist season was on!). First, we climbed the bell tower so that Caroline and Dad could see the images of the city that I had seen before. Unfortunately, Caroline gets a little bit...clasterphobic. 366 small stairs didn't help this case. But she made it all the way up to the top! By the time we had finished this part of the day trip, it was definitely time for some food. We decided on an out door restaurant in the middle of the town square. We sat for about and hour and did some great people watching. It was relaxing and the food hit the spot. Ah, Belgium, if only you were sunny everyday! Following our mid-day break, we decided to head over to the Basillica of the Holy Blood. Legend has it that the vile of blood in this building is the blood of Jesus Christ. We all took our turn in seeing it up close, and resting a hand on it. It was incredibly nerve wracking for me...but it was very, very cool. How many people will be able to say they've seen the blood of Christ, in person?

That evening, we headed back to Brussels so that my visitors could shower before we headed out to dinner and to watch the Rugby 6 Nations finals game. We headed to O'Reilly's pub, an Irish pub just blocks from Le Plaza. Ireland won the game, and it was fun to sit and see the crowd there celebrate. We went out for a bite to eat afterwards, before I headed home to catch some z's.

The next morning, I headed back to their hotel to get some brunch. We decided that Sunday was the day to spend in Brussels. First, we walked over to the town hall, which holds a museum with all of the various outfits of the Mannekin Pis. Just after this, we made our way over to see the statue itself. Dad had wanted to see it because his grandparents had a replica statue of the peeing boy, and so he wanted to see it in person while he was in Brussels.

Just after, we headed towards the metro, hoped on and made our way to Heysel. Ever since my first big trip to the Atomium, I had wanted to go back and actually go inside. It was a...for lack of better word... different experience than I expected. Going to the top was cool, as I could recognize most of the sights we saw. Then, the rest of the balls of the Atomium were filled with different exhibits. The inside reminded me of Space Mountain in Disney World. See for yourself, the tunnels make it look as though you're about to go on a rollercoaster ride... I was able to learn some new things about the Atomium while we were there. Apparently, it was only built to last a year or two, during the World's Fair in Brussels. However, they decided to keep it as a permanent fixture. Caroline and I joked that maybe it wasn't a good idea to go all the way to the top...it's been 51 years since the World's Fair, and we were riding up a structure made to be taken down 49 years ago. I now figure myself to be a regular daredevil. Just kidding...they've reinforced the structure many times and did a lot of work on it between 2003-2005. Thank goodness.

After our exciting morning at the Atomium, we hoped the metro back to the Schuman area (EU center) of Brussels. We went to Momma Roma, my favorite pizzeria in Brussels. It hit the spot, especially cause I didn't have to pay for it this time (thanks, Dad). We then ventured over to the Parc Leopold area, because I've wanted to wander through the park for sometime now, and never had the chance. This gave me the perfect opportunity. It's a beautiful park, and I can definitely see myself returning in the future.

We then made our way to my 'apartment' so I could show them where I lived. Caroline said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, and Dad said, I forget his exact words, but I believe it was something along the lines of 'less institutinal.' I can only imagine they thought I was legitimately living in the slums. I guess I should shout out to you, Mom - don't worry, it isn't as bad as I make it seem. For dinner Sunday night, we headed over to the Grand Place area and went to Aux Armes de Bruxelles for some traditional Belgian food. I had steak, which was absolutely glorious. I'll have you know, you can't make steak on a hot plate, and I can't remember the last time I'd had one. It most definitely hit the spot.

After dinner, the three of us went to Place de Luxembourg, a trendy area near European Parliament. In this square, there is a bar called Fat Boy's. It's one of the only bars here that shows sporting events from America, and for those of you with any relation to college basketball might have heard of this thing called "March Madness." Apparently, my departure from MU made the Tiger basketball team decide they wanted to be good this year. Well, last Sunday night, they played Marquette and WON! M-I-Z, baby! We made it to the Sweet Sixteen! It was so incredibly cool to be watching the Tigers play in the States while I sat at a pub in Brussels, Belgium. I do think, however, we were the only 3 people there paying attention to the Mizzou game (MSU and USC were playing at the same time). The game ended at about 12:30 Brussels time, and after a long day of touring, I was ready for bed. I can only imagine how Dad and Caroilne felt...

Monday we headed to Gent. Luckily for me, I don't have to go into the office on Mondays, so I could spend the entire day with my visitors! We hoped on a train, headed into the town center, and went into the old church there. The town itself has an almost mideval look to it. It was prettier than I expected it to be. I was impressed. The only way it could have improved was if it wasn't raining (but, again, this is Belgium).


We took the elevator up the Belfry tower to look at the views of the city. It was so pretty, and reminded me a little bit of Amsterdam in combination with couple of the Austrian and German cities I visited this past summer.

After grabbing lunch, we walked around a little bit more, then headed back to Brussels. My friend Lindsay had her family in town this week, and on Monday night, they hosted all of us Mizzou kids and our families (Marissa has her brother in town, too). They rented a flat for the 10 days they're in Brussels and had enough space to make dinner for all of us. It was a perfect last night for Caroline and Dad, in my opinion. They got to meet a lot of my friends and just have a normal night in Brussels. I loved it.

Unfortunately, after this, I had to take the metro home, so I said good bye to Dad and Caroline. They're in Berlin now, and I'm insanely jealuos (I'm sitting at my desk at work). However, tomorrow morning, I hop on the Eurostar and head to London! Life couldn't get better...