Road Trip to the Continent and A Bit More

A few weekends ago we decided to take a trip down Josh's memory lane and return him home to Belgium. He braved driving the right hand drive car in the left lane world and did wonderfully (except for that one instance, and I forgive him for that... chalk that one up to city driving)

Witch for Halloween

We started out after Halloween driving to Dover for the ferry, easy enough.  Crossed on the ferry and started our continental journey from Calais, France. Made it through France and into Belgium. We stopped at a brewery on the way, but we realized that Nov. 1st was a religious day... most places were ghost towns until we got into the city. However, we did spot this awesome bread vending machine on the side of the road.

Bread Vending Machine

 Once in Brugge, we checked into our hotel and took to the streets. Luckily the rain let up some and we could walk the town with out being drenched. We partook in these marshmallow chocolate cookie things (Josh Name?) to sustain us until dinner. After dinner we saw many interesting sites...

not all family portraits are equal

The next day we headed to the village Josh lived in  and checked out the American School where he spent some of his formative years. Then we were off to his bakery and for a walk in Tervuren.

Chocolate Squirrely

That afternoon we went into historic Brussels in the pouring cold rain to eat a Belgian waffle, find the Mannenken Pis, tour the Grand Platz, dine in the Restaurant 't Kelderke  (a cavern below the Platz) and have a good wander about.

Mannenken Pis

Janica Pis

Saturday morning we awoke for a bit more site seeing. We went looking for the Janica Pis and found her. A coin in the fountain assures you devotion and faithfulness to your partner. Josh and I are now linked for life... forget our wedding vows, where now woven with the magic of a pissing girl statue. That's love.

That afternoon it was time to head back to France to catch our ferry. Along the way we stopped back at the St Sixtus Trappist Monastery Brewery  to visit with some monks and buy a very expensive batch of the "Worlds Best Beer." Josh is a very happy man.

And a Bit More:

This past weekend we Popped into London for the day to the Discover Dogs dog show sponsored by the Kennel Club. We spent nearly 4 hours looking and petting some 200+ breeds of dogs.  Narrowed down the choices a bit seeing them in person. Olive has asked for a soft cuddly one... size is not a problem for her anymore!