Passing the week in Brussels

Andy and Elisa were with us for nearly 10 days, so they had plenty of time to get a taste of our everyday life in Brussels including our school schedule, grocery store runs (very frequent due to our tiny fridge) and all the other activities that come along with a family of five.

Jason was able to take Monday and Tuesday off from work, so we enjoyed time together doing local trips.  On Monday, the four of us headed to a Neuhaus Chocolate Outlet!  I think it is one of the best kept secrets in Belgium as I know many people who have lived here 5 or 10 years and don't know about it.  My good friend, Michelle, took me there around Christmas for the first time, and let me tell you, it is AMAZING!  It is a little shop, but everything in the store is open for sampling and the employees seriously do not care if you come and eat 100 chocolates! 

Here we are on part of our taste-test binge.  Notice the sign above the cardboard boxes behind Jason and Elisa - for us chocolate lovers it is the "luckiest corner" that I know of!

We all tasted and sampled for at least 30 minutes and finally decided on a few items to purchase. 

Thankfully, the Neuhaus outlet is located on the opposite side of Brussels, so I cannot go very often!  That would quickly turn into a very dangerous habit.

 After the chocolate feast, we headed to pick up the children from school.  First, we stopped by the restrooms at the outlet and caught site of this interesting sign.  Can you guess what it is?

It is the signs for the mens and womens bathroom at the store.  Isn't that clever?!?

On Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early to take the children to school, then the four adults headed to Vilvoorde, Belgium. While it may not be a top site in most Belgian tour guides, the city has great historical significance in church history. It was in the town of Vilvoorde, just 15 minutes outside of Brussels, in 1536 that William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake for heresy. Tyndale was the first person to translate the Bible into English directly from the Hebrew and Greek texts. He was instrumental in spreading the Reformation across Europe. It is said that ~80% of the King James Version translation of the Bible comes from Tyndale's work.

We were hoping to visit a small Tyndale museum, but alas, it was temporarily closed. We were able to visit the monument pictured above that commemorates Tyndale's ultimate sacrifice for his faith.

On Tuesday morning, Jason and Andy surprised the ladies with a special plan for the day. They suggested that after the morning trip to Vilvoorde Elisa and I could head downtown for some shopping and the guys would take care of picking up the kids from school and entertaining them for the afternoon. They didn't have to tell us twice!! What a special pair of husbands.

This is a photo of one of the main shopping streets in Brussels. 

I have never been shopping downtown so this was a real treat.  We shopped for a couple of hours, grabbed a delicious chocolate stuffed waffle and headed back to the house.  However, as we boarded the metro I realized I did not have a key to get in the house so we made a quick route change and headed to a cafe to enjoy a leisurely afternoon and great conversation. 

While Elisa and I shopped 'til we dropped, the boys collected the kids from school and headed to summit the grand Butte de Lion.  The Butte is the monument built to commemorate Napolean's defeat in Waterloo.  This is something the children had begged to do since our arrival and kept telling them to wait until the Winns arrived.

The coach bus at the bottom of the picture gives you a little perspective of how tall this monument is. 

And here is a view while climbing up the steps.  Poor Jason had to carry Drew up the 200+ steps!  It was REALLY steep.

And here they are, finally at the top on a beautiful day!

Wednesday and Thursday Jason had to work so we planned some low key activities to occupy our days and allow Andy and Elisa to see a little more of the everyday life around our house.

After taking Jenna and Ethan to school, Elisa, Drew and I headed to Colruyt, which is the grocery store where I do most of my shopping. It is quite different than most American grocery stores so it was fun to let Elisa see my weekly shopping trip.

Wednesday afternoon and evening we had plans for two family friends to come over and enjoy a light dinner. Both families are in a similar line of work to Andy and Elisa and we thought it would be encouraging for them to get together for a meal.

Everyone brought a few things to share, so it wasn’t too much prep work and we enjoyed several hours of great conversation and sharing our experiences adjusting to life overseas.

Andy took several years of French in high school and college, so I was excited for him to meet my weekly French tutor, Colette.  She was able to join us for a few minutes on Wednesday evenings as well.  She is so dear to our family, so patient with me and my slow progress in French, and adores our children.  She is a true blessing sent to us to help our transition to Brussels and brighten our days here.

On Thursday morning, Elisa and I attended my weekly Thursday morning womens Bible study at our church.  I enjoyed introducing her to many of the women who have helped me get settled and feel welcome in Brussels. 

The rest of Thursday was full with school pick-up, packing for our upcoming weekend in Ireland and wrestling time with Mr. Andy - as the kids like to call him.  Andy was so kind to entertain the children after school while Elisa and I worked around the house a bit. 

After an early bedtime for the kids, we ordered Durums for the adults.  These are mediteranean style wraps with shredded meat (don't ask me what kind), lettuce and other veggie toppings, and - in true Belgian style - finished off with a handful of french fries all wrapped together in a trotilla type shell.  They are very inexpensive and extermely filling, so a perfect last meal on our busy night preparing for Ireland.

After dinner, Elisa and I proposed a taste test for the men in the family.  Because, you see, both our guys can tend to have pretty expensive taste, and I was pretty certain that we could show them that here in Belgium the cheaper chocolate is often just as good as the expensive Neuhaus and other Belgian premium chocolates - at least in my opinion.

Here the taste test is set up in the dining room.

 Jason and Andy were blindfolded so they could not see any of the markings or distinctions on the chocolate.

Unfortunately, I was proven wrong and both guys could pick out the expensive chocolate! 

The other reason for celebration on Thursday evening was it was the one year anniversary of our arrival in Belgium!  On March 24, 2010, we arrived in Belgium around 8:00 am and came into an empty, cold house.  I never would have imagined all we have done over the following twelve months and then to spend such a special night with some of our dearest friends.  God is truly good to us. 

We did our best to stick to an early bedtime, because Friday morning, we were up early to drop the children off and make our way to the airport for a weekend in Ireland!