Belgium

The second leg of our trip (after Ireland), we spent in Belgium and France. We arrived in France late Friday night and stayed in a cheap hotel in Beauvais for a few hours of sleep. Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Leuven, Belgium where my friend Kristien lives. (She was my best friend while I was in New Zealand, and we hadn't seen each other in 14 years.) When we arrived, she and her boyfriend, Jan, served us a traditional Belgian breakfast of yummy pastries and coffee, and then drove us to Antwerp to experience some of the best of Belgium. It was such an incredible day, and it was over too soon. There's still a lot on the agenda for our next trip there, but we did manage to fit in a ton!

• Reuzenstoet This parade of giants is a tradition that is over 300 years old. Giants are a huge part of Belgian folklore, and this event only happens once a year. We just happened to be there on the perfect day!
• Cathedral of Our Lady This was a spectacular cathedral that also housed a huge number of paintings by Rubens.
• The home of artist, Rubens
• Walk through the Grote Markt and all over
• French Fries at Frituur No. 1 (did you know the french fry was invented in Belgium?)
• Belgian waffles
• Belgian chocolates

A photo of us with some of the "giants" from Reuzenstoet (which apparently doesn't happen much, but our friend, Kristien, told them that we came "all the way from America" to see them and we really wanted a picture. The locals were a bit disgruntled when they asked to also have a picture and were dismissed. Oops!)

Cathedral of Our Lady

Cathedral of Our Lady

Cathedral of Our Lady

Grote Markt & City Hall

Aaron and I at Grote Markt

Antwerp and Cathedral of Our Lady

Antwerp from the top of the MAS

Aaron and I at the top of the MAS

Our wonderful hosts, Jan and Kristien