bruges...the northern venice

husband and i took a day trip to the city of bruges. it's in the northern part of belgium, close to the north sea. the thing that is awesome about europe: the train system, you can get anywhere without a car.

we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing all of the cool things in this city. three words to describe the feel of bruges: 1800's, lace and old tourists. the city has a very old european feel to it due to the cobblestone streets, old cathedrals, markets. it's also the biggest exporter of lace, 83 shops just in the city, and there were gobbs of groups of older tourists...but it really wasn't bad, i just think me and max were the youngest tourists there:)

church of our lady. they were doing work on it hence the white wrap around it


a real Michelangelo. the only piece that ever left italy while he was alive

the belfry. we climbed the 366 stairs to the top.
totally worth it because this is the view we had from the belfry


i am so in love with the flower markets


my awesome tour guide

these posts are going to be long

i am afraid that these brussels blog posts are going to be long ones. this is pretty much the only place i am documenting what we do each day so be prepared....

sunday
yesterday we got up bright and early and walked to church {45 minutes}. we wanted to explore the city, but i think i would recommend not walking that long in church shoes. anyways got to church and it was fabulous. everyone was so nice and helpful. one lady said everything i hoped the people would say to me like "i will have you come over and show you where to shop" and " i am glad your here i need babysitters". all of my worries were washed away :) the services were so fun. in relief society the sister conducting would switch from english to french...i loved it. they do have english classes so thats good. in my relief society class there were 8 sisters. it was so different than utah...and i loved it. sacrament was so fun, there is a huge mix of people in the ward, africans, russians, belgians, americans, asians. i love it, again so so different from utah. and the meeting kept switching from french to english...plus we got out 20 minutes early! i love the ward and am so excited to be a part of it for the next 3 months.

monday {today}
we still are having sleeping issues...so we got off to a late start. but we decided to just walk around and explore....on our exploration walk we found this:

it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. it was so beautiful and just HUGE! i couldn't imagine how anyone could've built that, let alone built it in the 1400's. it is so amazing to me. it is saint michaels cathedral {i believe...everything is in french and dutch}..

after the cathedral our walk led us to my most favorite part of town, Grand Place....

{remember this picture from the blog i posted announcing we were going to brussels..well i actually took this one}

we went and saw the very famous Manneken Pis.....{max had to for school}...well lets just say it wasn't that great but gave us an idea of the belgian culture

{the statue really is doing what you think its doing}

next we continued our walk...wandering through many different streets and always being astonished at what was around the corner

we explored a fun shopping area near our church...ate at a mcdonald's {sounds lame i know...but max wanted to show me how different they are from american mcdonals}

then we stumbled upon this
i call it my castle, it's right across from church, it really isn't a castle...it's the remenant of the wall that surrounded brussels a long time ago. after it was part of the wall it was a prison...and now it is a museum...

tonight we went to fhe at the church. we love it there. it feels like home. the members are so kind, we have a family home away from home.

today's firsts and learned new things:
i had my first bowl of cereal with lait {milk} and it is going to take SOO long to get used to their milk
i made my first purchase...it only cost a euro...but i was so proud of myself for doing it.
max made a purchase without using any english..he was pretty proud {he did only have to say bonjour and merci...but still...he is improving}
we rode the metro and discovered {awkwardly} that the escalators are activated when you step on them
and i discovered that my straightener is useless here...so needless to say for the next 3 months my hair will be in a ponytail...sad i know...

and as a side note Max is watching lost. we were flipping through channels and found lost...and it's in english, one of the only channels..life couldn't get better.

day one in bruxelles

after sleeping in until 11, due to jet lag and colds, we ventured out into the city of Brussels and fell in love fast!

on our walk to the Grand Place we saw beautiful flats, eu buildings, the U.S. embassy {where Max will be working}, the park of Brussels and lots of other european things
{place royale, which we think is like the headquarters of belgian government}

{embassy row as we have nicknamed it. in about the middle of the picture is the us embassy}

then we arrived at the grand place and it was fabulous...there was a market outside selling all sorts of jewelry and clothing and knicknacks. the streets are cobblestoned and no cars are allowed. the stores are so fun, the chocolate stores and candy stores have the cutest window displays. they have clothing shops where everything is 5 euros and the clothing they have is cute! they have waffle shops and fry shops everywhere. people walk around with their funnel shaped fry holder, with fries topped in mayo. the buildings in the grand place are so old....it's so cool to see them. i can't wait to learn more of their history. and this is all within a 20 minute walk of our flat.

{rue de bouchers}{candy shop that was glowing pink}

we found an awesome supermarket on our way home, the biggest we have seen in brussels...two floors even.....but about the size of the first floor of my parents house...we bought a pretty loaf of bread and they even gave me a free flower...what could be better....
{my loaf of bread that was AMAZING and my free flower}

we are just loving it here already...the people are so nice here and i just love the european feel...max and i are having so much fun and can't wait to tell you and show you more about our adventure..