Belquie Day 3: A Huge Leap Upward into History

So in continuing with telling you all about a trip that happened 2 months ago, on the third day of Belgium my true love gave to me....wait a minute. Ok, ok, down to business. The third day we decided to go visit a chunk of history and building that has been mentioned in an email that is frequently circulated around about "interesting architecture." Ladies and gentlemen I present the Atomium. If you would like the full extensive history on this bad boy, visit here: http://atomium.be/
If you are ok with my readers digest version, then carry on! Basically this beauty was built for the 1958 World's Fair (aka Expo 58). This was a big deal since it was the first world's fair that was held after WWII so it had to be good! The Atomium was the main pavilion and main attraction of the fair. Like many things developed for the world's fair, it was meant to be torn down after the event but it was beloved by Belgium and do it got to stay up and has now become another Belgian icon. So Belgium's major icons now include waffles, chocolate, a pissing baby, and an atom that "represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion (thousand million) times." They sure know how to pick things huh? So here she is in all her glory....

You can go inside to a few of the balls that hold temporary and permanent exhibits. First you take the escalator to this level where adults and children alike sit and watch informational videos. I just thought it was funny that my family fit in so well ;)

After a certain point you have to take some stairs to go to the next level. If you wish to go to the top then you have to take the elevator (from the ground floor) to the top ball which holds the restaurant and sky view. Here is a lovely view of the elevator that went 5 meters per second to the top of a 102 meter (or 334.66 feet) high building. Needless to say it went fast, we were to the top in about 2 minutes. Looks ominous doesn't it?

Oh did I forget to mention, I'm TERRIFIED of heights! Seriously folks, if you want to scare the bejeepers out of me, make me go somewhere high up. Or better yet, make me go somewhere high up that is exposed outside with little to separate me from possibly falling to my death (that happens later in the week-just wait for it!). Yea, big shocker huh? So when Matt said "hey go by the window so I can take your pic" I was not too pleased to say the least. Look at me, death grip on the window sill. The best fake smile I could muster. I wasn't a happy girl.

But the view wasn't too bad I suppose. If I don't look down or step near the edge or think of how high up I am or think how old this building is or that I'm in a ball supported by a spindly shaft then I'm ok. Kind of.

Once we vacated the scary atom of death, we decided to walk through the village/garden/town/outer city limits area where the atom is. It was very pretty and large. And apparently one of the Belgian kings went somewhere they had Asian architecture and said "hey I want some of that!" so he had a couple building made up in this garden area. They were pretty awesome. But sadly closed so we only got to see the outside, which was still nice. This is the Chinese pavilion.

This guy makes me laugh. I'd like you all to meet Matt when we're 85!

This is the Japanese pavilion complete with red tower.

After walking around for 10 million years we headed back to the main part of the city (via train which was quite eventful since we almost got on the wrong one and that would've been bad) for some dinner and sleep to prepare for our final day in Brussels.

Belqiue Day 2-Museums, Panties, Churches, and Beer

So day 2. At this point it is really day 9 on our 14/15/16(??) day trip. The weather started out a little drizzly (did I even tell you all about the crappy weather in France?? I forgot-well, it was crappy until the last day-whoo hoo) so we decided to museum it up again. We went to the art museum (are there really other kinds in the world?) and first hit the Renee Magritte Museum first. For those of you poor people who don't know who monsieur Magritte is, he is a Surrealist (one of my favorite genres of art!) and he is AMAZING!!! Sadly we couldn't take photos in the museum so I've had to steal one from the web (don't tell ok?) It was a GREAT museum on his life and works and I'm so glad we went to it!! Even Matt and dad enjoyed it (which is really saying something).

This is probably one of his most famous works-recognize it?

After Renee we went into the rest of the art museum. It was pretty awesome itself. Full of work from Belgians (and Flemish), who would've thought? Now you may not know this, but Belgians are a tiny bit crazy. They love their religious works too. But they create some of the most beautiful works of art because of how technically difficult they are and that they can achieve such great allusion! But there are some really odd and interesting things that appear in their works; like this little guy. Pet squirrel anyone?

The thing about religious paintings is that they usually have to do with some Biblical story (which I am fine with) but at times it can be a little creepy. And disturbing. But look at that detail on her veil-can't beat that!

Now one painter that you will always learn about in art class is Hieronymus Bosch, the "original" surrealist. He painted all sorts of weird and mystical things. Like most art, it came from within, from the deepest part of himself. And it also had some religious context to it with the greatest example being "Garden of Earthly Delights." This little snippet is not from that painting-but you get the idea of what we're working with here.


The vast majority of the museum's contemporary wing was closed but they did have a little section of some "post-modern" works. Normally I'm not a hug fan of post modern stuff-usually I don't find it all that ground breaking and mind blowing. But I do love Dali. And they had some Dali. I was a happy girl then!

I feel like this horse is a visual depiction of how I feel riding sometimes-wild and out of control! And about to dominate you!

After we were done looking at towering horses, pipes that are not pipes and demonic creatures we ventured out into lovely weather. There was a large park near the museum so we decided to walk through it-it was very pretty. And you could tell it was the first nice weather in a little while because every available sunny spot of grass was already taken by people lounging and sunbathing-it was great! However, I don't know how much these people respect public art, I mean panties, really??


After leaving the park, we strolled the streets some since it was so nice out. Matt's really good at strolling, can you tell?


As we walked around we came up to this bad boy! Sadly it was too late to go in but the carillons (those are the bells in case you're not in the know) were ringing so we found a bench and listened for a while. WOW!! Those things were chiming away and it was so cool. We had heard them go off while around the city and in our hotel but it was much clearer so close ;)

So as we sat we were trying to decide where to go to dinner and what to do next, since it was about 6 or 7 at this point. While mom and dad looked in their guide book I snapped some shots while playing with the camera.

I call this one "Old Man Looking at Book"-just kidding!

Sadly we didn't get to snag any of these cool loungers! How awesome are these? Nap time anyone?


Now you may not know this but the Belgians claim that french fries are really their deal. So they sell them EVERYWHERE! Seriously. And they are served with mayonnaise. You can have ketchup (the NORMAL condiment) or a variety of other sauces but if you want it the Belgian way, mayonnaise is the way to go. So there were all sorts of ads for these Belgian "frites" but this one was my favorite. All I can hear when I look at this thing is "Heeeeeeey kiddies!"



Once we sat down dinner, what else was to be had other than beer right? Everyone (with the exception of me) were pretty fascinated by this one-look at the holder. Apparently people just grab the end of it and drink while holding the the whole thing-crazy Belgians!


Finally it started to get dark, around 1030PM. A little too late for my liking but hey, what can you do! Thus ended another fun day in Brussels in the Grand Place.

Belqiue-Day 1: A New Place to Start

So after Paris we went off into the unknown, Belgium. Ha ha! I know, so scary Lynsey! And it really....wasn't. Of course! Belgium was GREAT!!! Who doesn't love chocolate and waffles?? Honestly the food was amazing-I think that is where we gained our travel weight ;)
Our first full day we went walking around and checked out the sights. We walked by a Godiva Chocolatier who was making the yummy goodies.....

and then we went into this great church! We saw some wonderful stained glass in Paris (need I remind you of Notre Dame??) but this place had some BEAUTIFUL stained glass. It was another one dedicated to Mary (she was the beeze-knees everywhere) and that was reflected in the glass.

See there she is....

Here is what the church looked like from the lovely little park across the street.

Now apparently Belgium is known for its parks and public spaces. While we were visiting this park, some random lady was touching the flowers and the park patrol guy blew his whistle and yelled at her. That is some serious enforcement for just a neighborhood park. But rightfully so-even with the overcast sky and occasional rain drop, these parks were lovely. We really enjoyed seeing and smelling the flowers! And of course goofing off is a necessity....

Next we visited the Music Museum. I didn't post any pics because I couldn't decide which one did it justice. Let's just say that it was a pretty awesome little museum and worth the entrance fee and if you have kids it's a great place to take them! The audio guide didn't have any verbal information on it, just the sounds of the different instruments. It was pretty neat. There were some very interesting sounding instruments, and some that sounded like cats mating and dying at the same time. Not pleasant I assure you.

Anyhew, the architecture in Brussels is apparently something to stop and take a look at. I agree. Not just in Brussels but since that's the city we're starting out in, we'll stay on focus here. Parts of the city (sadly none that we saw) are known for their art nouveau style which is pretty but again we didn't get to see much. I don't know what the majority of what we saw is called, but we liked it!

This bit was from the Grand Place and it was mom's favorite row of buildings.

Grand Place was a pretty neat area-it's the big market square area. We spent a good amount of time wandering through here-we found the best ice cream around here! Yummm...

So in case you didn't know it, a national monument/icon of Belgium is the Manneken Pis which means "little pissing boy." Yup, a little boy peeing is a national symbol. Great. This thing has outfits (even given to him by kings and dignitaries!) and people were always swarming it to take pics and they gave away free beer next to it. Craziness I tell you! And the thing is only about 2 feet tall if that. It's right by Grand Place and the yummy chocolatiers that we liked so we took a photo of it of course.


And we were told no trip to Belgium was complete without getting a waffle so of course we took care of that the first night! And the second. And pretty much every night we could. They were so stinking tasty!

When we started to discuss going to Belgium dad and Matt were pretty excited at trying all the beers! They make and drink a lot of beer. Since I am not a huge beer fan I stayed with wine but the other 3 tried and loved a lot of different types. Whenever dad was needing a break he'd say "it's time to grab a beer." Don't they look so happy?

France Day 5: Au Revoir Paris....

So, our last day in grand pear-ee we took a night time bike tour. I had been on one of their day time tours before and it was AMAZING so we decided the night time one was worth a shot! If you want a GREAT tour of a city you are visiting check out these guys: http://fattirebiketours.com/
They do great tours, really reasonably priced, they are an American company, and they think Fat Tire Beer (from New Belgium Brewery in FORT COLLINS!!) is amazing. What more can you ask for??
So we started out meeting at the Eiffle Tower-good place to meet! And they hold up this HUGE sign showing where they are.....

While we waited for everyone to gather we took some nice photos like this one.....

Don't we all look great?

And goofed around of course....

We headed off to get our bikes and start the tour! It was great fun with mom almost getting hit by a taxi (and Matt actually getting spit on/near/close hit by same taxi), great picturesque views throughout the city, tasty ice cream, some very interesting history given by our guide Alex (who is British and comes from a town called Ipswich which is apparently known for a serial murder of prostitutes-always need to have sort of claim to fame right?), and just general biking fun! We did have some on the tour who obviously weren't big bike riders and they slowed the group up and REFUSED to "dominate" the road as we were instructed to. Losers.
Anyhew, the end of the tour included a river cruise on the Seine with wine-yum!! It hit almost all the places we just swung past on our bikes but from the comfort of a chair without having to fight for a spot on the road! We had some more amazing views and photo ops like this beauty...


When all was done on the cruise we hopped back on our bikes (at which point Matt almost wheelied himself OFF the back end of the bike, going up hill, it was pretty funny, but what do you expect from a guy who was doing this on the cruise.....)


As I was saying, hopped back onto our bikes to head back to the bike rental place to finish for the evening. We ended up right next to the Eiffle for it's grand lighting time and show (it sparkles!)!


This tour was supposed to last 4 hours, to leave us enough time to take the metro back to our hotels. Nope, this bad boy didn't finish until about 1145 and the last train was at 12 since it wasn't the weekend. Yippee! It's ok, we took a taxi instead. So thus concludes our time in Paris, but don't fret. We still have Belgium to visit!

Paris Day 4: Venturing into the Music of the Night

So in case you didn't get this title's reference, day four we went to Opera Garnier, the opera house that is the inspiration behind "The Phantom of the Opera." And in case you still don't get it-there is a song in the musical called "Music of the Night"-oh just look it up people! Anyhew, since it had been rainy we decided to take an easy day and since mom and dad's hotel was RIGHT next to the opera, we figured it was good day to do the tour there. I didn't get a chance to do this tour when I was in Paris 4 years ago so I was really looking forward to going and seeing it all. All I can say is that I was not disappointed! The opulence yet beauty of this building was amazing. Not like Versailles where you want to puke because it's so gawdy-no. There was the same types of extravagance but not the same feel. It is kind of hard to describe. We did a guided tour which was really cool-we got some good information and stories about the place. There was a rehearsal going on so we got to go into the theater area after they were finished-it was really awesome. Make sure to check out http://thecypruslife.shutterfly.com/ for all the pics!!

The stairwell area-this was THE place to be seen during the height of the Operas time!

This was another big spot to be noticed-mom looks quite smashing don't you think?

THE chandelier that is the inspiration in the book/musical/movie-it actually fell on someone!

A different view of the main stairwell-only the season ticket holders were allowed to walk here-snooty!

One of the entrances-it's right before that main stairwell.

Always have to have some flair where the theater is involved!

Paris Day 3- a Short Man, an Artistic Man, and a Hunch-backed Man...

So if my titles didn't give you any clues as to what we did on day three I'll spell it out for you:
1. Napolean's Tomb and the Armory.
2. August Rodin Museum
3. Notre-Dame Cathedral

We first ventured to Napolean's Tomb so check out the shorty himself....

I'm watching you.....

For such a little man he sure did decide to pack a lot into that tomb ;)

There is an armory museum attached to his tomb so we checked that out a little bit. They even had Napolean's horse, stuffed of course. Little horse for a little man. Matt enjoyed all the techie stuff the had to offer....


Then we went to one of me favorite museums-Rodin! Oh I LOVE his work!! The garden was lovely, including all sorts of beautiful flowers....

Sadly Matt got bored....or is he impersonating "the Thinker"?


Mom got a little wild and crazy....


2 great Parisian icons in one photo-go me!



Finally we went to Notre Dame Cathedral. We had to wait in line to get into it. I was pretty excited!


Notre Dame is known for it's stained glass windows. Do you see why??

You know it's a great piece of art if it includes kings rushing off on horseback to save the day!

They already had a spot ready for Matt and me-how thoughtful....


This gargoyle is saying "this is my cathedral fool, find your own!" or it could be screaming "GRRRRYYYYFFFFIIIIINNDDDOOOOOOOORRRRR!!!!!!"


It was a pretty fun day filled with all sorts of adventures and something for everyone!