Day 9

This is the view Rob and I wake up to every morning...right outside our window.   A cathedral on the right and an old fort flying the Belgian flag on the left.  Look below the fort just above the roofline and you will see some sort of ledge.  I saw people walking on it this morning.

I zoomed in with my camera.  Meg said a family lives up there and that is their garden you can see.  She said there are times that she sits and watches the lady work in her garden :)

Meg and Clay have become friends with a couple in their language class, Ali and Nada.  They invited us to lunch today!  This is their house.

Sweet Friends

Here they are looking out the window watching their husbands grill shish-ka-bobs down below.

Of course, we Pasches started exploring around and noticed this old shed in their backyard.  Very intriging.  Ali said he didn't know what it was used for but he has seen people drive up and go inside and not come out for a couple of hours.  What?  On your property?  

It had a concrete floor inside with steps going down.  We sent Rob down :)  And he said there was a dark tunnel.   I passed my camera down and told him to take a picture.  He said later that he was sooo afraid that he was going to see a scary face when the camera flashed.

This is what he saw.  We were too jumpy to go any further.  Besides, lunch was ready.

Oh my goodness!  Arabic food!  

Rob was really happy to see the coke and french fries :)

During lunch, Ali said, "Madame, I have figured out who you look like.  Hillary Clinton!"

What???  I said, "No, please say Laura Bush"  We all got a good laugh out of that!

I love this place!

Au Revoir

Day 8

We had a quiet rainy day today. Megan and Clay had language class so they were gone most of the morning. Rob and I just hung around and relaxed.

Here is Megan preparing a really healthy dinner after her run with Clay.

I wish you could have seen Rob's face when he saw this plate of food :)  Meg ended up giving him a pita that he could fill with the meat and add some cheese.

All's well that ends well.

Day 7

We went to Meg and Clay's church today.  It is just a short walk from their house.  It felt like church at home, just all in French.  I recognized one song.  When the pastor started his message, out of no where, he started  in speaking in English, saying to Megan, "you can take your family over there, and we will have an interpreter for you"  Rob said later that he had been starting to drift off when all of a sudden he understood and he thought a miracle had happened, I CAN SUDDENLY UNDERSTAND FRENCH!!! :)  So, we moved over to the side and this great English speaking guy interpreted the Father's Day message.  It was a great one, and made me cry thinking of what a good dad Chip has been to our kids.  (btw, Clay said later, he had never seen them do the interpreter thing before, I think it is indication of how much they love our kids :)

After church we went into their cafe, where they have hot tea and coffee, and all the members mingle and talk.  We met a lot of Meg and Clay's friends and got a lot of hugs and air kisses beside our cheeks. 

Then I noticed this little guy back in the kitchen where the unused left over communion cups were stacked.  I wondered what he was doing so I walked over and peeked in.  He was taking all the cups out of the server and drinking them down, one by one.  Cutest thing I have ever seen. Every kids dream!

After our Sunday afternoon naps, we decided to take a gondola ride up the mountain that we can see out of living room window.

The area in the middle of the photo is the Grand Place where we sat the other day and had drinks.  There are not as many tables set up, since it is Sunday.

You can actually see Meg and Clay's apt. in this photo, but they don't want me to point it out to you in case some sicko is stalking the blog :)  I will point it out to you when we get home.

The view of Huy is beautiful.  This is the bridge that we walk across several times a day.

Of course, when we reached the top of the mountain, we decided to hike down.  Why pay, when you can walk :) :)  Actually, it was a nice walk down.

Meg and I tried to pose for a picture...these kids crack me up!

There....we got it!

Day 6

Well, they almost killed me today...twice.  But I will get to that in a minute.  

We took a train to Luxembourg today.  What a beautiful country.  A country all it's own, smaller than Rhode Island.  Here we are on the bridge looking at the amazing view.

We loved looking at their beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral.  By the way, have you noticed how gorgeous the day was?  Probably mid 70's.

Sweet man and his mother.

As we were walking around, we stopped to take in this view.  If you click on the photo you might be able to see a fort in the far distance.  Fort Thungen

The guys got this great idea that it would be fun to hike ALL THE WAY OVER THERE and check it out.  Megan and I had seen a flea market in town that was calling our name.  But, they were very convincing, and a little bossy, and wanted us all to go over there.  We had quite a discussion and we girls caved and we were off.

Rob came up with this great way to give me boosts when the incline was tough.  Amazingly, it really helped :)

Man, it was tough.

Cool picture, huh?

Here is our view looking back where we had come from.  

A man and his fort

Here is my reward after the intense hike back :)

It was almost worth it.

Here is the guy's reward :)

After eating we decided to make the 6:20 train back home.  We were going to be cutting it really close.  With Clay leading, we started power walking back to the train station.  That quickly turned into running...I mean really running!  Like a mile....running.  You can guess who was bringing up the rear.   The PE teacher :)  Rob keep yelling encouraging words over his shoulder.  You can do it Mom!  Come on!  We're almost there!

When I made it into the station, Clay, Meg, and Rob were about to get on the train.  The conductor was telling them to hurry, the train was leaving.  I was dying, people, dying.  The Conductor took mercy on me and gave me about an extra 20 seconds to get there, and as I passed him he said Oo La La!!!  Hilarious!  I would have really laughed, but I had no air left in me.  As I went up the steps, the train started rolling.  Oh. My. Goodness.

Here is a photo of Rob fanning me.  The kids played cards all the way home.  I took a little cat nap.  What a day!!

Day 5

It was a beautiful day in this neighborhood and everyone was outside today enjoying the sunshine. 

The Grand Place is right around the corner from Meg and Clay's apartment

Tonight we were invited over to dinner at Brent and Daisy's to meet the whole 237 team.  They have a terrace outside their apt. where Brent grilled an amazing dinner.

I had my first cherry beer.  It was very good!

Stay tuned...I think we are going to Luxembourg tomorrow.

Day 4

Meg and I got up early this morning thinking we were going with some lady friends shopping in a nearby town.  As we were walking over to the church she got a text message saying the shopping trip had been cancelled due to forecasted rain.  On the way back to her apt. we saw this poster.  The circus is in town!  We decided right then that we were going later on this evening!  Who can resist a circus??

We had time to waste, so we went and got the guys to go on a little walk with us.  Look at these fruits!  They were so perfect they looked fake!

We ended up at Megan's favorite Patisserie (pastry shop).  I had a waffle filled with apricots.  Oh my goodness, it was wonderful!  Side note: when I thanked the clerk I said "Gracias" and I don't even speak Spanish :)  Mrs. Harbison (my high school French teacher) would have been very disappointed in me.  My first time in 40 years to use the french she taught me and I say "Gracias"??  Where did that come from?

After a lazy afternoon of visiting and napping it was time to go to the circus.  Meg and Clay walk everywhere, so off we went...1 1/2 miles in the rain, to the outside of town.  Rob had to use Megan's girlie umbrella.  (Katherine, he left yours at the apartment :)

There she is!  The Zavatta Circus!

At this point we are so excited we are about to pop!

One of my favorite acts...Megan and I kept wondering if they were married.  If they weren't, they should have been after this act :)

The circus turned out to be a bit hokey, but we laughed ALOT!  And isn't that really what it's all about?  Making memories?

It was pouring down rain on the mile and a half walk back home.  As you can see by this photo it would take alot more than rain to dampen this guy's spirit!  Au Revoir for now...