Brussels Bound

A couple of months ago Nacho made his first trip to Brussels, Belgium and I could tell he had found a new favorite destination. With both excellent chocolate and beer, what's not to love? Shortly thereafter, he began telling me stories from other pilots who had lots of European trips under their belts and a few mentioned that later in the year during the Christmas markets, those smaller cities really came alive and it was a fun place to bring your family. When he told me all of this, I thought sure, maybe in a few years. We're still sort of in economic recovery mode from the last year and a half, and the girls are still pretty young. But then again, if this election and the mood of the country has proven anything, it's that you just never know what you'll get in life. Why not squeeze out some joy amidst all the bleakness? There has been sort of a fuck-it-why-not attitude drifting into my every day thoughts and so it became a recurring thought that we might be able to find a way there sooner than later. When we figured out that the girls had a half day on Friday the 9th and Nacho was off that whole long weekend, the trip was born. Could we make it to Brussels and back in 4 days? Would we dare try? Hell yes! The first road block was Carolina's expiring passport, but we developed a plan for that and made it to the Passport Agency downtown one morning a week before to get it done. That went off without a hitch making the whole idea seem much more real. We were really going to do this and I was getting pretty excited about it. Which was good because I'd need every ounce of that enthusiasm to carry me through the jet lag...

And honestly, it was somehow easier than I imagined with two kids landing in a foreign country with no sleep and only the hope of a hotel bed awaiting us. We weren't entirely sure we'd be able to check in and rest before the afternoon. But luckily our online check in worked out and they had a room ready at 9am. So there we were after a 30 min cab ride from the airport in the city centre of Bruxelles for a two day trip to the heart of their Christmas Market. To amp up their spirits a little (and because let's face it, these kids don't find travel nearly as exciting as we do), I packed a new Barbie doll for each of them. So once we made it to the hotel and had a little time to decompress with room service breakfast, I sprung that surprise on them and it was a big success. Carolina got her ballerina and Elisa got her nerdy cool Barbie with a computer and iPad.  They were so busy playing with them, they hardly wanted to leave the room. But it was time to fight off the impending sleepiness.  So we went off for a walk through the city and ended up on a ferris wheel overlooking the whole market. It was the perfect antidote to jet lag keeping us in high spirits for another few hours. By the time we made it back to the hotel, we all needed a nap even if only for a little while. We woke after dark with the idea of hitting the market stalls for food and drink and whatever else struck our fancy. During the day we had seen a bit of the market and made it as far as the Grand-Place with its amazing square all decked out with a Christmas tree and festive lights. But at night the whole city took on such a festive vibe and the crowds were in great spirits.  The girls rode a beautiful antique carousel and raced on slides, played a game bobbing for ornaments with a wooden stick and ate plenty of treats. Nacho and I sipped our Leffe beers and nibbled on cavapi after too many fried samplings of pomme frites and a Belgian style donut with powdered sugar on top. The night included a light show outside the main cathedral and a techno-mazing pulsing light display in the Grand-Place. We had been standing there admiring the Christmas tree lights when the square suddenly went dark and music started up. Then the lights began to pulse in an array of gleaming colors and we knew we were in for a treat. What a wonderful introduction to the city. There was really something for everyone.  Day two was going to be icing on the cake.