Exploring Belgium!

This past weekend was very busy but lots of fun. Friday ISB took us to Brugge for the day! We had a guided walking tour of the city followed by lunch and then a boat tour on the canals. The city was very beautiful with small streets, lots of churches and cute buildings. The lunch that work got us was very impressive. We had the whole top floor to ourselves with a three course meal. We ate at a brewery and tried the beer they made there. It was delicious! After the tours we all stayed and walked around the city some more enjoying more beers and french fries. I tried my first true Belgian fries...they are served with Mayo! It was actually quite good. I also tested my British accent out on co-workers of mine from England. They said that it was good and believable! :) That may have been the highlight of my day hehe. Then we headed back and had an early night because we were all pretty beat after that long day!

The next day I got up early and explored the city on a run with Ashlee. It was great to get up and be productive early! After that my roommates and I met up with people from work to see more of the city. The flower carpet festival was happening in the city so we went to see that. In last weeks post I had a picture of Grand Place marked off, this week that area was all full of flowers! They lay flowers and grass to look like a carpet it was beautiful. They even had a fountain in the middle.

Next we walked over to the park to sit for a bit since it was the first warm day in a while. It was nice to sit and enjoy the sun. We were sitting next to the palace so we decided to go take a tour inside. This is no longer where the king lives but where he works. The line outside was very long but there were free Ben&Jerry's samples while we waited! This is not standard at the king's work it was because of the festival, but what a great day to wait in line! Also that day they were setting up for the Brussels summer festival and doing band sounds checks. The band we heard while waiting in line was so good we decided to buy tickets. We now are attending a concert every night for this ten day music festival.

We went to our first concert last night. The bands were really good. My roommate and I listened to the bands online all day today. Tonight we went again and stood through the cold rain. It was not quite as enjoyable because of the weather but it was still good.

It was a very busy and fun weekend here. There has been a lot going on at home too, babies being born and kids growing up! Thank goodness for Skype :). Jackson started to crawl and said no the other day! I sure do miss the kiddos. I am very excited to start and meet my little ones here! This is our last full week of orientation before school starts. This week we have workshops with all of the teachers so I get to meet the teacher I will be working with. It should be an interesting week. :)