2008.05.20 Relaxing in Brussels

After spending the night with Al, Mindy, Amanda, and Sophie on May 20, we left our car at their house and took the “El” to O'Hare for our non-stop flight to Brussels. We're always glad when we can get reasonable tickets on American flight 88 because it's the only carrier that gets us there without a layover somewhere. Pamela picked us up at the airport the following morning and we began a relaxing week at her home.

We took Henry to and from school every day and enjoyed spending time with him. We saw his concert at school and watched his Saturday Judo lesson. His school ends at noon on Wednesdays, so we used that opportunity to take him to the The Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art (http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-museums-comicstrip.htm), which is housed in a building that is, in itself, a museum piece. The Waucquez Warehouse is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the most famous Belgian Art Nouveau architect, Victor Horta, who built the house in 1906. The Waucquez family used the house for a wholesale cloth business. Now it celebrates the Belgian comic strip art tradition represented by many different artists. Henry’s favorite character is Herge’s Tintin (http://www.tintin.com/#home/une.swf&lang=fr/).

On Saturday night we ate at Krishna in Overijse, which Pamela says has the best Indian food she's had outside of India. Having lived in London and worked as a consultant in India for a year and a half, she's eaten a lot of Indian food.

On Wednesday, we had dinner at the home of some of Pamela's friends, Maggie and Ken, who happened to have Ken’s sister, niece, and grandniece visiting from Ripon, Yorkshire.

The weather was nice enough to allow us several good days to work in the garden, though we did have periods of rain throughout our stay. Pamela claims there are hot, dry periods in Belgium, but I've never experienced one.

On Sunday we spent the day at Walibi in Wavre. For a report on that adventure, go to http://www.henrygswoolley.blogspot.com/. Here's a preview--Grandpa checking a map of the park and Henry eager to get started.