Driving the stick shift VW van on those cobblestone roads was exciting. Bump. Bump. Rattle. Rattle. And at the first intersection, there were literally 10 bicycles in front of us at the light - bikes (the normal kind, not motor cycles) have road privildges here, and they just use the road as if they are cars.
Our drive to the Sea Coast of Belgium (the North Sea) was half hour. Went we got there, we found a parking garage right by the North Sea (looks like the ocean) and got out to explore. Oh, it was wonderful. A huge boardwalk/promenade, people enjoying the sun and the sand, and my goodness the sea stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions - and met up with the blue sky at the horizon. Lovely. The sandy area was immense. Probably the longest sandy beach I've seen. I don't mean length-wise, I mean from the board walk to the sea, there was a huge amount of sand. Surely, the tide was out, but it was just huge.
We strolled the promenade (it was built by a King, who used to holiday here and his promenade is still here), enjoying the sun, the sand, and the water. It was very relaxing. We were looking for food - no restaurants looked like what we wanted (there were a lot of them, but we didn't want a long-drawn-out-sit-down-meal). So, we headed over to "fisherman's warf." At "Fisherman's Warf" we looked at the fish market (a bunch of fish in buckets with 80 year old people buying fish), and we also found a string of stands selling ready to eat fish.
We picked the stand that we liked and got fish on a stick, and some french fries. Sara picked us a place to sit (on a near by step) and we sat to eat. We were hungry, so it was mighty good. We were no longer on a boardwalk, but we were still right by the sea, on a raised walk way - made out of stone. After eating, we got ice cream. I should have gotten two cones, because the cone I got to "share" ended up in Sara's hand and never was released. That kid can eat ice cream cones. I wonder where she got that from.
The ice cream flavors were chocolate and pistacchio. It was funny to hear Sara try to say pistacchio. She strolled along the water/beach side stone walk way, happy as a lark, eating that ice cream. Dan and I managed to get small tastes, while she maintained a hand-hold on the cone. She wasn't taking any chances.
After the ice cream was gone, we walked on the beach. Sara and I had a "sea shell party" (something she decided we'd have) which meant we found shells and collected them. The liked to bury them and find them again. It was just her and I sitting on the sand for this party. Dan was with Julia strolling around on the stone walkway (but he did later join us on the beach). I liked having this sandy play time with Sara. She was enamored with the shells, and I liked looking up at our sweet daughter and seeing the sea breeze blowing her hair. The breeze was gently blowing her pony-tail and some loose wispy hairs back away from her face. She looked pretty and sweet. After several "sea shell parties" we went down to the water. There were waves, but not huge ones. The waves didn't crash at the shore, but they did have white caps. There was no salt smell, and no fishy smell. It mainly smelled like warm sand.
Soon we were all back on the stone promenade again. Sara and Julia were both in the Bob Stroller. I saw Sara take off her pink sneaker, hold it over the side of the BoB Stroller, and all the sand that found its way into her sneaker emptied out. The sand seemed to like its freedom, and flew out of Sara's sneaker and streamed to the ground. She was holding onto a container of sand and shells that we collected. Her treasure of the day.
We paid for the parking and drove here to Mons. One night here. Our room is a triple room, and has a kitchen (that we won't use), a bathroom, a couch, a crib, a double and a single bed. Right now both kids are quiet. Good thing since it is 10PM!
When we got to Mons we went out to eat. I had a beef dish and Dan had pork. Sara had a huge dish of pasta, ham, cheese. I also had soup that came in a bowl that would have served 4 people. I ate it all. Yum. Our huge meal was only 38 Euro (the tip is included here). And that was with our two beers. It seemed like a good value to us. Other than one other couple, we were the only ones in the restaurant. They eat late; we eat early.
After dinner we went to the Grand Place, which is what they call the main square (just like in Brussels). It was nice, and Sara did some laps to release some energy. The square was flooded with evening darkness, but punctuated by the lights of the restaurants and especially the city hall, which is a gorgeous building. There was also a fountain that looked like it was dancing in the starlight.
Then it was time to get back here. I got Julia to sleep (two second) and Dan got Sara to sleep (he did her list, which took maybe 10 minutes). I'm going to turn in too.
:) Lori
No comments:
Post a Comment