We just spent a weekend in Brussels Belgium! It was fun and interesting. One of the must see sights in Brussels is Manniken Pis. He wears a different outfit everyday. People from all over the world send him outfits and they change his clothes daily. He probably has a bigger wardrobe than I do !

Of course when you have teenage boys, the best way to experience a new country is to eat your way through it.  My friends with girls don't quite understand the importance of this, but from what I can gather is that you don't truly get the whole experience unless you eat the local food. The Belgium Waffles were delicious as were the Belgium chocolates.  There were long lines in both stores. All three of my boys enjoyed the waffles.

Whenever we visit a city we try and take a Hop on Hop off bus.  Usually that is the best way to see the main attractions of a city and you have the opportunity to get off at an interesting stop and then get back on the bus and continue the sight-seeing tour.  This time the Hop on Hop off took us to the Atomium.  This was built in 1958 as part of the World's Fair.  There is a restaurant at the top.  However, you have to drop 41 Euro to get there!  The stairs go to the other globes which house museums.  We didn't spend the time or the money going up the Atomium, but did stop to have a snack.

Of course when you are in Belgium you have to get beer. We did!  The Belgium's are also known for their beer making.  It is one of the oldest industries in Belgium.  There is a museum in one of the Guild houses in the Grand Place. The building with the gold horse on top is the beer museum.  Be careful when drinking Belgium beer though as the alcohol content is higher than most!

Now with all the wonderful sightseeing things out of the way, the real reason we visited Brussels, was to watch our oldest son perform with the AMIS (Association for Music in International Schools) Mixed Honor Choir.  This is a choir that he had to audition for and only 5 students at his school were selected.  There were 30 countries represented on stage all brought together to share one night of beautiful music.  The choir also performed with the Honor Orchestra.  I spent the whole evening with chills the music was so beautiful! Next year they will go through the process again of auditioning and being selected. Then they will meet in Dubi to share their incredible talent there. 

Ok, now for the reason we will not be nominated for the parents of the year award. On the way back from this uplifting concert, our GPS routed us through the red-light district of Brussels!  Who knew there was a red light district! I knew about the one in Amsterdam, which we managed to avoid there, but we had never heard of one in Brussels.  So, there we were driving with a teenage boy in the back seat!  Good luck telling him not to look! 

Overall, it was a nice weekend full of new experiences.  Some wonderful, some educational, and some eye opening.  Good or bad, happy or frustrating, we feel blessed to be able to have these experiences as a family.  Memories that will definitely last us a lifetime.

God Bless!