Vielsalm, Belgium

We had a random long weekend and decided to drive up to Belgium. We have visited Belgium once before, but it was quite awhile ago. On our previous trip we stayed in Bruges which would be great to visit again, but we did not want to drive quite as far on this trip. 

Originally we were looking at visiting Liege, Belgium. Have you heard of liege waffles? Yup... same liege. After searching the map on Airbnb, though, I found this converted military bunker and thought it would be a neat place to stay. 

And now Suzie has visited six different countries!

We're not sure what the metal piece on the top means, but we joked that the place is owned by the Illuminati. 

The location of the Airbnb was so idyllic! We were surrounded by fields. It was exactly the peaceful and quiet location I was looking for. 

This general area of Belgium is significant in WWII history, specifically because of the Battle of the Bulge. There are museums dedicated to this history in the area, but we did not visit any. On our hike, though, I felt like I was in scenes from Band of Brothers. 

Adjacent to the town center was a lovely promenade around the lake. It was the perfect spot for an evening stroll!

Vielsalm is also known for its folklore, especially their witch history. The town has a museum and annual festival dedicated to it. We did not visit the museum since I could not tell from the website if the displays were in English, but we found this broom on our stroll. 

Vielsalm ended up being surprising. I was expecting a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere, but the town had quite a lot going for it! You could tell that it is a popular place for hikers and the town had a variety of restaurants. It was perfect for a weekend getaway!

The travel itch

Charles and I have been hit by the travel itch lately...Charles probably a little more than me. We enjoy traveling together and it has been over a year since our last vacation. Our next vacation is sort of in the works for Labor Day weekend. Charles will have a long weekend for the holiday and we're thinking about going to Kansas City. I know a lot of you are probably like "Really?!?! What the heck is in Kansas City?" Basically it is to check another state off our list. And there seems to be some interesting sights there. Plus, we'll be going to a baseball game and checking another major league baseball stadium off our list.

I thought I would share a little about our last vacation. Last summer, before Charles went to BMT (aka boot camp), we went on a trip to Europe. We flew into Brussels and took a train to Brugge. From Brugge, we went to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we flew to Dublin (one of my favorites). From Dublin we flew to Cologne, Germany. And from Cologne we took a train to Stuttgart, Germany. Sounds complicated, but luckily my husband is a whiz at navigating train schedules and hailing taxis and such. It was a great trip.

One of my favorite things about traveling in Europe is seeing all the old churches. I love the architecture. I love the artwork. I love the history. It's so cool to walk around these churches that have been around for hundreds of years and imagine the great artists that have worked there or created things for that church. Or to think about all the varieties of people that have been through.

Another favorite thing is the chocolate. Places such as Belgium, Germany and Switzerland have the best chocolate in the world!

Here are a few pictures:

The line at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. This was probably the main reason I wanted to visit Amsterdam. When we first arrived, Charles saw the line and almost refused to go. He hates lines! I convinced him and we stood in line for an hour. It was totally worth it. I've read the book several times and it was very interesting to see it in person.

Church in Cologne. It's HUGE! You can climb the bell tower. I passed because I'm afraid of heights. Charles went up and got some good pictures of the town.  

View from our hotel room in Brugge. We made the mistake of not taking a nap when we first got to Brugge and ended up going to bed like at 6:30pm or something ridiculous. I woke up at midnight and could not go back to sleep. Very frustrating! The best way to fight jet lag is to take a nap when you first get there and then treat it like a normal day.

Charles at the Leprechaun Museum in Dublin. It was a really cute museum that we randomly came across. This is from the Giant's Room. At the end of the museum, they give you a blank piece of paper and tell you to draw something. It was a ton of fun to just draw...just like being a kid.

Charles and me in Stuttgart. When I was a kid we lived in Stuttgart and we visited this place several times. They have a Fairy Tale Garden for the kids which features a couple of "rides" and things that showcase various fairytale stories. I dragged Charles and his brother there to see what it was like as an adult.