September Flashback: Blythe in Belgique (Plus a Spontaneous Visit from Todd)!

Here we are in the second week of December. After a fairly mild fall, winter has now descended upon us here in Brussels. Today we had a Colorado-esque day—the sun was shining and the air was dry, but it was only 1˚ C (~34˚ F), with a cold wind blowing. Troy and I had a full, fun afternoon, our first stop being my French teacher's vernissage (art exhibition), followed by a repeat visit to the Brussels Christmas Market. Ostensibly, we wanted to go back through the market to make a more thorough tour of the little "shops", but the real attraction was the chance to scarf down a steaming bowl of tartiflette and a boudin géant. We love Christmas markets, and I hope to do a real "Christmas" post later this week, before we jet off to Colorado for a couple of weeks. But, in the meantime, I've had a post cooking on the back burner for weeks, so let's have a flashback shall we?

It was early September and the day for which I had been anxiously waiting had finally arrived: my sister was flying in from Denver to spend a week with us! A week is not much time to give someone the full Belgian treatment, but we were determined to do our best.



Blythe's flight arrived in the morning and by the afternoon we were tasting our first beers at the annual Brussels Weekend de la Biere. This was the first of MANY beers consumed during B's visit.



We met some very nice people at the fest, and we were all waiting to see if Blythe's Kwak would make it's eponymous sound. (Perhaps it did, but the boisterous crowd prevented us from making it out.)



After beer, we headed over to Place Jourdan and the venerable Maison Antoine for an authentic, if not exactly healthy, dinner of frites.



No visit to Belgium would be complete without chocolate, and so we decided that Blythe, being an artist herself, must see the chic-est, most sculptural and luxe chocolatier in town—Pierre Marcolini.



The Wednesday market at the nearby Place Châtelain is a fav and the scene did not disappoint.



Wanting to give my sister a fuller picture of our little adopted country, we set off for sites further afield. One day we visited Antwerp and it's amazing Central Station.



Another day we did a mini-road trip through the Ardennes and eventually up to Leuven before returning to Brussels. One of our stops was to La Roche-en-Ardenne and a rainy trek through its ruined medieval fortress in search of its ghost!



The day of Blythe's and my visit to Brugge dawned warm and sunny, with a beautiful blue sky. Perfect conditions for great views from the belfry.





At the end of B's visit, our little group expanded to four as Troy's brother Todd passed through town en route to Hong Kong on business.



We had fun hanging out with our sibs, showing off our neighborhood, eating The Waffle, and gorging ourselves on a Belgian standard: moules-frites (mussels and fries).





The time passed much too quickly, but we had such a good time!!! We can't wait for them to come back!

Photo Album of Blythe's Visit - Click Here