Liege, Belgium

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Monday morning we boarded a bus in Venice and traveled to the town of Trevisio. From their small airport we boarded a plane for Brussels, Henri and Noemi were there to greet us and drive us back to their home in Leige.

Their house sits atop a hill, and from our room at night we can see the lights of the town below. However, my favorite spot is at the kitchen table surrounded by windows looking out at the garden. It felt like home and we really got a good night's sleep.

On Tuesday, we rode around town, stopping at a couple overlook viewpoints to take in the sights. Liege has many old buildings that have great character. Dorothy's school was founded as a school for girls during a time when many did not think it was necessary to educate girls. The building is sort of a historical landmark now. From the courtyard you can see a beautiful mosaic high on a wall.

We traveled to the little town of Aubel, where we had lunch in a little cafe which was also an amazing pastry shop. The town has a memorial to the US troops that helped liberate the town in WW II. It's a beautiful memorial with 7992 graves and 12 pylons that include the state seals of the 48 states represented and the names of the unknown soldiers buried there. Most fought in the Battle of the Bulge. We then drove to Clermont, another little town. The church was surrounded by graves and the tombstones that we could read dated back to the 1600's. I know some were older.

In the evening, we met our nephew Jeremie, his girlfriend Sophie, and his roommate, at a downtown resturant. The resturant features the two famous puppets of Liege, and they still have puppet shows for children on weekends. After dinner, Jeremie led us to a little pub that claims to be the oldest bar in Liege, but no one seems to know exactly how old it is.

On Wednesday, Dorothy recovered from her illness to be our tour guide as we boarded a train to Brugge, a Flemish town near the border. This midevial town has a couple of huge churches and a convent.There are buildings as old as the 9th century. It also has canals within the town, earning it the name of "Little Venice." The weather was very cold, windy, and at times, raining. However, the streets are lined with cafes and chocolate shops, so we were ok. We even took a 30 minute carriage ride through the town. In spite of the weather, there were lots of beautiful flowers. As I mentioned, the town has many cute shops and several hotels. It really is a beautiful town. We took the train back to Leige where Noemi arrived to drive us home where nice hot meal was waiting.

Today, I think we are going to explore Liege.

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