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Published: July 28th 2013
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We've now been for just a few days in Europe...and after landing in CDG, we spent 48 hours in Luxembourg, and it's already back on the road!
The next two months will be for Leslie and Tiffany...a trip back to their roots...well, more something like...hey guys, you have a Belgian passport...let's introduce you a little better to what life in Europe does look like...specially as now, you are old enough to analyze and remember what is going on...I still speak mainly for Leslie here! To do this, I have also enlisted the help of my parents for the next few weeks.
So no more planes for Tiffany and Leslie for a while, well actually, for a pretty long while. For me, it's a little like business as usual...I'm going to be there...there...oh yes, and there too!
First stop, Brussels, but as we haven't finished with our visits yet, that blog will have to wait for few days. I know, it's summer time, and few blogs are coming over the coming weeks....and be aware, our summer may be a little longer than we could expect!
So next stop, Knokke Le
Zoute. Funny to think that 11 days ago, we were still in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil! Belgium has 60km of seaside, most of it, seriously overbuilt. The sea...is not blue, the water is pretty cold, at a current 19 degrees...and the sand, is great for sand castles...but that's it! Oh yes, and it's not always sunny, but you knew about it...this is Belgium...and the neighbor just north-east across the Channel...does have even more rain! Summer this year arrived pretty late in Europe...but it came before we arrived...obvious some of you will say! Still, there is a lot to do at "la mer" in Belgium. Imagine, have I never decided to take a flight 17 years ago to Asia...me too, I could spend 2 weeks here ever summer...no, don't try to imagine!
If the beach is perfect to built sand castles for the little ones...and their parents....you have to come equipped...we didn't! So we came to enjoy...everything else, and trust me, in a day, there is a lot to do. Tiffany and Leslie spent an hour riding "la digue" with kuistax. What...you don't speak "seaside lingua"? The digue, is a nice "path" running close to the 60km of
the Belgian coast (see the pictures)....A place to walk, to cycle...and for the kids...to ride kuistax...some of those things are way cooler than a bicycle!
Than you can eat waffles, Belgian fries (yeap, they are from here, not French fries)! and obviously, there is ice cream time...but we ended up short of time for that last stop! And for the mussels....that was already done back in Luxembourg few hours earlier...
Early afternoon, we spent some time at the mini-golf. The sun has just shown up properly, so the place was packed...this is why we couldn't do the ice cream time properly. By 4pm, we had to be next to the train station for Kooza...one more Cirque du Soleil show. That's only the 6th one for Leslie, the 3rd one for Tif...I got 11th to my own count! Well, for one thing, we didn't have Cirque du Soleil in Belgium...or anywhere else when I was a kid! Kooza was pretty amazing, and I guess, the cheapest ticket of Cirque du Soleil I ever bought. You need to know something about Belgium. They have some of the highest income in Europe...but that's gross! Once the income
tax is paid, they are in the lower bottom of Europe! Yes, above 3600euros a month, you are hit by more than 50% tax! So if you ever go to Belgium and think the place is pretty cheap, for a pretty high quality compares to his neighbors...if you want to know why is this...well, simply because the average...after-tax income...are so low! Be warned!
So we had an amazing time, and it was already time to take the train back to Brussels...for a nice late dinner...and our next adventures!
How much can you do in a day in Knokke with two kids? A lot...and trust me, they do remember those days, even if they happen only once every few years!
This is called...building Belgium's memories!
More coming soon...
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Snoozing
Great photo