Musee de Enfants

I'm so bummed...we went to the Musee de Enfants (Children's Museum) today for our Wild about Wednesday adventure and I brought my camera, but I forgot the battery!!  So unfortunately no pictures :o(  This museum is right by our house and we've been there many times to play on their public playground outside, but have never gone in...mostly because the ONLY time they are open to the public during the week is 2:30-5 PM on Wednesdays.  I guess the rest of the time it's open to school groups.

It is a really cool museum with lots of hands on activities.  You can bake cookies (real ones) in the kitchen, go shopping at the supermarket, ride the tram, explore the maze, paint a picture, see a play, and on and on.  It's three floors with new things to explore around every corner.  I definitely preferred this museum to the Antique Toy Museum since it felt more hands on.  And I literally had to drag Autumn out kicking and screaming at 5 PM when they were closing.  We'll probably try and go back again some rainy cold Wednesday afternoon (because I'm sure there will be several of those in our not so distant future) :o)

And this will likely be my last post for awhile as we're headed to the US for 3 weeks!  I'm so excited to get some time with family and friends and to enjoy some of the wonderful things that make America so great...like customer service, stores open 24 hours, and chick-fil-a...ha! :o)  See you around Halloween :o)

Orval Brewery & Abbey

Over the weekend we had the pleasure of visiting the Orval Brewery & Abbey with our friends Matt & Liz and their two little sweeties.  Apparently the brewery only opens it's doors for tours once a year so we were excited when they accidentally ordered two extra tickets (all the way back in May) and invited us along!  It is about a 2 hour drive from Brussels so we made a day of it.  When we arrived I was definitely surprised at the sheer size of the place...the Abbey grounds were huge.

We were all kinda expecting to see Monks walking around running the place, but it was not like that at all...it was pretty high tech and similar to what you would see at Anheuser Busch...just smaller.

They let you get right up next to everything...

it was hard not to reach out and touch the bottles as they flew by.

After our tour, we headed to the cafe for lunch (along with everyone else) and after switching tables several times and finally understanding what we were "allowed" to order (I guess they had a limited menu due to the crowds, but understanding that from our French speaking server was quite the challenge) we all ordered a potato soup type dish that was fantastic!!!  Thank goodness too since it took about two hours total to get it.  After lunch we headed in to explore the Abbey grounds and the ruins from the old Abbey.  It was all quite beautiful and a great way to round out the day before we headed home.

We really enjoyed our trip to Orval...and are excited to check the other 6 Trappist breweries off our list sometime in the future!  Thanks Matt & Liz for including us!

Click here to view the full Orval album.

An amazing zoo & garden!

Last week Autumn and I ventured out to the middle of no where to check out a zoo/botanical garden, Pairi Daiza.  It was only an hour train ride outside of Brussels and promised to be a chance to be up and close with the animals while surrounded with a beautiful backdrop on the site of an old Abbey grounds.  And it was awesome!!  Seriously I wish I would have found this place a year ago as I would have never even gone to the other two zoos we've seen.  I would have definitely bought a season pass and made this our go to place if I knew about it back then...oh well...at least we found it now.

It was just the two of us so we took our time wandering around and exploring every inch of the place.  I was absolutely amazed at how close you were to some of the animals...this would never fly in the US!  Of course the cheetah, elephants, etc. were kept in cages, but anything that was "safe enough" you could get up close and personal with :o)  Sometimes a little too close we learned as we tried to figure out how to get the parrot OFF our stroller...or as we quickly backed away as the little monkeys started inching closer and closer.

 Just before he started eating her coat...guess we should have brought lunch :o)

 I didn't get a great shot of these monkeys, 

but they were just hanging out on the walkway!

This lovely parrot grazed my head before landing right on the stroller.

He gave Autumn a little love peck on the finger too...thank goodness it didn't hurt.

 I was pretty sure these guys were about to pounce so we high-tailed it out of the way

In the cage WITH the kangaroos...are we sure this is a good idea?

We kept our distance...just to be safe.

My favorite part was definitely the giraffes...you got to go up on a platform so you were face to face with them and could pet them.  They are surprisingly corse...I don't know why, but I thought they'd be softer :o)

 Here he is nuzzling my shoulder...Autumn was not taking her eyes off him!

We found a HUGE playground too and had to take some time to play!  

Here's Autumn holding on for dear life as I spin her around.

Oooh...a peacock...a little inspiration for Halloween :o)

Such an awesome place and one we will definitely be going back to if we're around next spring. And another great Wild About Wednesday...I'm so glad I started this a few months ago...the places we've been and seen now are just so great and will be memories we'll cherish forever!

Click here to view the full Pairi Daiza album.

A Weekend in CRAZY Istanbul!!

I feel like crazy is a good word to describe the impression Istanbul left on me....it was CRAZY crowded, and busy, and overwhelming, and interesting, and fun all at the same time.  I felt very far away from home (especially as the eerie "call to prayer" was being blasted over the loud speaker throughout the city...see video at the end), but also enjoyed exploring this bustling city and it's many new and different experiences it had to offer.

I've been wanting to visit Istanbul forever...not exactly sure where this desire came from, but it was at the top of my travel "must see" list and I was so excited when we were able to make it happen.  Since I was unsure what to expect being in such a strange place I went ahead and booked all our arrangements through a travel agency Euphrates Tours (Cappadocia Tours).  In hindsight I'm kind of regretting this decision...don't get me wrong...they did an awesome job...our hotel Garden House Hotel was amazing (mostly because the staff was so lovely), we had a nice van pick us up and take us to the hotel and then back to the airport, we had a private tour for two full days that took us to highlights all over the city, but as we've traveled quite a bit, we kinda like to go at our own pace and do things our way (especially when there is a two year old involved) and that was tough to do in this situation.  So if I had to do it over, I would probably get some help from a travel agency, but plan to do all the exploring on our own...or maybe with the "help" of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours.

So I'm going to give you the highlights of our time there in the pictures/captions below...

 They "upgraded" us to the honeymoon sweet so we could have a king size bed...

and it was quite interesting...kinda like a big crib...the only way in or out was through the stairs.

 We went in search of the Blue Mosque, but found a playground instead :o)

I-C-E  C-R-E-A-M is really awesome when you've been allergic to it all your life!

She can handle it in small amounts we've found...before she starts breaking out.

We didn't find the Blue Mosque that first night, but we did find the Grand Bazaar!

And it was so much bigger and nicer than I expected (this whole row is jewelry stores!)

Finally the next morning we were able to find the Blue Mosque...with the help of our tour guide.

It's quite stunning with it's 6 minarets...2nd highest number in the world

 The low "candlelight" chandeliers throughout the Mosque were quite beautiful

It is really named the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, but is called 

Blue Mosque by tourists for all the lovely blue tiles on the inside. 

 Just as in Ephesus there are stray cats everywhere!!  Autumn loved it!

 Next we visited the underground cistern.

And then the famous Hagia Sophie.

This is the exact replica of the Basilica of St. John we saw in Epehsus...except this one is still intact.

 It was huge on the inside. Again, I loved the low hanging chandeliers.

 There were several beautiful mosaics.

 Autumn giving it a "Thumbs Up"

 Pretty!

 Topkapi Palace...unfortunately you couldn't take pictures inside

The most impressive thing is the famous "Spoonmakers Diamond"...a whopping 86 carats!

 Garden at the palace

After a long day of walking we grabbed some yummy chicken kabobs and Turkish "pita" pizzas.  We were all tired from a long day so it was early to bed to get ready for another full day!

 First up...the Spice Bazaar!

 We bought some of the famous Apple Tea...

we sampled some the night before and it is delicious!!

 The spice bazaar was cool...much smaller than the Grand Bazaar though!

 This would be awesome to have close by if we lived here!

One quick story...I think one thing that suprised me more than anything else is how much the Turkish men LOVED Autumn...they were constantly scooping her up, showering her with kisses and gifts, and just oodling over her.  She was pretty shy at first, but by the end she was eating it up!  Here she is showing off one of the many, MANY pieces of candy they gave her in the Spice Bazaar.

After the Bazaar we were off on a Bosphorus Cruise...

this is the strait separating the European and Asian side of Istanbul.

 The Fortress of Anatolia

View from the lookout over Istanbul...too bad it was so hazy 

(Autumn was sleeping...don't worry we didn't forget her somewhere)

Beylerbeyi Palace...again no pictures inside :o(

 Hi Lion :o)

That was the end of our organized tour...phew...that was a LOT!!  That evening as we attempted to go get some dinner we discovered Jacob's bank card was gone.  We weren't sure if he lost it or it was stolen...so we rushed back to the hotel and called to cancel it right away.  Since it was the weekend we couldn't tell if anyone had withdrawn anything from his account, but luckily now it looks like it was likely only lost.  Thank goodness...still gave us quite a scare though.  Despite the scare, somehow I still managed to capture a few pics of the Mosque and Hagia Sophia in the evening.

 Blue Mosque...it looks like a castle at night.

Hagia Sophia

The next day we stuck close to our hotel waiting for our ride to the airport...it seems like the last day no matter what time your flight is, it is spent waiting and anticipating the trip home.  And apparently, by the looks of the pictures, all we did our last day in Istanbul was eat!

They were selling this corn on carts all over the city...I swore I was going to eat one before we left because they smelled so good.  I took one bite and hated it....Autumn on the other hand, loved it!

Lunch!!  We finally got the rotating meat sandwich!

More Ice Cream! Yummy :o)

 Bye, bye Blue Mosque...

And finally after our two hour ride to the airport we were headed home!  It was an exhausting trip, that definitely had it's up and downs.  But as you can see...there is a lot to see and do in Istanbul...and as crazy as it was, it was a trip I will never forget and one I will never regret making.

Click here to view the full Istanbul album.