Belgium's National Day!

Well, it's been almost two weeks now, and we're finally starting to settle in! Jason's doing great with his new projects at work and I've been busy trying to "set up" house and explore the city! It's also come to my attention that a trip to the grocery store will probably be a part of my daily routine, as everything comes in such small portions, and it all has to be carried back to the apartment! But again, the grocery store excursions have provided me with enough material to be a plentiful blog post of their own. (coming soon)

Last week was rather wonderful since it turned out Jason only had a 3-day work week because of Belgium's National Holiday. (Like our 4th of July, basically) On Wednesday night, one of his co-workers, Geoffroy, took us on a tour of some of Brussels' nightly hot spots, which was great fun while also being super educational, ha! It was also even more proof that heels are just not an option here. I see women wearing them, but they’re usually low, huge chunky heels (cowboy boot-esque), and I own nothing like that. But the fashions here are also something that could get a post all to itself. (potentially coming soon when we have a lull in our adventures)

SO! Onward to the actual point of this post! Thursday the 21^st was Belgium’s National Day where the Royal family gets paraded around, thousands gather in front of the royal palace, and strange activities happen all day all around the city!

The Belgian Royal Palace in Brussels

Ummm, a baby on a tank? 

The theme of the day was “I think we missed it.” We didn’t really know the parade route, so by the time we got to the Palace, it was over! (but we did get to see most of it on TV, which was probably a lot better view than if we were anywhere around the palace!) So then we took a spin through the royal park which transformed into a big festival full of music, food, and... *cue the strange activities*

Yea, it was pretty weird, but so fun to see! After walking through the festival, we decided to keep exploring that part of the city, and we found the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.

And it was even more gorgeous on the inside…

One of the coolest parts of the church was the “floating” organ. Even better, there was a special concert being presented for National Day, and visitors could just come and go as they pleased and listen to this amazing organ concert. Needless to say, Jason was in heaven. *no church pun intended… ok maybe a little* And we found out that since it’s such a renowned organ, they have concerts all through the summer/fall featuring different artists. I can only guess we’ll be back for more…

Later in the evening we started to hear fireworks, so we ran out of our flat to go see where they were, but it must have been the shortest firework show in history, because by the time we got to the palace-area (about a ten minute walk) they were over!! So, yup, we missed it! Again! But on the way back we were able to catch the annual Town Hall Light show which had music that coordinated with all of the lights in the hall. (Catch the video here!)

Overall it was amazing to get to see, experience, understand, and observe how another country and it's people show love for their culture and country! Mostly it was fun to see how some things don't change no matter which country you're in. Nothing says celebrating your country like a hotdog, beer, and fireworks :)

Tomorrow I'll be posting about our day trip to Ghent, so stay-tuned!!

Love,

The Newlyweds