Day 7 - Sunday

I was debating about what to do today and decided to ditch the other two guys I'm with. They were talking about doing Amsterdam, which I didn't have a huge interest in doing. Plus, we found out the Tour de France was starting this weekend and happened to be going through Belgium! I decided I would rather do that and so they decided to do Paris. I've already been to Paris twice and I really like it, but it loses its fun going back with people that want to do the basics for their first time.

I decided it would be fun to see a few cities throughout Belgium that I hadn't seen and find a town to catch the race. I left around 8am and headed to Gent, about an hour north-west of Waterloo. I parked outside the biggest cathedral I could find to make finding my car easier. The town was bigger and more beautiful than I thought it would be. I walked around and found numerous squares with a bunch of cafes and shops. There is a main canal that runs through the town with boat tours; it was beautiful. Needless to say, I took a lot of photos. I had passed up a square I really liked and started to get nervous that I wouldn't be able to find it again, but luckily I did. It was the perfect European setting; I grabbed a cappuccino and strawberry crepe which were unbelievable, read my book, did some people watching...it was perfect. I stayed until 11 and then decided to head to Antwerpen about 45minutes to the east.

I planned to stay in Antwerpen to watch the Tour de France, but the city was much more industrialized than I thought it would be. I drove around a little while, but wasn't impressed enough to even get out of the car. Luckily I did see a laundromat and had brought my laundry with just in case. Also luckily, there was a local there that was nice enough to help point out how to use the machine. So at least Antwerpen was useful to get my laundry done, but not much else. I had drawn a map with some other towns south, towards Brussels, in case Antwerpen didn't work out. Good thing!

So, I headed back on the road and went to Mechelen. I had no idea what to expect, but was hoping it would be a nice, small scenic spot to catch the race. It was much bigger than I expected, but worked out well. Even with the GPS it was a little difficult to figure out where to go in town due to road closures for the race. After many u-turns, I found a spot I thought was safe. After I walked a minute, I panicked and was afraid that one of the signs I had seen said that the road I parked on would be closed due to the race. Obviously I have no idea what it said, but I started to picture my car being stuck on the street for rest of the night. So, I decided to find another spot, which worked out perfect. I thought I was there about an hour-and-a-half early based on what the website said for expected times. I walked around a little to get a lay of the land and figure out what would be a good spot. I had no idea what to expect, but I found a spot that was wide open next to the guard rail they had setup. I had a full-view in both directions and thought it would be perfect. There was a carnival setup, a giant TV with the race, and some other venders. I grabbed an ice-cream and later a beer while I was waiting and then headed back to my spot, which was still wide-open. Well, I ended-up being more like three hours early and by the time the race started, the whole area was jammed. It was too bad because I wasn't able to get any really good photos like I was hoping for, but it was a neat experience. It was impossible to tell when the riders were going to actually come as there was a parade of different cars for police, officials, press, venders, etc. for what seemed like at least an hour before the riders actually came through. Once they did get close, we were able to tell from the additional police motorcycles and helicopters over head. There were three riders (I believe) out front and then the rest of the pack just a few seconds behind. It all lasted less than a minute and then they were gone. It was quick, but I'm still glad I did it.

I headed back to the car, grabbed some dinner at McDonald's (I know...I went to McDonald's in Belgium), and headed back to the hotel. I've been relaxing now for the past few hours outside on the front lawn of the hotel, finished a book, had a beer, and took care of these posts. Pretty good weekend overall.

Day 6 - Saturday - text to go with the photos

So I have some time to catch-up on my post from yesterday. Three of us decided to do Germany; my first time, so I was anxious to check it off my list. We started in Aachen which is just across the western German border. On the ~two hour drive, we actually passed through the Netherlands, so I can count that country too... Anyway, the drive was easy, no border crossings/posts at all. We found a place to park and just started walking around with no specific destination in mind. The middle picture on the last post is the main cathedral in Aachen. There was a small square near the church and a few nice streets (picture three from the last post), but the town seemed to have more new stores, etc.

We stayed for two hours and then headed to Cologne (Koln) which was about 45minutes east on the Rhine River. Cologne was much bigger and had a mix of old squares and newer development. We parked in the tightest parking garage ever and then started walking towards a cathedral we could see. We had a great German lunch; I had pork sausage with potatoes and a few beers (the beer was much lighter than most of the Belgium beers; it wasn't as good either). We walked around more and then got caught in the first rain we've seen since being here. We found a window awning, thinking the rain would be short lived. After about 10 minutes, it started raining as hard as I've ever seen it rain. We decided it was time to find a store to run into and made it just as the winds picked-up. It was pretty crazy and ended up staying like that for at least half-an-hour. As Germany had a World Cup soccer game, we decided it would be fun to find a bar and watch the game. Luckily Germany won and it was pretty neat being able to experience it with the Germans. It took awhile to get back on the highway as everyone was driving around celebrating. Good time overall.

Day 6 - Saturday

For now, picture only post from Aachen and Cologne in Germany:

Day 5 - Friday

Work was a little busier in the shop which was good. We left work a little early so we could head to the airport to have someone check into the airport hotel for the night and then head to Brussels. We struggled to figure out where to park and then walked around for awhile. We walked by the Mannekin Pis, Grande Place, and random streets. We had dinner at a little outdoor restaurant. They had a fixed meal option, which I had. Since I was in Belgium I decided I needed to try oysters, which I decided to leave to only an appetizer. It's a good thing; they were gross. Really slimy and salty. The steak for the entree was much better and tiramisu for dessert. We walked around a little more after dinner and even though I wasn't hungry, I had to get a waffle (with white chocolate and strawberries). Delicious!

Day 4 - Thursday

Another fairly quite day. After work, we had a team dinner with a few of the Gosselies employees. They took us to "2 Fenetres" in Charleroi. It was a unique italian restaurant; we had a mix of cold appetizers (prosciutto, tomato and cheese, ...) and then a mix of four pastas (crab raviolli, cheese raviolli, black truffle pasta, and pasta with marinara). I forgot to take a picture...opps. That was about it.

Day 3 - Wednesday

Another slow day...issues loading on the main assembly line...Again, was able to get some other things done and met with a supplier who drove in from the Netherlands. Stayed at work until about 6 and went out to "Six Colonnes" restaurant in Waterloo. It was quite possibly the slowest meal ever...we sat down around 7 and weren't served until after 9pm. Although slow service/meals are normal in Belgium, this was excessive. Anyway, the meal was pretty good; I had grilled salmon with veggies and potatoes. Surprisingly, no dessert for any of us...I think it was too late by that point. Headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Day 2 - Tuesday

I'm a little behind on my updates...not much too exciting to talk about. Slept alright, but woke-up a few times through out the night. We had breakfast at the hotel; traditional European breakfast; meat, cheese, croissants, eggs, coffee, ... Headed out to work around 7am for my first full day of work. The day was pretty slow as an issue was discovered and we didn't put the tractor on the main assembly line as we expected. I was able to get some emails and other work done which eneded up being prety nice.
We stayed until around 6:30 and then went out to dinner in Waterloo at Comme a la Maison. I had pasta bolognese for dinner and a chocolate lava cake for dessert. And a few beers...