Mills's European Christmas
(Yes, I realize this is six months late.)
My parents came to Europe for Christmas, and I had a great time showing them around. We stayed in Brussels, and traveled to Gent, Bruges, and Mons in Belgium. We went to Paris, and then to London. Unfortunately, we all got sick at different times in the trip, but even through that and some really cold weather, we had a GREAT time.
This is us at the monkey in Mons. No one really knows the story of the monkey that's attached to the town hall, but it's the town's mascot at this point.
They landed in Brussels airport, and I took them by train to their hotel, the Novotel, about one block from the Grand Place in Brussels.
My Dad couldn't keep his jaw off the floor because he'd never seen anything like it.
We went out walking in the evening, and went to the Christmas Market.
There was a really crazy-cool merry-go-round
and a Mongolian throat singing band
along with all the little cottage-shops
and the skating rink in front of the ferris wheel.
We decided to go on a bus tour of Brussels and saw a lot of the sites
of Brussels. We also went on a day trip to Gent and Bruges.
Here we are in Gent in front of St. Michael's Cathedral.
This is my mom with a nice Italian woman who was also on the tour. The church behind them is the Notre Dame of Bruges where Madonna by Michaelangelo is housed. It's the only Michaelangelo outside of Italy from what I've heard.
We took this picture in Bruges of a little shop for my Aunt whose name is Serena.
The next day, we visited my town, of Mons, where there was also a Christmas market. This is a juniper sculpture, which is a tradition at our Christmas market.
My mom wanted to take a picture of my father and me outside my workplace
and of the stained glass inside.
We stayed in Mons until nightfall when the lights in the Grand Place of Mons were lit up. That's my dad, me, and J, my friend/coworker, in the picture.
My parents also got to meet my friends/coworkers, J and J, as well as my soon-to-be-roommate, C, in an Italian cafe on the Grand Place.
The next day, we traveled to Paris. The start of the journey was a bit too exciting as I'd forgotten my passport in Mons, and I had to take a train there, a crazy cab ride, and a train back to the Brussels South station where I met my parents. My parents made it there on their own on the subway with their luggage, which was no small feat. My mother's first subway right had been the day before!
Once we got to Paris, I navigated us our hotel by metro, which turned out to be a bit more lifting of luggage than we wanted to do. Ah, well, lesson learned, and we took a taxi on our way to the train out of Paris.
The next morning, we did a tour of Normandy that left by private van from our hotel. That was really awesome. We got to see the D-Day beaches,
the American cemetary and D-Day museum,
and eat at a really good restaurant in Normandy with a pretty fun couple.
The next day, we met S and O for brunch. They just happened to be in Paris for S's first trip to Europe. Everybody seemed to really enjoy everyone else's company, and it was really great for me to see O, my brother from another mother.
Brunch (with knitting)!
In front of the Louvre
Later, my parents and I did a bus tour of Paris. I have to say that I wouldn't have done that on my own, but maybe I'm a believer now. You get to see an overview of the entire city pretty quickly and get an idea of what you'd like to go back and see more of.
The next day we did a smaller private tour again of the Montmartre,
(this is a view of the art market near the Sacre Coeur),
the Eiffel tower (here's a view from the tower), and a riverboat ride on the Seine.
That night, my parents stayed in, but O and I walked about 4 km along the Seine to watch the Eiffel tower at the change to the new year.
It was lit up real pretty like.
Then we were off to London. We met up with my friends, A and R, who live there right now, for supper one night. We really only had one full day in London, so, we did a bus tour there, too. The bus tour in London, however, was about four hours long, where the others had been 1 to 2 hours. It was really intense, but it was good to understand so much more about the city.
We got to see the tower bridge
and Big Ben and parliment.
It was a good time and I was really happy to be able to show my folks around a bit. My dad said it was one of the best experiences of their lives. Yay!
My parents came to Europe for Christmas, and I had a great time showing them around. We stayed in Brussels, and traveled to Gent, Bruges, and Mons in Belgium. We went to Paris, and then to London. Unfortunately, we all got sick at different times in the trip, but even through that and some really cold weather, we had a GREAT time.
This is us at the monkey in Mons. No one really knows the story of the monkey that's attached to the town hall, but it's the town's mascot at this point.
They landed in Brussels airport, and I took them by train to their hotel, the Novotel, about one block from the Grand Place in Brussels.
My Dad couldn't keep his jaw off the floor because he'd never seen anything like it.
We went out walking in the evening, and went to the Christmas Market.
There was a really crazy-cool merry-go-round
and a Mongolian throat singing band
along with all the little cottage-shops
and the skating rink in front of the ferris wheel.
We decided to go on a bus tour of Brussels and saw a lot of the sites
of Brussels. We also went on a day trip to Gent and Bruges.
Here we are in Gent in front of St. Michael's Cathedral.
This is my mom with a nice Italian woman who was also on the tour. The church behind them is the Notre Dame of Bruges where Madonna by Michaelangelo is housed. It's the only Michaelangelo outside of Italy from what I've heard.
We took this picture in Bruges of a little shop for my Aunt whose name is Serena.
The next day, we visited my town, of Mons, where there was also a Christmas market. This is a juniper sculpture, which is a tradition at our Christmas market.
My mom wanted to take a picture of my father and me outside my workplace
and of the stained glass inside.
We stayed in Mons until nightfall when the lights in the Grand Place of Mons were lit up. That's my dad, me, and J, my friend/coworker, in the picture.
My parents also got to meet my friends/coworkers, J and J, as well as my soon-to-be-roommate, C, in an Italian cafe on the Grand Place.
The next day, we traveled to Paris. The start of the journey was a bit too exciting as I'd forgotten my passport in Mons, and I had to take a train there, a crazy cab ride, and a train back to the Brussels South station where I met my parents. My parents made it there on their own on the subway with their luggage, which was no small feat. My mother's first subway right had been the day before!
Once we got to Paris, I navigated us our hotel by metro, which turned out to be a bit more lifting of luggage than we wanted to do. Ah, well, lesson learned, and we took a taxi on our way to the train out of Paris.
The next morning, we did a tour of Normandy that left by private van from our hotel. That was really awesome. We got to see the D-Day beaches,
the American cemetary and D-Day museum,
and eat at a really good restaurant in Normandy with a pretty fun couple.
The next day, we met S and O for brunch. They just happened to be in Paris for S's first trip to Europe. Everybody seemed to really enjoy everyone else's company, and it was really great for me to see O, my brother from another mother.
Brunch (with knitting)!
In front of the Louvre
Later, my parents and I did a bus tour of Paris. I have to say that I wouldn't have done that on my own, but maybe I'm a believer now. You get to see an overview of the entire city pretty quickly and get an idea of what you'd like to go back and see more of.
The next day we did a smaller private tour again of the Montmartre,
(this is a view of the art market near the Sacre Coeur),
the Eiffel tower (here's a view from the tower), and a riverboat ride on the Seine.
That night, my parents stayed in, but O and I walked about 4 km along the Seine to watch the Eiffel tower at the change to the new year.
It was lit up real pretty like.
Then we were off to London. We met up with my friends, A and R, who live there right now, for supper one night. We really only had one full day in London, so, we did a bus tour there, too. The bus tour in London, however, was about four hours long, where the others had been 1 to 2 hours. It was really intense, but it was good to understand so much more about the city.
We got to see the tower bridge
and Big Ben and parliment.
It was a good time and I was really happy to be able to show my folks around a bit. My dad said it was one of the best experiences of their lives. Yay!