- PICT0014
Sarah in quaint Belgian street. - PICT0015
Leslie in front of one of many cathedrals in the fine city of Brussels. This one they light up at night, changing colors and patterns to classical music. Cheesy but endearing. - PICT0016
Looking up at said cathedral's spire. - PICT0018
Building facades in the main plaza. The unifying theme: dingy Baroque. - PICT0019
I think the best thing we did in Brussels was leave the beaten tourist path on a walking tour suggested by our faithful "Let's Go." We saw lots of beautiful older buildings side-by-side with modern ones, which I tried to get at with this photo. - PICT0020
A narrow cobblestone street! We must take a picture! - PICT0022
Sarah in a park. (This is all on our book-guided walking tour.) - PICT0023
It's the park aaaand another cathedral. - PICT0025
Some...buildings... (I swear, I deleted a lot of these, but this was just a good representative shot.) - PICT0026
Some more...buildings... - PICT0028
The view from our hostel window--the spire of that first cathedral. - PICT0030
Couldn't go to Belgium without eating a waffle, could we? The crepes are to make up for the oversight in France. - PICT0031
Sarah, on another train. To Amsterdam! - PICT0032
In Amsterdam, we stayed with Sarah's friend Kacee, who lives there, and Josh, whom she lives with. They were incredibly gracious and incredibly fun. The following are a few shots of their beautiful apartment. - PICT0034
When I have a home again, I want to rip off their plant style--orchids and cacti. Beautiful! - PICT0036
The couch on the right was my bed. - PICT0037
After a first night of eating tapas and meeting a couple of Kacee's cool friends, we went out shopping and for a quick lunch. - PICT0038
Naturally, we were distracted from grocery shopping by the Heineken brewery/museum. Here are Sarah and I by a big old copper drum for...brewing, one can only guess. - PICT0039
And here we are in the bar, conveniently placed halfway through the museum. Three beers were included in the price of admission, and we ended up with a few more... - PICT0041
After a 2-3 hour break, we staggered out into the light to buy dinner. Here, Sarah pokes a fish in the market. - PICT0043
Okay, so I looked like a tourist in the market taking this shot. But really, how could I not? Look at all the flavors! - PICT0044
Sarah said hello to every dog we met in Europe, usually calling them "le chat" ("cat" in French). She wanted her picture with this one. He was pretty cool. - PICT0046
The market. The blue sky and 80 degree weather was very atypical. - PICT0050
Kacee buys olives, etc. - PICT0051
Dinner. - PICT0053
Attempt at a representative Amsterdam shot: red row buildings, bicycles, trees, the corner of a canal. - PICT0054
Another, featuring the canal more prominently. This was just outside the Anne Frank House. - PICT0056
You get the idea. - PICT0057
Sarah and Kacee with bikes! (EVERYONE rides a bike in Amsterdam. Usually a heavy, old one with a squishy seat and peddle brakes.) - PICT0060
We went on a long ride (well, long for us non-cyclists) through the Dutch countryside. We stopped for a photo-op with the sheep. It also features the perfectly aligned trees that mark most of the fields I saw in France, Belgium, and Holland.