The Monument to The Battle of The Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal)

Quite the title, huh? It matches the amount of stairs you have to climb to get to the top perfectly! There are over 500 if you climb from the bottom to the very tippy-top (which we did!). The structure is 300 feet tall. Plenty tall to set my terrified-of-heights heart thudding in my chest. Whew!

 These massive statues were lining the outside walls and it reminded me of the guards on the last Harry Potter that Mcgonagall brings to life to protect the school... 

 This was the first level after the first hundred or so stairs. It's a circular shaped room with a huge dome roof. They had choral music playing over the speakers and, let me tell ya, the acoustics in that place are AH-mazing!! (do you see what I did there? ha!)

 Getting closer to the very top. The view is starting to get pretty impressive...and my legs are killing me...

The view from the very top. We made it!

Be sure to check out this video to see some life action panoramas of the different levels we were on...
Love you guys! Thanks for being interested in my life :)

Sunday Thoughts

While there is a list longer than my arm of things that I love about Germany, one of my very favorite things is the respect that is still held for Sunday. Not many people still attend church, but few businesses are open and there aren't many cars on the road. Especially when the weather is beautiful, like today, people are out with their families going for walks, bike rides, paddle boating the canal or just sitting on their balconies enjoying the day. It's quiet and peaceful, like a long smile.

I love that people take a day for themselves and forget about the worries of the week. I firmly believe Sundays are for reflection and spiritual preparation for the coming week. A day to stop, smell the roses and appreciate life. I encourage you to do the same and see what happens!

XO

Ostend--Hello North Sea!

Hello friends! We were in Ostend on the 5th and the weather was very cooperative. Not a cloud in sight! This was the first time that I've been to the North Sea. It did not disappoint...

 The weather couldn't have been better. A bright 80F all day. I even came home with a nice little burn on my chest and shoulders. 

 Just our luck something exciting happened and we had front row seats! A child was reported missing and so the lifeguard boats and police were deployed and the hunt began. I prayed hard that they wouldn't find him in the water. No one should have to go through that experience. It was interesting to watch everyone work together. Guarding a waterfront is a lot different than a pool, but there are still some similarities. 

 The search was called off about 30 minutes after it started and we later found out that the kid had been found in a shop on the board walk. Thank goodness!

 This entire hut was made out of machetes. Cool!

Ostend was one of my favorite cities that we've been too. Reminded me a little bit of SoCal. I love the beach!

**Video from the day can be found here.

Old Things

'Tomb Chapel Pottelsberghe de la Potterie
The funeral chapel is neo-gothic. She was built with salvaged materials from the medieval St. Gertrude Kirk (demolished in 1866). The chapel is the burial of eight members of the noble family Pottelsberghe de la Potterie. This tomb is the last remnant of the old cemetery, vacated in 1950.'

That is what the sign is stating in Dutch (thank you, Google Translate). We went for a walk with the kids the other day and this shabby and weather-worn structure caught my eye. It's hidden down a road we were passing and it just begged to have it's picture taken. A little creepy, huh?

Brussels

The past few cities that we have visited, the site seeing has been self-lead, but this time we were lucky enough to spend the day with some family friends who were residents of the area and knew just what to see.

 This massive and beautiful building was built in the mid-1800s and in the later 1900s, they put up scaffolding to clean it, but then the company went bankrupt and so the scaffolding just sat there until a couple years ago when more scaffolding was put over the old in order to remove it and actually clean the whole thing...confusing I know :)

 Another Harry Potter-esque scene :)

 The world's largest atom which was built for the world fair. Each bubble has an exhibit inside of it

 This garden was had two rent-a-cops walking around and blowing whistles at anyone who dared set foot on the grass...Princess Diaries, anyone??

 The water in this fountain was DISGUSTING, but I also half-wondered if I jumped in would I get any super-human abilities?

 musical instrument museum

 The Royal Palace of Belgium. The Royal Family doesn't live here anymore, but anytime there is an important meeting, it is taken here.

 The entrance into the palace.

 Pictures really don't do it justice. 

 This entire green portions of the room are made out of a special kind of beetle. Seen below.

 Made it to this pub just in time for the rain to start pouring. 

 Found not one, not two, but three chocolate shops with my name on them! Bought some milk chocolate with hazelnuts and chocolate dipped waffles. YUM!

 This statue is called 'Manneken Pis' and was originally built in the 1300s and then rebuilt in the 1600s. It's really funny that such a small statue attracts so many tourists every year. All the shops surrounding the figure are tributed to his name or selling souvenirs with him on it.

A piece of the gorgeous view from the overlook by the first building I showed you. I'll put the whole panoramic view here. 

Brussels is huge and there are so many things to see! I am so glad that we had knowledgeable tour guides who knew where to go and what was actually worth seeing. There were many museums and shops that we didn't get to go into. A person could spend a few days in Brussels alone. Needless to say it was a fantastic day!