Belgium!

     We had a terrific opportunity to go to Belgium this past weekend.  The draw was an international motorcross event: Motocross of Nations.  Race and Aaron attended the event while Juliann and I explored Lommel, Belgium.
     First things first though; we found affordable plane tickets from Rome to Eindhoven,Netherlands so we drove from Naples to Rome (2hr-ish drive) It was nice to see a little more of Italy. You know, there are a lot of hills/mountains around here?nice :)   When we got to Rome, relatively simple arrival,etc. we got worried that we wouldn't have time to make our departure. Our gate was supposed to close at 11:25 and got in line (a VERY long, convoluted line) at 10:20. Once through the line, we rushed to our gate. We rushed? We didn't need to because we got to our gate and saw nothing but a sea of people.  We had no idea where our gate line was so we just stood in the general area. Let me tell you that this was our first experience with RyanAir-known as the Cheap Airline..haha. You know the saying, "you get what you pay for" well, we paid to stand in long lines, be shoved in a little space to fly 1,000miles(or kilometers, I can't remember) or so..haha!
       Needless to say, our flight departed about an hour and a half later than originally planned.  We made it to Eindhoven safely (Thank God!) and the airport there was so quiet and peaceful. Night and day difference compared to our Naples and Rome airport experiences.  When we walked outside the airport we enjoyed.....fresh air! Naples is a bit..smoggy, smoky, stinky. ugh  Anyway, we felt a lot more comfortable immediately, in Netherlands.
     When we got to the hotel Aaron booked, we learned that he had scheduled with a hotel(sister hotel) about an hour away from Lommel.  Knowing this was a very busy weekend for the small town of Lommel, we thought we were going to be sleeping on the streets of Belgium.  Thankfully, there was room for us at the Inn :)   The hotel was older; filled with several antique pieces of furniture,etc.  The woman who operated the inn, was very nice and spoke fluent english! (sad to say, we don't know any Dutch which most Belgians spoke in that area)
   Aaron and Race spent all of Saturday and Sunday at the event (see Race's blog via his Facebook page)  Sounded like it was above and beyond too crazy for me so I'm not sad I didn't go.  Juliann and I walked around the town. We explored some of the shops until it started pouring rain. Thankfully, the visitor center was near us so we took cover there.  I'm so glad we did too because we had fun exploring the 'museum' that was there. Lommel is quite proud of their sand and there were several areas in the museum where we could learn about that. It was actually, pretty interesting :)  Next door there was a glass museum and school.
      Since we had the whole day to do what we wanted, we went to the Chocolat Cafe and had waffles (Belgian, of course!) and swedish pancakes. (Keep in mind, for the past month, we have only had Napoli breakfast: fruit, undercooked bacon, salami, toast, etc.)  Juliann and I, especially, were really excited for pancakes and waffles! :)  I also indulged in a Cafe au latte(pic below)  After brunch, we walked past a hair salon that was open. (Lommel was a pretty quiet, unbusy town :) Since Juliann has been bugging me to get her hair cut since before we left for Italy, I took her in.  The hair dresser spoke ONLY Dutch so Juliann drew a picture of what she wanted and off they went. I encouraged her to be brave :)  Thankfully, all turned out great! She looks amazing!

 Belgians love their bicycles!

 room 'o sand samples from Lommel as well as around the world

 Cafe au latte-can you see how the spoon was dipped in a cube of chocolate? yum! Pinterest idea!

 Isn't she lovely? :)

 Just about every door on the houses were different and interesting-loved it!

 All the homes and yards were neat and tidy. It was so nice. Hydrangeas-my fave-must love the sandy soil in Lommel, they were everywhere and every color. So pretty. (Below:) some kids rode their dirt bikes right up to McDonalds and parked them in the outside seating area. Only in Europe. haha!

     Like I said, it was quite peaceful in Belgium.  We greatly enjoyed the beauty of the trees, farmland and lovely homes around the area.  It was also quite fun to see everyone riding around on bicycles-some with large wicker baskets on them. I loved it! I was sad not to find some bikes to rent for the weekend, though :( oh well.   Last, but not least, I enjoyed seeing all the horses around in Lommel. Medicine for my soul :)  sorry no pictures..