The 9th Art

Belguim is known for a lot of things: Beer, Chocolate, Waffles, Frites (ok, the last is incorrectly attributed to the French but I will cover that in the next post).  What I didn't know until I was recently researching our trip to Brussels was that they are very well known as the capital of the 9th Art - Comics.  In fact, many consider Belgium the home of the comic strip.  Having given the world the Smurfs, Tin-Tin, Asterix and Obelix, I might have to agree.

In 1989, The Belgian Comic Book Center was opened (which we visited yesterday) and offered visitors a place to see the art and marketing behind some of the most famous comics in Europe.  Two years later, a commision was formed between the Brussels government and the Comic Book Center to embellish the empty walls that dotted the city and remind people about Belgium's role in the comic trade.  Today, there are over 50 comics depicted on walls all over the city, most located inside the city center (called the pentagon) and Brussels provides a detailed map and route of the murals at its information centers.  Of course, we picked one up and spent a couple of hours each day searching them out in between eating, drinking and our other sightseeing duties.  I have compiled a selection of some of my favorites...

"Broussaille"

This is the very first mural painted in July 1991.

"Victor Sackville"

"Tin-Tin"

"Ric Hochet"

"The Angel"

"Nero"

"Asterix and Obelix"

"Lucky Luke"

"Nick's Dream"

"Cori the Ship Boy"

"Cubitus"

The furry dog takes the Manneqen Pis's place and the Manneqen doesn't seem too pleased.

And we can't forget the comic statues that pop up at the top of stairs...

And to all a good night...

Celebrating Christmas in Florida was a first for us as.  We were happy about the prospect of sunny weather, beach time and seeing the whole family just after but it was also a bit strange to not be skiing for the first time in many years.  We got over that pretty quickly while soaking in the Florida sunshine.  And we might have been in a new spot for the holidays but that doesn't mean we didn't bring all of our traditions to the beach - Ugly Sweater decorating, Nana and Grampa reading the Night before Christmas before bed on Christmas Eve, leaving out cookies and milk (and even carrots for the reindeer since Santa called personally to remind us).  We even did something new and decorated ugly socks.  It truly was beginning to feel just like Christmas...

And then we donned our Christmas jammies (that we got in our stockings) and went to bed with visions dancing in our heads of the presents we would hand out in the morning.  Those duties, as in all years past, fell to the girls while the adults had their mimosas and Kringle (flown in from Wisconsin, per usual). 

All in all, it went off without a hitch.  Stinkerbell and MadHatter loved the presents they got from everyone (Stinkerbell does not have a poker face - see proof below) and we all enjoyed watching them rip into their gifts.  Sadly, we did not have any time to play with them because we were due to leave for a few days with B's side of the family and we had to get packed.  We bid Nana and Grampa a very Merry Christmas and set off in our sleigh for Boca Raton.

I hope everyone had a day as fun and filled with family and loved ones as we did!  Merry Christmas to all...

Home for the Holiday's

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we awoke to find Fidget ready to head to the U.S. with us.  We promptly tucked her under our arms and made our way to the airport to begin our long journey to Florida.  But first, we stopped at the airports very own Christkindlmarkt...

 We arrived after an uneventful trip and were greeted by Nana and Grampa at the Orlando airport.  We were exhausted (it takes about 20 hours to get from door to door) but very excited about the surprise passes we had for Disney World for the next day.  Jet lag, schmetlag...You just aren't allowed to be tired at Disney.  We got there early and stayed most of the day wandering around and soaking up everything we missed about the Magic Kingdom (we used to have season passes to the one in Disneyland after all).  The sun was shining, the crowds were thin and the holidays were everywhere we looked.

So, so bright!

 Always our first ride...

We left early that day.  We still had a 3 hour trip back to Nana and Grampa's place but we were not sad as we would be right back again in 2 weeks for the main event.  Stay tuned for those posts...

We spent the next 10 days just lazing around (like the cat in Stinkerbell's suitcase), soaking in the sunshine and watching the gorgeous colors of the winter sunsets.  I don't have many pictures because I feel like I have taken them all before but trust me, it was a lot of fun with a lot more to come.