Perfection!

I experienced the most perfect European weekend I have had since I arrived! Ginnie and Gail were in Brussels for work and stayed the weekend with me. I have not seen either one of them since I left Memphis so we had a lot to catch up on (5 months worth)! We knew going into this weekend we would do nothing but chat so no real confirmed plans were made. We were going as the "spirit led us" (our quote from Gail)!

The weekend started when I picked them up Friday morning and we came back to my apartment. They were so incredibly sweet to bring Maxie and I some awesome goodies and treats! One item they brought was my favorite....Velveeta and Rotel! We made rotel dip and opened 2 bottles of wine (yes, it was only 11AM, but who is keeping track of time?!). We proceeded to sit at the kitchen table and to begin "Chat-Fest 2007"!! As soon as we began, Carrie walks in (she has a key to my apartment and comes by and takes Maxie on a walk almost daily...isn't that sweet??!!). Anyway, I had forgotten to tell her I would be home that day....so we invited her to join the party! For those that don't remember, Carrie is JR's wife (I work with JR).

We finished off the entire bowl of rotel and made our way into the living room! Gail needed a little rest after all that eating...so Ginnie and I let Gail nap...but Maxie was not having any part of it. She proceeded to give her kisses all throughout her nap (and Gail loved it!!).

While Gail was napping, Ginnie and I went to my patio and continued to catch up! The weather was absolutely perfect so we really enjoyed our time outside. When Gail finished her nap, we all (including Maxie) headed to my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Canterbury, for dinner. I love this restaurant and Maxie gets so much attention when she is there!! We had a wonderful dinner and yes, did not stop talking the entire time! We eventually made it to bed that night with sore jaws from laughing and talking so much!!

On Saturday, I let the girls sleep in as they had a long rough week at work. Our plan was to go to the farmer's market at the end of my street to grab a waffle for breakfast and some goodies for lunch! We all started getting dressed and in the middle of getting dressed we ended up sitting on the floor and talking again! This was hilarious because when we looked up it was 2PM and we were still had wet hair from our showers and were still in pj's! It was perfect!!! We decided to go to Sablon area for lunch and some chocolate! We had lunch outside at Wittamers (a famous chocolatier) enjoying the perfect day and perfect weather!

Ginnie and I at Wittamers

Gail and I at Wittamers

We walked around after lunch and did a little shopping! We headed to the Grand Place for some last minute souvenir shopping and a visit to the Mannekin Pis (I will blog about him at a later date). There is always something festive going on downtown and in the Grand Place every time I go there. For dinner we headed to another neighborhood restaurant for another perfect dinner!

Ginnie and I with the Mannequin Pis who was dressed up!!

On Sunday we made it a point to just basically roll out of bed and get to the market before we got side tracked into more stories to cause us to miss the market...again! So we did just that....rolled out of bed and to the market for a waffle for breakfast and then bought items to take on a picnic for lunch! We also came home with some gorgeous hydrangeas!

Sunday was "No Car Day" in Brussels which meant no one but authorized motorists (taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, etc) we allowed on the roads from 9AM to 7PM. Since the weather was perfect, everyone was out on bikes or walking in the streets! It was gorgeous and so much fun! We packed up and headed to the Parc du Cinquantenaire for our picnic! This park is so beautiful and we knew this would be the perfect place for our day! The Arch (seen below) was planned for the world exhibition of 1880 and was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Belgium, hence the name, Cinquanteraire.

The location was perfect and there were so many people out and about because the weather was so beautiful! We laid out all of the goodies we got at the market for our lunch. Everything you see below was purchased from the market! Isn't that wonderful?!! We stayed at the park all day people watching, taking pictures with Ginnie's new awesome camera, playing with all the dogs, eating, and enjoying the day! There is no other word to describe our day, but 'perfect'!


Sunday night we continued "Chat-Fest 2007" and ordered Pizza Hut to satisfy my craving! We went to bed Sunday night knowing it was a perfect weekend that would have to be replicated sometime again soon when they return to Brussels!

Thanks Ginnie and Gail for the most perfect weekend I have had in Brussels yet!!!