Friday... Headed to Belgium!

Ok, time to put back on the running shoes - we are headed out for another full weekend!  We are on our way to Belgium now with many plans in store!  :)
So, first off - I get to experience the German autobahn - where you can drive ridiculous speeds!  Good lord...  So, I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it says this:
"German autobahnen have no general speed limit but the advisory speed limit is 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph)."
Advisory speed.  Notice that.  I got to see my brother seriously get the car up to 131mph...  NOT kph - mph!!!  I have a picture to prove it.  I have to admit, at first it freaked me out - but by the end of the trip I kinda didn't notice as much...  But, I've never been in a vehicle moving that fast before - so it was strange for sure!
Anyway, we made great time.  ;)  Our first stop was the Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany - where Scott's last assignment was.  We went on base and he drove me around to get an idea of the layout, where his squadron was, where his jets were parked, etc...  We also got gas on the base as it is much cheaper...  It was really cool to see - I always love going to Scott's work places and seeing this whole other world.  :)  
After the base we drove to the near-by adorable little town of Kyllburg, which was where he lived while working at Spangdahlem.  It was an adorable little village.  You literally drove down down down to the bottom of it, and I commented that I would assume the place was a giant bitch in the winter, but Scott said that it really wasn't too bad...  Anyway, we drove thru the little town and up to the apartment where he had lived there - which sat up on a hillside overlooking the town - so it was really cool.  The gate was shut to the apartment building so we couldn't walk around - but I got to see the outside and the front yard area...  Very cute.  :)
After our driving tour of this area where Scott spent his last few years we continued on to Brussels, where we were staying for the night.  Scott had reserved a hotel room in the center of town - so we parked the car and checked in to the hotel.  It was a really nice place - apparently it only opened a year ago - and the funny thing is is that it is mostly a businessman hotel - so it's actually quite a bit cheaper to stay there on the weekend...  It was a nice room, and the first hotel we'd been at that actually included breakfast in your stay.  Much different than Paris.  The only funny thing - the damn shower stall had one of those stupid 1/2 doors again.  So weird to me.  :)
Anyway, we checked in and left our bags in the room and then headed out to walk around...  It was a Friday night, big city - so the streets were busy, but not obnoxious.  We were wandering thru more cute cobblestone streets with many restaurants/cafes/bars along them with everyone eating/drinking outside - and then all of a sudden you walk in to a magical place.  :)  It's the 'Grand Place' - which said in French sounds way cooler.  :)  Anyway, it is literally a plaza with 360degrees of amazing buildings surrounding you!  There is the Brussels Town Hall, which began construction in 1401 - and the "Maison du Roi", which houses the museum of the city of Brussels - - - those were the two most elaborate buildings - but all of them are gorgeous with their architecture and grandiose presence.  Scott said "Just wait 'till it gets dark."  
We sat down for dinner at one of the many outdoor restaurants.  I spotted that they had Lambic (fruit beer of Belgium) on the menu, so I actually had a drink with Scott.  :)  We ordered our dinner - sort of like a chicken pot pie kind-of (we both got this) and it, of course, came with frites.  :)  We enjoyed our meal, except for the couple that sat down next to us (and they're like inches away here) and they smoked a billion cigarettes while they enjoyed their coffees.  But, I've almost gotten used to this by now.  :)  Anyway, as the evening wore on darkness came and the towers in the plaza lit up - and then the place was really awesome looking in a whole different way, just as Scott had promised.  :)
After dinner we headed out of the plaza to roam the streets and go to the other famous Belgian landmark - "Manneken Pis".  You know, the little boy peeing?  I've seen the remakes many times, in fountains and whatnot...  Well, this is the original, real thing...  We wandered down some streets, came to a corner, and there it was.  I said to Scott "That's it?"  It is so tiny.  It absolutely cracked me up - I was getting to used to everything over here being huge and magnificent - and then this little guy is just that - LITTLE!!!  :)  But, we got a few pictures with it, and moved on.  :)
We went back to the hotel and crashed - it had been a long day of traveling - and we had an early start tomorrow...  But I was very happy with the day - it is special to me to get to see where Scott had lived/worked there in Germany - and then getting a glimpse of the city of Brussels.  Looking VERY forward to tomorrow!  It's going to be the most special day of this entire European vacation!!!  XoXo.