Brussels, Belgium

Today, we woke up at five o' clock AM and took a taxi to meet my dad's students and took a bus to the European Union Parliament. We saw a presentation on how everything works and it was even more special because the elections for Parliament were also happening at the same time, something that takes place every five years! I then stood next to a large section of the Berlin Wall when it was knocked down in 1989 leading to the end of the Cold War between the U.S. and the USSR. Then, we went out to lunch with my dad's coworker and his family and ate noodles in Grand Place. After, we got chocolate and had some cold drinks while watching a protest of school children who walked out of their class against global warming from the deck of our restaurant. Then, we met up with all the students and went on a walking tour through Brussels and learned a lot of cool facts about the history of the city and the country of Belgium. We finished up at the Belgian national parliament and walked through King Leopold park in the center of Brussels. Everything was a lot of fun!

Cologne, Germany

Today, I went to Germany with my dad for the first time! First, we woke up and walked to the train station and rode the train, got off at Aachen and then took another train to Cologne, Germany. Then, when we got off the second train and went into the city and found an enormous church called the Cologne Cathedral! The church was so beautiful and old. After, we went to a chocolate museum called Schokoladenmuseum and saw how chocolate was made by the Lindt Company and the rich history behind it. Yum! Finally, we went walking around the city and went to some souvenir shops along the way. We got cool keychains for my brother and I, and some other treasures. We even got to go inside the beautiful Cathdral too. Then, we left to go back to the Netherlands after our fun adventure. Today was such a fun day with lots of sites to see and cool things to do!

Friet with Mayonaise

Today, we went out to lunch and had fries with lots of mayonaise in the open-market in the city square. Tomorrow, we are going to Germany to a chocalate museum in Cologne. Can't wait!

Walking Around

Today, we spent some time exploring the beautiful city of Maastricht. First, we went out to eat some yummy food! We got the Dutch Taco Pizza. Interesting, right? Afterwards, we went walking across a bridge that goes over the river Maas. After we crossed the bridge, we went around to another bridge that took us back to the start. On our way back to the apartment, we saw a group of young muscicians playing the Games of Thrones theme song! That was the highlight of our day. Before going back to our apartment, we visited a bookstore inside what was once a medieval church.

See the Game of Thrones theme music here: https://www.facebook.com/chris.dolan.7/videos/10217433718507308/

Last night, dad and I had dinner at Cafe Madrid. We ate a first plate of entrantes, primeros, ensaladas, and then a second plate of platos principales, segundo plato, carnesm and pescados. We then walked through the city and I had tiramisu ice cream.

Maastricht city tour

We also had a nice tour of the city of Maastricht with an interesting and fun guide from France. Really cool pictures of the Roman Empire wall and fortification and a former communications site for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that was so important it was targeted by Russia.