A Visit to Villers Abbey in Villers La Ville

Going on an adventure! I took the train from Genval to the train station in Ottignies, waited about 40 minutes, then changed trains to head to Villers Abbey in Villers la Ville! From there, I walked the ~ 1 mile to the Abbey, had a LOVELY couple of hours there, walked back to the train station, rode to Ottignies, waited another 30 minutes or so, and took a different train back to Genval! So much fun!

The earliest buildings of the abbey no longer exist, but the abbey was completely rebuilt by the end of the 13th century. The first restoration work was done in 1893, and a larger scale restoration in 1984.

The Abbot's Palace (built in 1720-1721).

In the gardens, looking towards the church (original construction

began in 1197!)

The abbey is such a peaceful, beautiful place. There is a quiet spirit about the place, and you can almost picture the monks walking quietly around several hundred years ago! Amazing!

This was an interesting, old tablet I found... Don't really know what it says other than it appears to be in memory of someone (or something?) and has interesting dates at the bottom. :-)

The church was incredible!

I had a lovely time in the Villers Abbey!

Another Wonderful Week - Week 4

Skyping with Grandpa (Paul Petrie), Uncle Matthew, and cousin Gabriella!

I LOVE THIS BABY!!! :-D

Because of the volcanic ash advisory, Marta and her Mommy weren't able to leave Belgium on Monday as planned, (they ended up leaving on Wednesday), so Marta had to spend some time on the phone with travel agencies, airline companies, friends, and family. At least, that's what we think she was doing?

Just like the bananas all over the world that couldn't get to Belgium because of the flight restrictions from the Icelandic volcano, the bananas in the Petrie garage were going bad... so... I made my first Belgian banana bread (sshhhh... don't tell, but it's actually the first banana bread I've ever made! Rebecca and I tried a fresh, still-warm piece before bed and decided it probably won't kill anybody...)

I believe there is a song about Rebecca's Garden. It has a line that says... "Two [turtle] doves..."

... "And a partri... I mean... PIGEON in a pear tree!"

He's All That I Need

From a journal entry 9-25-07

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow His calling,
To a place of unknown,
With dependence on Him,
There His greatness is shown..

Trust just grows stronger,
When it's put to the test,
At each stage believing,
Every next step is blessed.

His grace has new meaning,
Poured out at great need,
More Him and less me,
In word and in deed.

Serving is easy,
At my time and place,
But when dying to self,
One must serve by God's grace.

Asked to surrender,
There is humanly pain,
But your giving away,
Brings God's greatest gain.

God's proved Himself faithful,
He's all that i need.
Lord, help me to live,
A life at Your lead.

Brussels!

I had the wonderful opportunity to again visit Brussels, Belgium, this time on a BEAUTIFUL, clear, blue sky, warm sunny day with a new dear friend, Diana (from the Netherlands). We had a wonderful day, and of course took lots of pictures to help remember it! :-)

We began by taking the train from Genval to Brussels. I LOVE the train, and also get a bit of an adrenalin rush in trying to make sure we get the right tickets and get on the right train! :-) This is Diana and I on the train...

Then came the big job of making sure we got off at the right station... Bruxelles Centraal! We did, and were greeted in the train station by a most outstanding live band performed by a group of senior citizens... and they were awesome musicians! (see video) I kept thinking somebody was going to suddenly jump out and yell "Candid Camera" or that the band was going to do something really random, like my siblings and I have seen from "Improv Everywhere" (google it online if you haven't seen it before! :-)

From the train station we headed to the Grand Place... which was every bit as grand this visit as it was 2 1/2 years ago! What incredible architecture!

We also visited the Manneken Pis, (http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussel-manneken.htm)

who was dressed as a soldier this day and peeing some sort of drink (probably beer or wine?) into cups for people to drink. Diana and I passed on this opportunity, but enjoyed observing the excitement. There were also several Belgian military veterans (?) there, so we presume there was some sort of ceremony or celebration going on. (On a side note, Diana and I also found out that Manneken Pis has a sister, Jeanneken Pis, who we eventually found (after much searching) in a small street hidden behind a bunch of restaurants. She too, is urinating... sigh. Such indecency?!

We came across a few really old looking walls and what looks like the remains of a castle. They are so interesting because they are just stuck right in the middle of Brussels (or rather, Brussels was built right around them!), so they are surrounded by more modern buildings, but have obviously been around for a lot longer than I have! :-)

We visited the cool clock with the statues

representing the different trades of Belgium

(and this time nobody was missing!)

And we visited the Royal Palace ... and the park behind the palace, which used to be the king's hunting grounds! I love this park!

And this, I believe, is my favorite spot in all Brussels... I just LOVE the view! Diana and I walked past and through this spot quite a few times on Saturday, and we laughed each time we had to go back through that way (let's just say we did a LOT of walking and didn't really plan our routes well, so backtracked a lot, much to my joy! ;-)

I know you will find this hard to believe, but we ate a lot in Brussels!!! First was a lunch of delicious sandwiches in fresh, HUGE baguette (Subway... how's THAT for a foot long?! :-). Then, a few hours later, we had some amazing waffles... and a few hours later, rounded out our day with some Belgian frites and mayonaise (the "real" way to eat frites! :-) We decided to pass on the Brussels sprouts and have enough Belgian chocolate at home that we decided not to invest in that route this time... :-)

We also visited one of my favorite churches in Brussels! I've never been inside, but the outside awes me every time... and on this visit there was a WEDDING at the church! Can you imagine being married here?! (Maybe my newly engaged brother will consider a Belgian wedding? ;-)

This is just another beautiful church in Brussels.

And we saw the Atomium, which is one those things that you "HAVE" to see, but don't really know why. It was built for the World Fair in Brussels in 1958... http://www.atomium.be/

And then... we took the train home; happy, exhausted, foot-sore, and did I mention, happy? What a great day to enjoy a beautiful city!

More Photos From Week #3

Marta is quite in awe of the "diaper cake" for her baby shower! What a cool idea! :-)

Marta and her "diaper cake" made by Mary Floyd for her baby shower! Baby showers are not traditional in Belgium, so it was fun to both have a shower and also share with some of the Belgian guests what a baby shower is! :-)

Marta loves kisses; especially from Mom and Grandma!

(p.s. If you think I've taken entirely too many pictures of Marta... you're right! But I treasure every one of them, and each one marks a fun and special memory with her! :-)

My first attempt at a version of bacon and bleu cheese burgers! They were actually tasty! Looking forward to "perfecting" them when I come home!

Dinner :-)