Henri/Henrick in Belgium

On to Belgium! We started with an afternoon beer in Brussels's Grande Place. Very cool spot.
The next day we set out to explore. Here, Henry naps.
Brussels's mascot is the Mannekin Pis. We didn't have too much luck getting Henry to pose...
...so we resorted to a cheap trick. This place had lousy chocolate but a great photo op.
Nearby was a great beer cafe. Here Matthew contemplates a small part of the beer menu while Henry makes eyes at innocent bystanders. (Demanding smiles from strangers was his primary diversion on the trip.)

Couldn't resist one more of the "pretend Henry is drinking" genre, plus it seems the cold glass was good for teething.

Here is Auntie Bookers with her vacay boyfriend/waiter in the background.

On the way from Brussels to Bruges, we stopped in Ghent. A great place with a great castle.


Medieval baby nook.
On to Bruges. We took a canal tour.


The next day we went for a walking tour. As you can see, we all liked Bruges a lot.
Even the school children in Belgium are cool.All good things must come to an end. Here, dad enjoys his last Belgian, an excellent Trappist Orval, while Henry enjoys his sweatshirt.
All in all, a smashing success.

Heinrich in Germany

We're back from our beer tour of Germany and Belgium. We started in Munich. Our friend and travel buddy Bookers "the Animal" Surgan was pretty psyched about the one-liter masses of Edelstoff at the Augustiner Keller beer garden.
Henry was unimpressed and took a nap. Beer gardens are very child-friendly drinking spots.We were so amused by the "pretend little Henry is drinking the big beer" conceit that we took the picture again at the Hofbrau Haus...
and the Chinesische Turm beer garden.
The latter had one of our favorite beers. See the happy ladies?

Favorite sights in Munich included Veterinarian street...
And this very German method of collecting empties at the beer garden.

After three days in Germany we headed to Belgium for better food, nicer people, and weirder beer. Henry was a great traveler, and even did some sleeping on the longer train trips.

More to follow.