Life: Idiotropic

Yesterday I ran some errands in the Netherlands to grab a few things before Mom arrived today. It was a little cold and overcast, but not horrible, so I took all three little girls and took off to the Sittard market to get fruit, cheese, and flowers. The market is in a pedestrian only zone, so parking is not horribly far, but not close either and you have to walk a few blocks. It was Queen's Day. I didn't know that until I tried to go to my favorite Dutch chocolate shop to find it closed. Then all the homes had the Dutch flag flying. It looked like a painting from one of the old Dutch masters with all the red, blue, and white flapping in the wind. Anyway... I did make it to the market, parked in my normal spot and started to walk. I was surprised to see large groups of people there as it is usually pretty quiet on a Saturday afternoon, but then I noticed saw the junk. On either side of Putstraat in front of the local shops on the street itself, people (mostly kids, actually) had set up blankets with old toys, cups, and other miscellaneous garage sale items all labeled with prices. I looked a little, but it was average junk... nothing special to find. We got to the market and I ordered my cheese. Luci gave me a heart attack by walking around the other side of the cheese truck while I was talking to the lady. I turned around to give a slice to her and she was gone. So the lady kindly came out and stood with Arianna and Elise while I yelled for Luci (yes, the crazy American lost her child), and ran around. I found Luci all alone on the other side of the truck about halfway down the market row. Leashes have never seemed very appealing, but they gain ground with me daily. Luci may get one for her birthday. Anyway... it was just as I found Luci that the flood waters started. Elephant sized drops of rain came pounding down and, of course, in the midst of an open air market, there is little escape. We tried to huddle together and ran from the edge of one awning to another until we got down to the flower vender. Arianna and I picked out flowers and Luci tried to convince me to buy a small dog that was sitting there unattended. Then we walked as quickly as we could back to the car getting wetter by the minute. Elise was soaked. We all were. We dried by the time we'd finished all of our errands - thankfully. Apparently there was some party for Queen's day. I'll have to find out more about it and be ready for next year.
Today was the 90 minute drive to Brussels to pick up Mom and Jeff at the airport. The airport is remarkably small for the area and easy to navigate. Their flight ended up landing early, so they were already there waiting for us. We drove them down to the Grand Place to walk around and have lunch. It rained. And rained. And then stopped, and rained again. In spite of the shower, we still managed to see the grand place, take them to our favorite chocolate shop, and have a nice lunch at a Greek restaurant where Elise left her favorite bunny. There was a nice outdoor craft market just outside the Grand Place with a lot of beautiful things including oil paintings of the area. There were jugglers and artists in the center of the place too and although I didn't see them, we heard a wonderful choir singing. Restaurant workers as before stood outside of their doors and beckoned us in telling us that the tables were ready and the food was good. The Grand Place itself is just too much. I love it and want to see it again on a nice day, but there is just too much to see. Each building is so beautiful and intricately carved and detailed with gold and statues and fleurishes that it is impossible to really take it in. Just before we left, we all got hot waffles. The kids ate theirs sitting near the stand. A girl nearby took their picture. Probably a tourist. It's funny. Now our girls will be in someone else's scrapbook album. I took a picture too. They were awfully cute.

The drive home was nice. The light is lasting until almost 10 now each night. The canals are beautiful and everything is green and growing here now. We drove under a canal and so I took a photo. It looks like just another bridge almost. Hard to believe that there's a canal there and a boat could float by on top of you.