Visa Renewal Trip, Part 2

Well, here we go with the 2nd half of our trip:

Thursday, September 20--drive to Brussels, Belgium

We may decide to do a little more site seeing in Paris in the morning before heading toward Brussels because it's a relatively short drive. In Brussels, we will be staying at the home of the parents of Christy's sister's husband. Did you follow that? They will be away for a few of the days while we are there, so they graciously opened their home to us while we are there. We will make this our base for the rest of our trip. We'll probably just wander around the city a little that afternoon and not do anything major.

Friday, September 21--day trip to Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen, Holland

There is a wonderful living history museum in Enkhuizen, Holland that we plan to go to. There, we will experience what it was like to live in Holland long ago with all our senses. The kids may get a chance to make a boat out of clogs. It promises to be a memorable experience for us all.

Saturday, September 22--day trip to De Hoge Veluwe National Park surrounding Otterlo, Holland

This is a place the kids are very excited about. While in the park, you can ride around on one of 1700 white bicycles at no extra charge. When you want to stop, you just park your bike in a designated area, and when you want to ride again, you just pick up another one. There are over 40 kilometers of bike trails throughout the park. There is also an underground museum that gives insight into everything that lives and has lived below the surface of the Earth. The exhibition takes you deeper and deeper into the ground, until you finally end up at the center of the Earth. Sounds pretty cool to me.

Sunday, September 23--day trip to Brugge, Belgium

"Known as the Venice of the North, Brugge is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Walking along the maze of winding cobbled alleys and romantic canals, you imagine yourself to be in medieval times." At least that's what the tourist board of Brugge says. We've been told by those we know who have been there that it is a great place to visit. We hope they are right.

Monday, September 24--a day in Brussels

Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the administrative center of the European Union. We intend to spend this day, if it is at all possible, with our hosts since they will know what is worth seeing.

Tuesday, September 25--day trip to Luxembourg

We're not yet sure what we will do in Luxembourg. There is an American military cemetery that I would like to visit where over 5000 American soldiers who perished in the Battle of the Bulge are buried, but I might be the only one in my family interested in that, so we'll see.

Wednesday, September 26--drive to Dusseldorf, Germany

The only reason we're going to Dusseldorf is because it is from this city that we will return to Russia. On the way, we plan to stop in Cologne, Germany. By this time, however, we may be tired of site seeing or just plain tired and decide to just get to our hotel in Dusseldorf and crash. Who knows?

Thursday, September 27--return to Moscow, Russia

The activities of this day are pretty self-explanatory.

Thanks for your prayers during our travels. We'll try to publish a few post while we're on our trip, especially to let everyone know about our experience at the Russian consulate.

Patrick