I had really wanted to go on a canal boat with the kids for ages as we live in an area which has an amazing network of canals going all the way from Liverpool to Leeds, where it connects to the River Humber which takes it all the way to the sea! Literally coast to coast. So, what better excuse to visit Belgium? A country I have visited in reality many times and a country with a massive appeal to Penny because, of course, Belgium is all about the chocolate.
The Chocolate Shop!
It turns out that we have a Belgium chocolate shop and café only 15 minutes drive from our house. Not only did we have a delicious chocolatey breakfast, but we also bought some lovely homemade chocolates for our movie night. I love supporting local businesses and this little pretend travel game has been amazing for finding exciting places on our doorstep. Penny was beyond delighted to be in pretend Belgium once she tasted the strawberries dipped in chocolate that she ordered.
Frites!
Could it get better? Well yes, because of course Belgium also claims to be the originator of french fries and so of course this was a must eat. Now I would have loved to have had mussels with mine but I am allergic to them and we served them with duck eggs as well.
At the same time we were watch Tin Tin while Mark bravely drank some Belgium beer to keep us on theme.
Canal Cruise
There was one really big event in our Belgium adventure and that was a Canal Boat ride! Freddie loves boats so much and Penny is always up for adventure and so I had found a great deal on Groupon and we headed off on our adventure.
Freddie loved every second of the boat cruise. He was allowed to steer which was massively exciting and he loves the whole idea of boats and water,
The boat trip included an afternoon tea which was great for kids with chunks of angel cake and ham sandwiches. There was something very Enid Blyton or nostalgic about he whole adventure and we all had a wonderful afternoon. We actually revisited this canal when we pretended to travel to The Netherlands a whole year later!
The Smurfs
Not a movie I had really ever wanted to see, but actually not as bad as I had thought it would be. Largely because that bloke from Dougie Houser MD is a very good actor and managed to rse above the annoying blueness of the Smurfs. Seriously those – I think exile should be an option for ‘Clumsy’ – what an arse he is.
And so we had a wonderful weekend!
Belgium is a place close to my heart. I have organised so many history trips there, but it was nice to focus on the wonderful culture, rather than the first world war.
