It's been two weeks for us here in Belgium, and we are starting to get comfortable with the area, bases, and how things work.
This week was busy. We were able to get Liam registered for the teen center on base. He loved it so much at JBLM, and once he finds his group, I hope he loves it just as much. We were also able to get the school bus pickup in place now that we know where we will be living. They have a white bus that will come as close to our little road as possible, giving Liam a 7-minute walk to the stop. He was happy that school starts two hours later here than in Washington. (8:50-3:30)
We were able to apply for our Belgian protocol ID this week. It is mandatory to register in Belgium within 3 months of arrival. The Belgian Protocol ID is valid proof of residence in Belgium. We will wait 2-3 months for the police to come out and verify that we live at our residence, and then we will be given the ID cards. These cards will allow us to travel in Europe as residents, and when we come back from visiting the U.S., we can use the shorter EU line at customs.
Speaking of ID cards, we have SO many now. We have two passports that we had to get in the U.S. Now that we are here, we have our U.S. military IDs for the Chievres base that Arturo works on, plus the ID for SHAPE NATO base that has Liam's school, the hospital, the housing office, the rationed Items store, etc. Along with those ID's we will have our Belgian Protocol ID, Liam's school ID, and our Belgian driver's licenses. It is a lot of appointments, but it's all getting done. This is why they give soldiers up to a month to in-process.
On Friday, we signed our lease and will have our pre-inspection of the property on the 25th with a move-in date of the 26th!!! It was a long appointment to sign the lease because our landlord with there with us and the contract had to be gone over in both English and French. We had to learn about the Belgian renters'' laws and what is expected of us, and how things work in Belgium.
Every month, Arturo will get a four-day weekend. This will give us time to explore more of Europe. This weekend was our four-day weekend, but we had things to get done. We decided that since we had Saturday free, we would go somewhere close. Also, because we can't leave Belgium until we have our Belgian license plates, we have to stay in the country. We were deciding between Ghent and Bruges, and I chose Bruges!
We were able to spend a leisurely day in the city, but didn't have enough time for everything, which is fine since it's only a 1-hour and 20-minute drive. About halfway there, we switched from the Walloon Region, where we live, which is French speaking, to the Flemish Region, where they speak Dutch. It was a super-hot day, in the 90s!
We walked around the market, which sold food, clothing, and normal flea market items. We bought a wonderful lunch from one of the food trucks, only to find out that the food was cold and was to be taken home and warmed to eat. LOL! So, we went and found a food truck that served ready-to-eat burgers and hot dogs. Live and learn, right?
After that, we toured the Historium and experienced a virtual day in the life of a medieval apprentice that transported us back to 15th-century Belgium and went all the way up to the bell tower! Next, we saw, Church of Our Lady, Mairiastraat, which was exquisite! After that, we headed over to take a 45-minute boat tour of the city. Bruges is often called the "Venice of the North" due to its intricate network of canals and charming medieval architecture. After our boat ride, we visited some shops and sat outside playing Uno and enjoying a nice beer. I used Tripadvisor to find us a traditional dinner spot, and it did not disappoint! I had the best Stoofvless, "beef stew" of my life. It was a Flemish stew, marinated in brown beer. We sat outside and ate, relaxed, and played more Uno. It was a super relaxing day, and we look forward to coming back to see more!
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