I slept in! I got up at about nine in the morning but it was a nice and relaxing wake-up. Peaceful.

I was up a bit late last night sending out all kinds of emails to set up the program for the rest of the week. Nathan programed addresses into the computer and we got a response back from the pastor in Balen that Wednesday was not going to work for him so we then rearranged everything to put Belgium on the calendar for Thursday instead.

So Monday is Liege’ Tuesday is getting mom back and Hershburg. Wednesday is Arras. Thursday is small towns in Belgium and Friday is Cologne. The weekend is free as long as we get to the rest of them. We leave for home first thing on Monday morning.

SO today is Monday and after showering and having lots of tea, we packed up and left for liege’. We had not left the condo going in that direction yet and it was an interesting drive. The condo is in Effel National Forest which is just northeast of Luxemburg, halfway between Cologne and Liege’. It is rather hilly and has a lot of the good points that I see in Arkansas (the part we are looking to move to.) Thankfully the GPS tells us how long it will take to drive it rather than just how far it is because it isn’t far at all but it is a long drive up the hill and down the hill and back up the hill.

We arrived in Liege’ and the first thing I can say is that it is a big city with a big river running through it and it has been there a very long time. The streets were not designed for traffic and I was very confused by the parking signs. We were headed to the museum which is in the old part of the city and we had to drive past it twice before we decided to go a few blocks further out and secured a parking space. We walked several blocks to the museum – past the twelve story outdoor stair case that we thankfully did not have to use.

Since I stopped working at a real job some six months ago I’ve mostly lost track of time. One week blends into the next and I get plenty of stuff done but I look forward to days because of what I can do – not to note what I can not do. I tell you this because it did not occur to me that the museum would be closed because it is Monday. Not until we were at the museum.

New rule is to check the guide book before actually leaving to go somewhere.

We did get to use the bathroom and the giftshop was open because there was a special exhibit that was open but we skipped it. We tried to stop at two churches on the way back to the car but no luck with either.

We found our way out of town which is worlds easier than finding our way in. We stopped at a rest stop to get food and beverage. I don’t mind Coca-Cola light with lemon. There is no diet Dr.Pepper.

On the way back we found a grocery store and picked up 13 Euros worth of food. It should feed us nicely for the next few days. When we got back to town we stopped at the Turkish place and got supper. I spoke Turkish – it’s funny and the Turkish guy thought it was funny as well – I don’t speak German but I speak Turkish!

Back at the condo. Tomorrow we have to recover mom from her side trip to Christine’s house – providing we can pry them apart. Then we will go to Hershburg where some of my ancestors are from. Apparently the town is having it’s 800 year celebration coming up and the mayor is looking forward to speaking with mom about the family history. Such a hoot. Mom is probably going to have to return for the celebration and to see Christine again.