So on Monday morning, September 9th, we set off for Europe. We tried to pack as light as possible, but that's hard when you take a toddler! As you'll see, it made things tricky getting to Switzerland, but we were so incredibly blessed along the way. Tender mercy after tender mercy.
First, we flew in to Dallas. Jacob stayed up the whole flight but that was okay because a sweet lady sat next to us that loves to play with her grand kids. Our layover in Dallas seemed like it was going to last forever but it went by really quickly. Then we put Jacob in his pajamas and hoped for the best! We had a red-eye flight to London and it would be 9:30 in the morning there when we landed so we really wanted Jacob to get some good sleep. It took a while but miraculously he fell asleep in my arms. We had one of the seats with a cot for an infant to sleep in so we moved him in there. However, it soon became very apparent that Jacob was WAY too big for the cot. Who knew?!? My baby is growing up so fast! Anyway, Jacob kept waking up because he couldn't get comfortable with his legs hanging over the edges. I can't say I blame him! Eventually we put him on the floor and he slept a bit better. Steve and I got a little sleep here and there, but needless to say we were exhausted when we landed in London.
We took the Piccadilly line in London out to the Eurorail station. It was pretty tricky taking 2 big suitcases, 3 back packs, the car seat in its bag and the stroller all over town. Two nice men helped us get our luggage between the two train stations. It was so nice of them! They were heaven sent.
Steve and I were so tired on the train ride to Brussels, Belgium that we turned on Mickey Mouse for Jacob and both ended up falling asleep for a few minutes. Haha! Jacob was such a trooper! He was so happy and hardly ever got fussy, despite the jet lag.
Brussels is pretty interesting. We got off the train at what seemed to be a convention center and it was surrounded by the ghetto! Our hotel was supposed to only be 2 blocks away so we decided to walk, but we couldn't figure out where to go! We had a map, but we didn't know which direction was which so it didn't really help! A sweet girl stopped to help us pull our luggage and helped us find the right street for the hotel. It was so nice of her! But we walked down the street a bit and it started raining and was cold and in a ghetto and I just about lost it. To top it off, we ended up walking in a circle and ended up right back at the convention center. Ugh. Not the best way to end a 2 day travel itinerary. But Steve was such a sweetheart! He asked a taxi driver where the address was and it really was only 2 blocks away - just in the other direction. Ha. When we made it to the hotel, it looked pretty sketchy from the outside but the inside was great! It was more like a studio apartment than a hotel, complete with a mini kitchen. The view out our window was pretty cool too:
Jacob didn't sleep too well that night. He doesn't do well in new places at first, so he slept in bed with me (Steve and I had our own little twin sized beds). Then we all ended up waking up at about 3 am from jet lag. We ate the extra pizza that Steve bought the night before and eventually fell back to sleep. Waking up the next morning was brutal! I was so exhausted and Jacob was nearly impossible to wake up. But Steve was up and going! He was so sweet and went to get us bottled water and figure out where we could get some real Belgian waffles. We were told it would be so easy to get downtown to find the waffle place so we set off. Boy were we wrong! The train stations in Brussels don't have elevators so we took all our luggage down the stairs and escalators! Yikes! It was a nightmare! Thankfully someone stopped to help us with our luggage when we had to take it down the stairs. Being pregnant has kind of limited how helpful I can be with lifting heavy stuff. In the end, it took 2 trains and lots of struggling to get to downtown Brussels and then when we got there we couldn't find the waffle shop. Once again, I was at my breaking point. And once again, we were sent a tender mercy. A man stopped us who spoke English and asked if we needed help. He pulled my suitcase and took us to his favorite waffle place. It was a life saver! I nearly cried! Well, maybe not just nearly. I might have shed a tear or two. We were so grateful for him.
As it turns out, the waffles were wonderful! And we ended up right by the main center of Brussels. It was gorgeous! Jacob loved chasing the pigeons and several tourists loved watching him. :) People kept taking pictures of him. Here are some of our best pictures:
After that, Steve decided no more trains with all our luggage! Haha. Amen! We got a taxi to the Hertz where we rented a car to use while we are here in Switzerland. A long 8-ish hours with several stops later, we pulled in to Schönbühl, Switzerland where we are staying with the sweet Mössner family.
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