Impressionnant, Genial, Ontzagwekkend!

"Impressionnant, Genial, Ontzagwekkend!" Means "Awesome, awesome, awesome" in French, German, and Dutch.

 

 AWESOME!  Floating shoes!  Something funny we saw in the colorful city of Ghent, Belgium!

 

 

We walked through rows of old buildings in Ghent.

 

Here is the inside of one!  Cool rafters!

 

In the middle of the city, there is a castle!  How AWESOME is that?

 

Gravensteen Castle was built in 1180.

 

We took the self-guided tour.

 

And we saw a sword that was taller than Kieran! AWESOME!

 

And here is a suit of armor.  The armor was only a little bigger than the sword!

 

Dramatic view from the top of the castle.

 

Kieran pretended he was shooting arrows through the little holes.

 

All hail Kieran, King Otter!

 

And his royal assistant, Maya.  (We know who holds the REAL power in this kingdom.)

 

Anyone see a giant plus sign?  Really big?

 

 

 

After we saw the castle, we went to see Kieran's REAL kingdom....Otterland!

 

Actually, we went to Sea Life in Blankenberg, Belgium.  We arrived just in time for otter feeding time!  They had lots of cool fish to see there.

 

My favorite thing was the Disco Jellyfish room. 

 

There were lots of jellyfish floating in cylindrical tanks, with disco lights flashing and music playing.

 

Purple, red, orange! AWESOME!

 

So cool!

 

And on a totally different note, we ask you to turn off the disco music and begin to play your Gregorian chants.  So here are the ruins of an old Abbey in Villers-la-Ville, Belgium.

 

It had no roof.

 

...and lots of arches...

 

...and cool windows...

 

It was old and way cooler without a roof.  Because if it had a roof, it would be all dark and gloomy inside. 

 

But instead, it was light inside.

 

...and...

 

...it was...

 

AWESOME!!!

 

We both liked it.

 

See...this part still had a roof...and it was dark and gloomy.

 

But this part was light and AWESOME!

 

Light and AWESOME!

 

Yay for no roofs!

 

Okay, the roof was pretty cool, too.

 

But this is WAY cooler!  In Luxembourg (a small country between France, Belgium, & Germany) they have parking areas reserved for ladies!  How AWESOME is that?

 

This is the City Hall in Luxembourg City, which (surprisingly) is the Capitol if Luxembourg.

They speak German, French, and Luxembourgish in Luxembourg.  Sorry, we could not find a translation of "Awesome" in Luxembourgish. 

 

Here is the Royal Palace.

 

You can see the Luxembourg flag here.  Look carefully and you can see a strange man's face in the black light post.

 

If you look on the building above the gate, you will see another freaky face carved into the stone.

 

There is a really cool walk-way along the gorge where you can see the river and city below.

 

You can see the old fortifications of the city walls.

 

Here is a cool church in the valley!  Too bad it has a roof!

 

Well, that's it for Belgium and Luxembourg.  Aren't they AWESOME?

 

 

 If you or someone you know speaks Luxembourgish, please let me know what "Awesome" translates to.