Desperately Seeking Lacrosse (and Tintin!)

Maybe it is Tintin and the Captain that seek lacrosse too? Who knows, but what we now know is "les belges" have found the love in lacrosse. We spent a day in the car, first just north of Brussels to watch and check out lacrosse abroad, and then later to explore this most fabulous city called Brussels. 

Tintin, Snowy and  Captain Haddock were all there waiting as we attended The Red Rhinos tournament hosted for teams from far and wide -- Holland, Italy, Germany, France and Belgium. We enjoyed a few games, Nico was even invited to wear some German guy's sweaty pads and jersey and join in the fun (he passed), on what was a beautifully sunny September Saturday. It was fun to see the enthusiasm for lacrosse but it possibly made Nico miss it all the more. The Italians, I am happy to report, were holding their own and seeing lacrosse played in French was of course, my favorite part! Everything is better in French, non?

On to the city. We drove into Brussels primarily to see an exhibit at the Wiels Museum that was recommended to me by a friend who lives in Marrakech. This photographic exhibit was made by her friend who lives in Tangiers and documents the "unseen" Morocco. It was a beautiful museum in a bohemian neighborhood that took us quite a while to find. Driving through the city (and it is quite a big city) was crazy, we were lost yet everyone hung in there until we found it. It was worth it and in addition to the photographs, there was also a show of a Polish sculptor whose work was reminiscent of Louise Bourgeois. Small enough, digestible for all. 

On we moved to the center of town, again feeling our way there, and finally we parked and began walking. It was a warm afternoon that quickly turned to evening and I think we were all enchanted! The buzz of everyone on the street, in the cafes and the beautiful architecture were more than what we had  anticipated. Even the kids loved it, I think they are missing city life. Jorrit was dejected because they were preparing for the marathon for the next day and he would not be amongst the runners. This is a recurring theme for him.

It was a very short tour and we needed to go back, but we did sit outside and have dinner before returning to the car (not quite like these city-dwellers, but I loved their commitment) and realizing we could have been using our GPS system built into our car to navigate this lovely city. And so we did and drove right on home without one wrong turn. Imagine that?