Clinton's Visit

My brother Clinton had the opportunity to come visit us in Gent last week. He is studying for a semester in Sienna, Italy, so it only made sense for him to come see us for a bit before starting school! :) He was only here from Friday afternoon to Wednesday early morning, but he really took advantage of his time! Here is a rundown of his visit.

Friday: The boys and I drove to Brussels in the morning to get Clinton from the airport. After fighting our way through traffic, we got home, ate lunch, and put the boys down for a nap. After the boys were in bed, I went through the suitcase my dad sent for us. My parents and Cole's parents both picked up some things for us, but there were also some fun surprises like six jars of Trader Joe's peanut butter!! I was pumped!

Also in the suitcase was some stuff for Cameron to use for school...a backpack, lunch box, shoes, etc. Cameron was super excited to get his backpack and look like daddy! He wanted to take a picture with them both wearing their backpacks!

After looking at all the goodies, I decided I would run to the store while the boys were napping to get some things for dinner. Clinton decided he was going to try to stay awake until bed time in Belgium, so he tried to work on an Italian lesson on his computer while I went to the store. He told me before I left that he was not a good napper, so he would not fall asleep before bed time. This is what I found when I got home from the store...Gonzo!

That evening, we had a nice relaxing dinner on the terrace and then went to get gelato for dessert!

Clinton started to fade pretty fast after dinner, so I went out for a walk with him around town to keep him awake until 9:00. Once we got back, he crashed and slept for 14 hours straight!

Saturday: Cole went to get some yummy pastries and bread for breakfast and we supplemented with eegs and fruit. Clinton slept through all of that, so he ended up having some cereal and pastries for breakfast/lunch once he did get up. After eating and getting cleaned up, Clinton and I explored Gent. We (Cole, the boys, and I) have not done anything really touristy since we've been here, so I was not a very good tour guide. However, it was fun to finally explore some of the interesting things in Gent. We went to Sint-Bavos Cathedral, the Belfry Tower, Gravensteen (the castle), purchased some Belgian fries with yummy sauce, walked to the Graffiti street, and stopped in at my favorite chocolate shop before heading home. It was really fun to explore with Clinton!

View of Gent from the top of the Belfry Tower

The drum used to make the bells in the tower ring. Basically a giant music box!

Gravensteen

Below is a picture of the graffiti street in Gent. They allow and encourage people to graffiti here. It doesn't keep people from showing off their art elsewhere, but it's pretty cool to see. Perhaps we'll take part one day!

Sunday: Clinton decided that he was going to travel to Brussels to explore. We helped him get set with train tickets and sent him on his way. He spent most of the day there and seemed to have a nice time. We picked him up at the train station in the evening and then he and I went to get a waffle. 

Monday - Tuesday: Clinton also decided to take a quick trip to Paris while he was here, so he booked a cheap bus ticket, made a plan, and went. He left early Monday morning and came back late Tuesday. He stayed in a hostel for the night and saw a lot of what Paris has to offer. On top of wandering around Paris, he also saw and went up the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe. He also sampled some yummy French food. Cole picked him up late Tuesday night.

Wednesday: Clinton had to leave very early to catch his flight from Brussels to Rome. Since he got home late from Paris and had to get up really early to leave for Brussels, he decided to just stay up all night! Cole drove him to the train station in the morning and he was off. He is now in Sienna and hopefully having a great time!

Clinton is almost 10 years younger than me, so we have never been that close. We've always gotten along fine (as far as I can remember...he might disagree!), but we've just always been in very different stages in life. It was really nice to have him here and get to spend so much time with him. He has grown into an ambitious and independent person and I very much enjoyed just catching up on life and exploring with him! I can't wait to see how his semester in Italy goes. 

I'm pretty sure we have had all the visitors we are going to have for the year...as far as we know. So now it's time to start thinking about traveling home. It has been nice to see so many people here, but we are looking forward to seeing so many wonderful people who we left behind back home. More on traveling home at another time!