Anniversary In Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany!

Today we went to Ghent to see the Ghent Altarpiece, or The Mystic Lamb.

I think The Monuments Men has a big focus on this piece, so you may already be acquainted with it.

It is now located in a church in Belgium, St Bavo's Cathedral, and is in the process of being restored. So is the rest of the cathedral, so this is  a photo of a nearby church because who wants to see scaffolding and plastic sheeting? 

No one is allowed to photograph The Mystic Lamb but you can see images of it in online. However, it glows in person, and no photograph can really convey that. It was quite beautiful.

The church that it is in has several altarpieces and a crypt with paintings, art, and of course tombs. Much of the art is kept locked away behind marble pillars and iron gates, so mostly you catch a glimpse of color and have to find a peephole to see the paintings, etc. Lots of mystery. 

The organ was being tuned and so the walk through the dark underground crypt was rather spooky.

This is another altarpiece in the church.

Then we went to a spot near Eindhoven where Easy Company from Band Of Brothers spent time trying to rescue some British soldiers during World War II. (The real Easy  Company, not the movie actors.) Andrew loves that series so it was great to see where it happened.

The boys had had enough, so we went in search of kid-approved food.

Yes, we had our 16th anniversary dinner at IKEA in the Netherlands! It was similar to all of the other IKEAs we've been to but we decided not to buy a couch. Those who know me know that this was a sacrifice.

One of our best IKEA stories involves a compact car and a $30 IKEA couch. We took the highway home and had to pull over periodically and shove the couch back onto the roof, because as we sped along it kept sliding down onto the windshield, blocking our view of the road. Did I mention that I am married to an amazing man?

This is our view from our latest hotel, in Cologne. On the right is Cologne Cathedral, which we will be visiting  tomorrow. This hotel is very nice, and may help restore my faith in hotels in general. Our last hotel in Blankenberge deserves a post of its own.

If you notice a few typos lately, it is not because I have suddenly lost my ability to speak English. I am using a keyboard and it sometimes double taps letters.