We tried to leave our luggage in lockers at the train station, but the empty ones were broken, so we lugged it with us. As it was Sunday, most everything was closed anyway. We walked to the main square and looked around:
Then, the four of us got back on the train and headed towards Liege.
The Liege train station was designed by Calatrava:
Gloria's host father picked us up at the train station and drove us to their house where we would be staying for several nights. What a welcome we received! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but we had wonderful conversation with Philippe, Claudine, and Oriane (Gloria's host parents and sister). Additionally, we had some Belgian beer and some delicious appetizers. The food kept coming! Gloria is lucky to be able to stay with such wonderful people!We then showered (separately, of course!) as traveling tends to make us feel gross, and headed out to Liege to walk around.
The museum we intended to visit required advance registration on that day, so Gloria and Brian tried to find an alternative:
We ended up walking to Montagne de Bueren, which is a giant staircase. We kept talking about the logistical nightmare of living in one of the houses in the middle or top -- can you imagine bringing groceries home, much less moving furniture? There could be entrances we don't know about, though.Here's a view from the bottom:
I was at the top, looking down. Gloria and Claire can be seen about halfway down, taking a brief rest:
And here is the view of the city:
We walked around some more, and then caught the bus to Gloria's second host family, who were hosting us for dinner.Once again, we were warmly welcomed! We had some appetizers and talked, mostly in French, with translating for Claire and Brian. We watched a video that they had taken of the family ski trip to the French Alps (including Gloria who was learning to ski).
Here are some pictures from that wonderful dinner. The food and drinks were unbelievable delicious, yet again.
Here is a picture of Gloria with her 2nd set of host parents:
Jack is a wonderful dog that's part of the family. He wasn't always on a chair!
Brian and I love fromage (one of the few French words Brian knows!), and we were treated to several Belgian and French cheeses.
Even for a dinner at home, the desserts were presented in such a way that you'd find in a restaurant.
We stayed until past midnight, and then got a ride back to her 3rd family's house, where we'd be staying. Exhausted, we all fell immediately to sleep!
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