Mechelen

Last weekend we drove about 50 minutes to the city of Mechelen. We didn't want to spend any money but wanted to see a local city, so it was the perfect fit. We walked around and enjoyed the comfortably cool but rainy weather (Sophia was a trooper) and saw a great market in the Grand Place (square in the center of town) just in time to see the vendors close up shop. Apparently the market is from 6:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. I'm still not used to when things open and close around here. Anyway, there are pictures below of an ancient (I mean ancient) cathedral and some of the canals. I also included pictures from our trip to Technopolis, a very hands-on science museum that Sophia loved---and could attend for free! There are pictures of her with a giant bubble maker and if you know her, you know she loves bubbles! I also included this optical illusion that made her look like her head was on a fruit platter--very cool. There was a minature town for toddlers that included a tiny grocery store. I thought we were never going to get out of there!! Finally you'll see pictures of John using a lever to lift a car---in two stages--as you can imagine he felt pretty manly. Enjoy and we'll keep posting!