We're finally here!

After months of anticipation and preparation, we finally hopped a plane on August 22nd, and arrived at Zaventem airport in Brussels around 1:30 PM (13:30 the way they track time here) on Thursday, August 23rd. And lest anyone think that this means we finally got our Visas, let me clarify that we STILL don't have them, and will both have to fly back to the States to pick them up once they're finally ready. We have since confirmed that they can be issued once a final piece of information is confirmed by the authorities, and we expect that to occur within the next week. So the visa saga is almost over!!

There was also a small snafu involving the pickup of our two feline companions - basically no one told us where we were supposed to go to get them once we landed, so it took about an hour to locate them! Another interesting thing regarding the kitties, absolutely NO ONE stopped us going through customs to review or question their paperwork or anything! Amazing, and a little bit annoying given how much time went into getting all the health certificates/USDA stamps/EU import forms filled out!! No harm done though, we found them and despite being confined to their carriers for over 18 hours, they did just fine. Such good little troopers!

Since arriving, most of our time has been spent taking care of the details that must be handled when moving to a new place: getting phones, opening a bank account, locating a good map of the area and figuring out where things are, finding a place to live, etc. We've had some success, but let's just say that both of us have aching joints and very sore feet at this point!

We did have a chance to visit the city center Sunday afternoon and check out the Grand Place and the little Mannekin Pis statue, and of course have a few beers and some excellent Belgian chocolate! It was a brief visit, but I snapped a few pictures and have attached them here. Enjoy, and of course there is much more to come!