Dinant Belgium

Last weekend I took the girls and my mom to Dinant Belgium. I had learned of this jewel of a city from my good friend Laurel who went there with her family. I had it in the back of my mind ever since. So glad I went, I loved it!

We stared out by stopping in Luxembourg City at the Villeroy and Boch factory outlet. Super fun and I bought a new set of knives for a killer price, no pun intended.

I found this little B&B online and grabbed it as soon as I saw it. We found out it is a new B&B that is run by a Dutch couple with 2 small children. I'm sure when they bought the place, it was in shambles, but slowly and surely they are turning it into something special. Bailey and McKenna made fast friends with their son, Mitja.
McKenna in their garden.

I have to give Bailey credit for this shot. The girls were so happy to have their freedom after being in the car all day and shopping in a china store where they couldn't touch anything.
Our first night we were so lucky to meet the other boarders at the B&B. They too were Dutch, traveling musicians! Her instrument is called a Hurdy Gurdy in the states (my mom had to tell me that, I had never heard of one before, but of course, Mark had). He is playing an Irish drum that is tunable. We sat in the courtyard as the sun set and listened to their mini concert. SO FUN!
The next day we headed into Dinant which is a little city nestled in between a river and very dramatic cliff mountain. These are views from the top of the mountain where the citadel is located.

Before we entered the Citadel we let the girls play in this fabulous playground right outside the building. Just like all the other playgrounds in Europe, it rocked.
Dinant, as with most European cities, has a violent past. Really one of the most violent I have heard of up til now. In 1466, Charles the Bold and his father, Philip the Good (or as I would have renamed him Philip not even close to being Good) actually took 800 citizens of Dinant (the workers that produced items of brass) tied them two by two and threw them off the cliff into the river below . . . I'll let you think on that a bit. Oh and here is the histogram recreating the scene so that my children (McKenna) asked me over and over again why they did that. I. Have. No. Idea. Can you see the poor souls who were just thrown over the edge? You want to look away, but you can't. One big train wreck.
This is the girls and I right outside the Citadel looking down upon Dinant.
At the end of the tour, you are led into a room that was hit by an explosion during one of the wars. The bomb basically tipped the room and when you walk into it, you totally loose your perception and sense of balance. It really was disorienting but so cool. This is the warning before you enter. It really was quite odd! and we worked hard at not panicking!
After touring the citidel we took the cable car down into the city. This is the view of the Citadel from the other side of the bridge:
Dinant is the birthplace of Adolph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. There is a little bitty museum in his honor and it was hip and fun to look into. The floor was shaped like a saxophone.

Plus on the bridge, there are several huge saxophones with different designs and artwork on them. Each one represents a different city in Europe. This one is Germany's.
After our day in Dinant, we found a little tiny village with a restaurant. We decided to be bold and try it. No one spoke any English, not even a little bit. And I was a bad bad tourist and didn't bring my French cheat sheet. So . . . we closed our eyes and pointed to whatever our fingers landed on, and that is what we ordered. This is what mom got, and let me just say, that play was the biggest thing I have ever seen on a table. Well, except for the turkey platter at Thanksgiving when you serve a turkey for more that 18 people.
This is what I got. It was really more art than food. But it did a big flavor dance inside my mouth!!
And of course we all know what Creme Brulee is, you can't walk away without putting that into your belly. It would be a crime:

The next day, we toured the largest caves in Europe (at least I think that is what they advertise). It is huge, deep and full of stalactites (the ones that are above) and stalagmites (the ones that are below). We truly felt we had just walked into an Indiana Jones movie, which I said out loud, right before our tour guide said, "Do you feel like you are in an Indiana Jones movie?" Sweet! And can I just say how thankful I am that our tour guide spoke English? Bless you young man, bless you!
This is a picture of the ceiling where one stalactite is totally shaped like a hand. McKenna said, "Creeeepy".
Here is a video of our impromptu concert: