Easter in Brussels, Belgium

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Brussels approach
Approaching the bustling metropolis of Brussels, we turned onto this road and a GIANT cathedral came into view. It was smack dab in the middle of the road and so imposing. Turns out, it is one of the biggest cathedrals in the world! The road curved around the cathedral and down into a tunnel that kept diving further down in the earth. We thought we would never come back out. Eventually we did, and everyone rejoiced! We also missed a whole lot of traffic as we drove underneath the city. 
National Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Soon, we were at our hotel, right in the heart of Brussels. We stayed at the Marriott Grand Place. We appreciated the Marriott beds and the lounge had guacamole, which made me happy! We rested up from our day in Ghent and watched the first session of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We heard messages on how to be better people and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a great start to our time in Brussels!
Marriott Grand Place
The next morning was Easter! The Easter bunny came and hid chocolate eggs all over the room for Landon to find. They don't have plastic eggs in the Netherlands that I could find! he also got a special giant chocolate egg with all sorts of specialty chocolates inside from Leonidas chocolates in Ghent. Parents confiscated most of the fancy chocolates, with my favorite being a dark chocolate piece with caramel. Landon was perfectly fine eating marshmallows and the cheaper chocolate eggs. 

Easter bunny gifts!
We're such good parents that we didn't even purchase an Easter basket this year. Instead, he got his Easter treats in an ice bucket. Parenting fail or win?

More egg searching
So excited! SO MUCH CANDY!

Showing us his haul
Buildings along the way in Brussels
After eating a delicious breakfast that included Belgian waffles, we set out to attend Easter mass at St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral located up on top of a hill. There were early bulb flowers blooming in front of the cathedral, and the bells were jubilantly pealing for Easter it was quite awe-inspiring as we walked up. 


St. Michael's and St. Gudula's Cathedral

Flowers and Austin and Landon



The service itself was a musical service accompanied by organ and festival trumpet. The trumpet did not have a mike, but he stood up next to the organ which was in a loft above the floor. He managed to make himself heard and they played several classical pieces beautifully. The priests sang some of the Catholic service, with what looked like the organist's daughter as the song leader. Her voice was perfectly clear and filled the whole cathedral. It was beautiful. Half of the service was presented in Dutch, and half in French. I could understand some of it- as it was Easter of course they talked about Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. 

Landon did well for about half of the service. After that, he wanted to drive his car around a pillar that made a lot of noise! Eventually, Austin took him outside and had adventures with him out there while I listened to the rest. I loved the music so much! A performance artist/demonstrater asked Austin to give her a boost up into a tree to hang her bag before she started writhing around on the ground with her feet on a chair. I guess Landon ran away from Austin while he was helping the girl. Fortunately, he had not gone far, but Austin learned his lesson about taking his eyes off of Landon for even a second! After the service, we walked around the cathedral admiring all the litlte details and the flying buttresses of this church.
Details
Front entrance details

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