Day 1: Ghibli, Yakatori, Nakano, & Shibuya

OK, the goal for Day 1 is to keep moving and not let jet lag get us, so we set our alarms for 6AM with a goal to hit the hotel gym, get breakfast, and make it across Tokyo for a 10AM Ghibli Museum opening.  We slept well and bounced up and ventured down to the basement, which literally is an underground beautiful pseudo mall/convention center with a fitness center as well that is larger than a lot of our full-size free-standing gyms at home.  We would clean our shoes and enter a well-stocked, but crammed fitness area.  Andy and I managed to get in good workouts all be it I had some testosterone happening in the free weight area with bench and weight etiquette failing.  Andy would finish before me and get a tour of the lap pool and the locker rooms that he says were out of this world.

Quick shower and we were off to the Club Lounge again for breakfast which was just like Happy Hour...amazing.  We ate quickly so we could get ready for what our challenge of the day would be...the Tokyo subway system.  Thankfully drinks with friends who had been here before had revealed all we needed was Google Maps and they were right.  It told you everything from train to platform to exits "gate." It even read where you were and told you how many stops until you disembarked. Not to say we still didn't struggle a bit.  Andy was able to use his phone for his ticket, but me, the lone family Android hold-out had to get a plastic card ticket.  And we might have gotten a little cocky with our first ride going well because we broke down and asked for help on our second.  But by the end of the day we did lots of rides and had no more issues.

So let's take a second and talk about one of my loves in Asian countries and mass transit.  I love orderly cueing.  Those exiting get off first while those entering are lined up to the sides of the doors.  This is clearly marked on the platforms, and it makes it so easy.  Also I love the appreciation for elderly in Asian countries.  I saw on more than one occasion a young person give up their seat for an elder.  And clean, yes so far it lives up to the hype.  We did not see any litter anywhere until we reached Shibuya Station which leads to Shibuya Crossing which is inundated by tourists, which I assume are the litter offenders.

We started our day with something that is making our kids a little jealous.  We made a one-hour trip via subway and foot to the Studio Ghibli Museum.  Some know movies like Ponyo or Totoro as they were picked up by DreamWorks.  Our family has been watching for a very long time and find the art and the characters absolutely endearing.  So we wandered through this space which we found truly to be a museum as you learned about the craft behind the magic.  Definitely for adults and not children.  Kind of like the Disney Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco.  

Here's where I put AI to work for us next.  I had plugged in our itinerary with several suggestions from friends and had it fill in our free time.  ChatGPT would take us on a pretty walk across Inokashira Park to  Iseya Koen Store.  Here we would have our first meal, shoes off, and cross legged on the floor.  It is a renowned and historical yakatori (aka charcoal grilled meat skewers) that involved meatballs, pork cartilage, chicken liver, and more. It was packed with locals so we knew we had it the jackpot. All of it was delicious and I was pleasantly happy to find a NA Sapporo available.

Back on the subway we were off to the Nakano Broadway to see if we could find some anime swag for our adult children and house sitter.  After about an hour of popping into different shops and having no luck, we gave up and headed back to the subway and decided to knock off the famous Shibuya Crossing.  This station was insanely busy, and this is where we saw our first trash and homeless. Homelessness would be a topic of conversation for us this evening as Tokyo is a city of 14 million people and their last homeless count in January of this year was only 506.  However, many factors contribute to this.... 1) Housing - they have a ton of very small (including capsule) housing units that are affordable to keep them from sleeping on the street 2) Culture - they live by a norm of don't create disorder which means don't inconvenience others and don't leave things behind which leads to 3) many are hidden in the 24 hour manga and internet cafes or on the riverbanks obscured from view.

Shibuya Crossing was quite a site, but having been to Times Square as well as Picadilly Circus in London well it didn't hold the awe for me as it might for others. And yes we did the "scramble" where all the lights go read and you can go right across the entire intersection.  It is known as the busiest intersection in the world with as many as 3000 people crossing on the red light which happens every 2 minutes.  We decided to go check out one of the mega department stores, so we hit Don Quiote.  Referred to as "Donki" this was Target meets Japanese Bazar.  We wandered a few levels but quickly got whelmed...and well we had been hoofing it around Tokyo now for 7 hours and were getting exhausted.  A few souvenirs in hand we headed back to our hotel where we managed to stay awake and the Club Lounge for another happy hour dinner and back to our room for a second piece of cake.

But wait, before I sign off I must tell you about the continued service at this hotel.  When we got back to our room.  We found all of our electronic cords had been wound nicely and tied with gold twist ties.  My book had a beautiful bookmark lying on top.  Workers would come by our room with ice and chocolates and at the lounge this evening one of the staff would chat with us and present us with origami tiny birds.  Again, in awe.  

ChildLESS on the Go

Andy and I just discussed this one on the plane.  We have only done two trips without one or both of our children that lasted more than a night or two since they were born. First to Costa Rica, which ended slightly early when our daughter needed an emergency appendectomy at 5 years old. And a second was a long weekend get-away to Jackson Hole again when they were quite young. But here we are the oldest has now graduated college and just moved to San Diego and the youngest is a sophomore in college, so we decided it was time.

So earlier this year we discussed what locations were still on our bucket list.  Japan was up there near the top for both of us, but after an exhausting start to this year I knew this was a trip I didn't want to plan the details for.  I wanted most of that lift done for me.  So we went back to our company we used for Greece, Unforgettable Travel and we found their Essence of Japan trip.  At first, we were super excited as it was affordable, but in the time, we took to make our decision the price increased substantially.  We learned they had been repricing all their trips due to a rise in costs, but we went for it.

We managed to get our flights non-stop from SFO with miles and even managed an upgrade on the way over with premier points.  Meaning we spend way too much on our United credit card.  Unfortunately our flight was delayed nearly 4 hours leaving San Francisco.  Little did we know you cannot fly a plane with a broken lavatory and that door to that lavatory must be able to close properly and lock and it was not. The first door they brought did not fit and when the second door arrived and worked then there was issue in the cockpit requiring maintenance.  Finally on our way they made up some time, and we arrived 2.5 hours late.

We were met by a lovely lady who meets travelers for extra cash and her only job was to hand over our train tickets and some other bits of paperwork and get us to our car.  We had read this was coming, but most who don't speak English have a tablet and use translate functions to communicate.  As was with our driver informed us, we had a 40-minute drive to our hotel. This is probably the trip of all our travels thus far we have not researched substantially, so Andy was scrambling in the van to learn about tipping because he had just pulled very large bills from the ATM.  Thankfully we would learn this is a non-tipping culture.

Our hotel is the Prince Park Tower Tokyo.  Which is aptly named for its location by Tokyo Tower.  Built in 1958 and inspired by the Eiffel Tower it does indeed have antennas to broadcast tv and radio.  We booked two nights additional to our tour and Andy splurged and got us a Premium Club-level floor.  I don't want to know what it cost.  He claims it was a good deal.  But it caused mass confusion at the beginning as he had canceled a "work" reservation and booked this and for some reason it had now gone through and we now had three reservations.  The front desk was very confused and the trainee who was shadowing got a learning experience.  Before it was all said and done, we had 4 people working on our reservations.  After 20-25 minutes to get us checked in we were on our way with a "cake" arriving at 8PM.  Not sure if the cake is normal or it was an apology for the long check-in.

The room is amazing with an incredible view and as we always find in Asia incredible decor.  And as friends have told us, they are also incredibly stocked.  Not just your normal toiletries, but I mean ALL your toiletries.  Razors, hairbrush, and so much more.  As well as robes, slippers. monogrammed towels.  After checking it all out we headed to the Club Lounge on the 32nd floor for drinks and a happy hour buffet which was plenty to make a dinner.  An amazing buffet including mini coq au vins, fish, shrimp, cheeses, fruit, canapes, and much more on top of a fully stocked bar, beers on top and by the bottle, and numerous wines to pick from.  So far Andy's good deal was paying off.

Back to our room we enjoyed our cake looking out our glassed-in balcony with coffee from our Nespresso machine.  The cake was not just cake, but also fruit and macaroons.  We put half in the fridge for tomorrow. A quick shower to wash away the travel, melatonin on board, we climbed into bed with a goal of hitting the gym in the morning.  Fingers crossed we sleep through the night and start the 16-hour time difference.

2025 Europe Trip Outtakes

So I try to instill this, especially, in my children...life is not all Instagram perfect.  So I thought I would wrap this trip up with some of the bumps in the road during this trip...or outtakes.

• 
  
  I took a really hard fall in the streets of Brussels walking from the train station to our hotel.  Luckily I had on a skirt, so I did not rip or bloody any clothes, but I had massive road rash on both knees.  And my left knee is still scabbed over all these days later and for the first time in my life I took ibuprofen for pain for a few days.
• Do not put your Underground/Metro ticket with your cell phone as Alec learned.  First time an agent helped him through the exit.  The second time we just pushed him through the turnstile with Andy.
• All Underground/Metro ticket systems are not created equal.  We had a good laugh that every time we tried to buy 3 one-way tickets in Brussels the path to purchasing those tickets on the kiosks was different each time.  Sometimes we could purchase 3 in one transaction other times we had to purchase them each through a separate transaction.
• Picking up our rental car in Brussels turned into an adventure as it was all set to German and it would take us a good hour and figure out how to change it to English.  In the meanwhile we muddled through and used my phone to decipher the onboard navigation and eventually get it all changed over.
• Night one camping at InTentsGP for the Belgium Formula 1 race we had a couple of drunk Brits try to enter our tent after the pub/bar closed.  Scared us, but ultimately, we all had a good laugh.  In their defense all the tents look the same minus a little number tag at the entry...and probably even more so drunk and in the dark.  We even came back blurry eyed from breakfast one morning and sat down outside one tent and started to eat and finally realized we were a row off.
• 
  Formula 1 Grand Prix morning was a downpour.  We literally walked 45 minutes in the rain to the track.  We did have rain gear, but our shoes were soaked and would remain so until the end of the trip.  "It smells a bit like feet in there" - Alec's line after attempting to dry his shoes with the hair dryer in Cologne hotel bathroom.
• "Do you have any toilet roll (aka toilet paper)? became the common line in the port-a-restrooms at our campgrounds for the Belgium F1 race.  I may or may not have dripped dry a few times.
• 
  
  Chips (Fries), Beer, and Water is the breakfast of champions when the catering tent is too full due to the downpour for us to even get to the cereal the morning of the F1 Grand Prix.
• Thank goodness my husband is an engineer...I am not sure I would have remembered that bars is another way to measure air pressure/PSI and jumped on Google to do a conversion to air up our tires properly in Germany.
• While driving in Germany it took us many exits to figure out Ausfahrt means exit and wasn't a very large city with a lot of exits.
• Returning our car in Cologne was a 20 minute adventure...first as we sat at a garage entry point with a gate we could not figure out how to open and then we looked left after several minutes to see an open entry right next us. Then we totally missed the small Hertz key drop box and wondered around a bit before finding it and dropping our keys without the proper paperwork and crossed our fingers it would go well.  It did.
• Andy had to block people on numerous flights who tried to push their way past us and others to be the first off the plane. Always keep in mind different cultures handle personal space differently.
• A lot of doors push inward in stores versus pulling out.  Once I stood trying trying to decipher a store sign in German as I thought it was closed to find yes, the door opened inward and it was just operator error.  I am sure the sales team inside was having a good laugh.
• But on the other hand motion sensored self-opening doors were also a lot of fun and caught us off
  guard and became an inside joke as we are in the midst of watching Andor and proved to be a little jedi power humor.
• I will never see these people again and my love of hats proves helpful....when we realize I should not have brought my US travel hair dryer or straight iron.  We eventually bought a small hair dryer before leaving London and a UK to EU converter for it to find no easy place to use it camping AND IT RAINED A LOT, and then we had hair dryers in our hotel rooms the rest of the trip.  You are welcome to whoever finds the unused hair dryer and my Lonely Planet Germany book in our hotel desk in Berlin.
• After years with a retainer Alec nearly lost it three times on this trip.  Two times in the morning when he wasn't quite awake.  Both times we were able to retrieve it from the "rubish"/trash.  The third took a phone flash light and scouring the plane floor.
• Leaving SFO late on a Friday night is still a challenge....from it taking an hour+ to get our luggage to it taking nearly an hour to go a couple of miles to get over the Bay Bridge at 11PM thanks to normal traffic as well as the Grateful Dead's 60th show that had just wrapped in Golden Gate Park. 

All of these unexpected bumps make us better travelers.  They make us more patient travelers and people, children, parents, spouses. It makes you ask others for help and/or to slow down. Along with all of these there were lots of pleasurable bumps from an impromptu dance party in Brussels to watching England's women football (soccer) team win the Europe Cup with a bunch of Brits in a pub.  None of it we would trade.  We have always been a family who prefers to spend our money on experiences versus things.  And not all of those experiences quite pan out the way you envisioned, but they all create memories that will last a life time.

Final Stop - Berlin

Up early we had a 7:45AM train to Berlin from Cologne.  We used the German Railroad, U Bahn, which was very nice.  Even nicer than the Eurostar, except we did not have a meal.  We did wind up with free beverages though due to a delay part the way through our trip.  We arrived in Berlin about 1.5 hours late, which was fine by us as it put us closer to our hotel check-in time.

The train station in Berlin was HUGE so much so it took us a bit to figure out which way was which to secure an Uber.  It took about 15 minutes to get to our hotel, a chain we used a fair amount overseas when the kids were little, Novotel.  This was the Novotel Berlin Mitte, located within a couple minutes’ walk of the famous Museum Island.

I had planned most of the trip, so I put Andy in charge of the afternoon and then I took over dinner.  For the afternoon we would head over to the island and to a museum tucked pretty much underground along river, the DDR Museum.  This museum was mostly hands-on exhibits where you learned the history and the lifestyle during the German Democratic Republic - The Wall - The Stassi - and much more.  It was very crowded, but we took our time and soaked it all in.  It covered everything from the standard political and governmental aspects to education, home life, vacation, shopping, environment, and economy.  We stood in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living room of one of the apartments that people were allotted under the regime and then in a cell where people were locked away for the smallest of things. It was all very surreal

After we were done, we grabbed a quick ice cream, as we had skipped lunch, and were planning a good dinner.  A easy 5-minute walk back to the hotel Alec hit the gym and Andy, and I hit the hotel bar for a cocktail.  Our dinner this evening was about a 15-minute walk to the amazing Zur Gerichtslaube.  We opted for one more truly authentic German restaurant, and this one did not disappoint.  It is ranked #80 on Trip Advisor out of 9445 restaurants in Berlin.  This place was wonderful.  The Gerichtslaube (courtyard arcade) was built around 1270 in Gothic brick style and was repeatedly remodeled over the following centuries. Originally built in the Middle Ages and primarily used for the often extremely gruesome administration of justice, the Gerichtslaube (courtyard arcade) has had various functions over the centuries until it finally became a restaurant in the 20th century. We opted for outside seating as the weather was beautiful, and it was very lively.  This time both Alec and I got schnitzel, and the boys tried the beers made just for this restaurant.  The service was also very good.  We didn't finish until nearly 10PM, in typical European dining style.

The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Very plentiful as it should be for 25 euros.  Then we had a 20-minute walk to meet our guide for another Get Your Guide booking.  This time it was a 4-hour tour entitled "Berlin: Discover Berlin Walking Tour."  We knew with a very cheap price it would be more crowded, but the reviews were quite good.  Sure enough about 20 people tagged along with our guide Eran (who was Israeli, but got to Germany via... Isreal --> US --> Amsterdam...fell in love with a German --> Germany...divorced, hated his IT job, loved history, so there you have it ...a tour guide). 

We crammed a lot into our 3.5 hours (given a 30 min break for snack, etc).  We visited Museum Island and learned all about the buildings and their former intentions.  We also re-learned most of the buildings are replicas as 90% of the city was destroyed in the war.  We saw bullet holes everywhere.  We stood at the site and saw the memorial for the famous 1933 pro-Nazi book burning.  We visited Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the east west crossing points. A little further and we came upon one of the three stretches of the Berlin wall that is still standing.  Less than 5-minute walk from there and we stood on the parking lot which covers the cement filled bunker where Hitler, along with several others, committed suicide.  I will admit I prefer the way Germany has chosen to note these historical places.  There are simple placards with information in German and English.  There is nothing big about any of it...while they do not wish to forget, they also do not wish to create larger scale markers which may be more inviting to those who still support the teachings and ideologies of Hitler and the Nazis.  

It was very poignant to go from there to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  Made up of 2711 dark gray slabs that are the exact same length and width their heights all vary...getting taller towards the center and shorter on the outsides.  They also are set in rows that undulate as well as slant.  They also are placed such that only one person can walk through on their own.  You cannot walk side by side, only single file.  Our guide had us walk through and talk about the experience on the other side.  It "felt like drowning," "felt like being buried," "alone," and so on.  It was definitely a very powerful and thought-provoking piece.  We ended at the Brandenburg Gate. All along our tour our guide had photos of the various sites put to use in Hitler's speeches, parades, etc.  It was so strange to be in such a place.

A long and emotional day we returned to our hotel after a little shopping and packed a bit before heading out to Rotisserie Weingrün.  Another top rated restaurant #112 in the city, this place was more California in style, and the food was amazing.  All of our meats...chicken, steak, sausages were cooked perfectly.  I enjoyed black truffle mashed potatoes...the best mashed potatoes I have ever had (sorry Grams).  And the cocktails, wine, and beer selections also did not disappoint.  An incredible meal to end an incredible trip on as the next day we would head home via a stop in Frankfort.

Driving Fast and Slowing Down in Germany

We awoke of course to rain again in Belgium.  For the first time though the catering tent was not insane as many people had departed the night prior, so we were actually able to get to all the food easily and Andy was even able to order a hot meal for a few pounds.  We checked out about 10AM, but had 6 hours before Alec's second most anticipated adventure of the trip, driving the famous Nurburgring in Germany.  We had quickly assessed a few options the day before and opted for the Moselle River town of Cochem.

Unfortunately, along the way we needed to stop twice as our tires kept showing low and then upon arrival we couldn't find good parking to allow us to walk up to the beautiful Reichsburg Cochem Castle which drew us to the town.  Apparently this is quite the little hot spot as the car parks were packed and lots of people were about on bikes, walking dogs, and enjoying the shops and restaurants.  It was a picturesque town and would have loved to spend a day there. By the time we found a parking spot and walked into town (and after our 3 days in a row of walking back and forth to the race track) we opted to skip the castle, grab a bite to eat, walk in town a bit, and then head on our way.

We enjoyed lunch at Elli's Schnitzel-Haus.  The reviews on-line were mediocre to poor, but honestly the food was quite nice.  Prices were not crazy and the service was very friendly and helpful.  I would learn later after some research it was the owner who was serving us.  Andy had his first schnitzel, Alec pizza, and myself chips (fries) with a tatziki type dipping sauce.  It was very nice. A 20 minute walk back to our car and we were off...by the way, I forgot to mention Alec would get to drive fast later this afternoon, but Andy did get to drive the autobahn a few times on this day.  I will admit when he started pushing 90mph I chickened out and asked him to slow down.

We arrived a bit early for Alec's drive so we went on to the race course and visited the Nurburgring RingWerk, which is a museum.  Had we researched a little better I would say we probably would have explored a little more of the overall facility before committing to the museum. It was good, but had several attractions aimed at young children.

Needing to arrive an hour early we drove to Ringfreaks, the company Alec had spent weeks finding.  See at 18 there were many rules for driving the famous 28.2k Nurburgring.  In 2027 it will celebrate 100 years of racing.  It has hosted about every kind of motorized racing you can imagine and has seen the likes of Schumacher to Hamilton win on its famous curves.  Today it is mostly known for its 24 hour endurance races. Back to the rules...Alec's age, and budget, limited the cars he could drive.  He would wind up with a BMW F30 328i.  He also was required to have a coach in the car with him.  He could drive anywhere from 2 - 5 laps.  He spent his hard earned In-n-Out dollars and went for 5.  Andy went with him and checked him in.  I figured a nervous Mom would not do well for Alec's confidence.  The guys in the office were kind enough the point us to "YouTube Corner" for us to watch for Alec. Andy might have lied to me or limited my information upfront by saying it was the corner where YouTubers liked to video the fast cars.  After Alec was finished I would be told it was actually the corner where YouTubers like to record crashes.

Alec turned on his data so we could acess his Life360 location and be ready for photos and videos.  He would do 2 laps and take a break while the coach rode with someone else, then he would do 3 more.  We sat and waited patiently as he waited in a line to scan his pass and access the track.  We would learn ANYTHING...and we do mean ANYTHING can do the open track tourist drive.  We saw minivans, a car with a large Thule box, a work van, and lots of family wagons.  These were mixed amongst Lotus, BMWs, Porsches, and more.  It was incredibly entertaining.  Andy hid Alec's speed from me and I only got alerted when he was a couple minutes out so I could climb down the hill to the hole in the fence for photographers.  He had a great time!  And was very grateful for the coach.  The turns were so numerous and seemed never-ending that he said it was super helpful and allowed him to drive faster and more agressively overtaking many other drivers.  By the way if anyone goes and wants a coach his name was Marcell.  Apparently he has over 5000 laps on the course and has raced on it quite a bit.

He wrapped up around 7PM and drove the car back to the facility on his own and checked out.  Starved we stopped at a local petrol station and secured some snacks and hit the road to Cologne where we would check into our first real hotel, Artotel by Raddison, located right on the Rhine.  It was a beautiful location and our room was a corner with huge windows that opened on the second floor looking towards the cathedral.  We were disappointed that the hotel advertises a restaurant, but it only exists for a pricey (but plentiful) breakast buffet.  So we ordered via Uber Eats from Micki's   It was very fast, hot, and good Italian.  The hotel had provided us a large water with air ("sparkling water") and Andy grabbed his first Kolsh from the bar when he met our delivery guy.

We slept in and enjoyed the buffet which was very good.  Alec worked out in the minimalist hotel gym and we lazed around and I did laundry until nearly 2PM.  Then we had the fun adventure of returning the rental car to the train station.  We tried to go into the parking garage through the wrong entrance, then it took us about 15 minutes and several in and outs of the building to learn we simply drop the keys in a box marked Hertz and walk away. 

A quick walk around the corner and we were at the centerpiece of this city and UNESCO site, Cologne Cathedral.  It is the tallest twin-spired church in the world and the second largest cathedral in Europe. Construction began in 1248 but would not be well-funded until the 1840's.  It was amazing...definitely ranks up there with Notre Dame, St Peters, and Duomo.  It would take us nearly an hour to self tour the interior.

What else does one do after chuch, but have a beer so we headed off to Brahaus Fruh am Dom, which translates to the Beer Hall of the Cathedral, so very close.  It was started in 1895.  We settled into a table on the first floor and so it began.  Our beers were marked on a coaster on the table.  The server would only stop when we placed our coaster over the top...well not really...he was very used to tourists who did not know so he was kind enough to ask us if we wanted more and how many.  We would learn he was Persian, who came to Germany via L.A. to escape the Iyotollah's rule.  We were grateful for his kindness because by about 4 beers in we could not be trusted to remember to place our coaster over the top. We ordered traditional and appetizer of Halver Hahn (bread, cheese, butter, and onion) and our meals included Deftige Gulaschsuppe, Schweineschnitzel, and Ofenfrischer Schweinebraten and of course, Streudel, for dessert.  A very fun and filling afternoon as we would wind up spending nearly 3 hours there just chatting. We walked back to our hotel to enjoy more of the city sites and then off to bed as we had an early morning train to Berlin, our final stop.

Forumula 1 (2 & 3) at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Up very early...along with hundreds of our closest friends at our campsite we headed to the catering tent for breakfast.  It was a bit mad as it actually looked to be a rain free day, so everyone was headed to the track.  Included in our campsite was cereal, juices, coffee, and toast with jam.  The boys loaded up and brought it back to our campsite which also had a cute table and chairs set outside.  We ate quickly and started on our 45 minutes walk back to Circuit de Spa-Franorchamps.  This time for the flatter route which took us most directly to our seats.

First stop was down the hill to the FanZone area for the interviews.  Alec thought we would be way in the back, but we went around the side and I would say where 25 people or so back from the stage.  We saw interviews with Red Bull, Alpine, and Mercedes.  Which means yes we saw Max and for me I was happy to see George Russell.  They were very fun and made them do funny challenges at the end of their interviews.  The crowd was great.

We were on turn 1 between two covered grandstands.  The day was filled with Formula 1, 2, & 3 sprints and qualifying.  I personally enjoyed the Formula 2 best and when it was the English commentators turn I would learn their cars are made for overtaking, not overall performance.  I also learned they start reverse grid, so reverse qualifying order in the championship races.  I like this too as it is similar to skiing allowing the less tenured racers to have a shot at a cleaner course and start.  The day was insanely hot...actually I should say humid, which we are not used to anymore.  Alec also decided to forgo the classics exhibition to stand in a nearly hour line for swag.  Everyone around us was great.  To our left were 5 guys from the east coast celebrating a 40th birthday.  In front of us a British couple who were quit young and quiet.  To our right a large German family.

Our seats on the top row came in handy this day as we are the only ones who could stand and also got a breeze as we actually were not completely blocked in by bodies.  This seating would also come in very handy on Day 2...when yes in true Spa fashion it would rain...and rain...and rain.

We enjoyed the catering tent for dinner where Andy had chicken curry and rice, myself veggie lasgna, and Alec cheeseburger and fries.  And of course we went to the pub for a beer while we used the charging lockers for devices.  Plans were to crash early and be up and walking by 7:15AM the next morning to make the Formula 3 race.  Ear buds in we crashed hard and didn't awaken until....

....the pouring rain and our alarms at 6:15AM.  Andy checked the radar and we decided to forgo the Formula 3 race.  Glad we did as it was actually canceled.  This morning we skipped breakfast all together and donned our rain gear.  Yes, we brought full pants and jackets and started our 45 minute walk to the track.  Luckily getting in was a little easier this time and the rain had stopped a bit and we would see the Formula 2 race.  Breakfast would be fries (which the Belgians claim are truly Belgium fries, not French as we silly Americans mistook French-speaking Belgians who provided them during the war as French people and it stuck) as the waffle line was a mile long.

The day would go back and forth between sun, rain, cloudy.  Come Formula 1 time they did the drivers parade and it was overcast, then time for the National Anthem and it started to rain.  The drivers would take 3 laps before they red-flagged the race and would eventually push out the start time by an hour.  The DJ was awesome at keeping the crowd engaged all over the venue.  We literally tried to do the wave all around the track and dance parties and singing broke out everywhere.  And why does the top row come in handy by the way...because we are the only ones allowed to put up umbrellas.  And by the way for those who were grumbling about the rain...it POURED!  Yes, we do agree they have tires that are supposed to work in the rain, but we definitely could see how the spray and visibility would make it very dangerous.

Saldy the race was a little anti-climactic when it did occur.  We were excited to be on turn 1, but they did a rolling start (which we will agree was not needed), so it was very tame.  Piastri would overtake Norris early and from there the grid for the top positions nearly held the entire race.  We will say it was great to see Leclerc hold off Max to finish 3rd and Hamilton got tons of cheers for going from starting in the pits to P7.  But given there was serious chatter about the race being canceled we were glad it was not and we got to see some good racing in quals and sprints.

We debated the track invasion as people pushed their way towards gates in front of our stand, but in the end when it was all over and we were exiting...we decided at the last minute to make the turn and go join the masses.

After our long walk, hot showers, and dinner in hand...another treat was joining a couple of hundred again at the pub inside the soccer clubhouse to watch the British women's football team defeat Spain for the 2025 Euro in a shoot out.  What fun that was!  Another unexpected surprise on our trip.  Next up...Alec getting to spend a chunk of his hard earned money from his employment at In-n-Out to drive 5 laps on the famous Nuerbergring in Germany. 

Brussels Food & History Tour and InTentsGP

A decent night's sleep, we were off to the lobby area for our hostel breakfast with a ton of our Tomorrowland friends.  Very mediocre European continental breakfast...cereals, meats, breads, yogurt, but thankfully a coffee machine. That's OK as we were headed for a 4-hour food and history tour at 11AM today.

We quickly ate, packed our bags, and stored them again in the lockers as we wouldn't pick up our rental car until ~4:30pm after the tour. Then we boarded the Metro again to the Bruges station and made our way to a corner of the Palace area in front of a Chocolatier called Mary.  This is our 3rd time using Get Your Guide as we have been very happy with past bookings in Paris and San Francisco.  This time we were doing the "Brussels: Food Tour with Lunch, Chocolate, Beer, and Waffles."  We arrived with about 5 minutes to spare to find a young man having a quick smoke while he waited on us and the others in our party looked around.  We would find we were a small group.  The other 3 were a couple of a best friend from New York who were Dominican in ethnicity.  Super fun to talk to about travel, food, and of course the Grand Prix as they were going as well with plans to drive back and forth each day.

We started in the Palace area by entering Mary, the first female chocolatier, in Brussels in 1919.  They also have been providing chocolates, a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder, to the Belgium royal family since 1942.  We tasted several, including one we would purchase later a champagne rose.  Then out onto the Palace area we would get lots of history including the Free Masons, various artisan guilds, and Karl Marx.  He had lived there for three years until expelled in 1948 and it is where he would write his Communist Manifesto.

We would find our way now to our second chocolatier in the Palace area, Galler. Liked by many for it's minimalist packaging, free trade cocoa, and a collaboration indictive of the country with over 170 chocolatiers it's very much a forward looking business. After this we would wind our way through the streets seeing the famous Manneken Pis again and also seeing the museum that houses all the costumes he has been dressed in over the years.  Our guide informed us it was quite a treat for us to see him naked as he rarely is.  We also learned at this time due to Brussels being the NATO seat as as well as EU this is a incredibly diverse city.  Our guide claimed it to be the second most diverse city in the world.  I fact checked him and can not find that to be true, but do see that nearly 50% of Belgians do not have Belgium as their first country of origin in their registered status.

We eventually came to a store front and upon entering found several tables set for tours.  And here we would sample several beers while Tony, an elderly gentleman, prepared an amazing lunch.  First, we were each presented with a pot of mussels with onion, herbs, broth, and I think spinach.  And bread of course for soaking up the juice.  We would use our shells like tongs to eat the meat of other shells.  The second course was an amazing meatball with cherries served with a potato croquet and applesauce.  Absolutely delicious...and more beer of course.

With bellies full we walked it off for more history, different sectors of Brussels, old marina, China town, and more.  We also would visit Mannekin's mates...a girl named "Jeanneke Pis" and a dog named "Zinneke Pis."  Finally we would wind our way to the exclusive glass-domed high-end shopping areas of Saint Hubert Royal Galleries and our Waffle and Coffee tastings at Mokafe Taverne.  We learned the heavily loaded waffles you saw on other areas were not the truest.  The best were very light, cooked fresh, dusted with powder sugar, and served with a small carafe of chocolate sauce.  It was delicious!  Andy and I opted for cappuccinos.  And Alec for a super hot original hot chocolate which would require a lot of added sugar to get it to what he was accustomed.

Winding our way out we would stop again one more time at Mary for a last sampling and then a goodbye to our companions.  Again, another successful tour.  We were a little concerned at first as our guide was just returning from a month holiday, but he was a very sweet and talkative young man who we got to know well.  He's doing this while hoping to use his college education to do something in social work, preferably working with the homeless.

We gathered our bags, our rental car, and we were off to the countryside and InTentsGP for the next three nights for the Spa Formula 1 Grand Prix.  During our hour and a half drive we battled with our car to convert it to English, but we survived just fine and found a station playing live from Tomorrowland, which was fun.  Finally, about 6:30PM we pulled into a field across from a soccer club, checked in, and found our way to our large canvas yurt with blow up beds, but nice bedding for the next three nights.  Then we walked 45 minutes to the track where there was still one more race as well as to get the lay of the land for the next day.  Wow, there were a lot of people and the route we chose that night would be the only time we would take it as it was downhill there, but obviously a long uphill coming back.  We also learned our entrance was a long walk from inside.  Back at the campsite we would grab a shower in the portables they had set-up, and dinner from the catering tent, and a beer from the bar located in the soccer clubhouse.  In bed by 10PM we would be up the next morning by 6:30AM to get ready and walk to the track to see the interviews in the Fan Zone with several teams including Red Bull.