Enjoying some winter wonders in Brussels… COMPLETED - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Saturday 6 December – part four: oh wow, that was good!
We headed out, and as you can see from these photos, it was a beautiful day out.
We made our way down to Place de la Bourse, which is home to the Bourse or Stock Exchange, which is a stunning building.
This is also the start of the Winter Wonders event, with various chalets selling all sorts of things – some souvenirs, some food, and some drink. The second we saw the sign for mulled wine, we got in line, as we felt that was just what we needed – and even better, they did a version with amaretto, which we both got. Oh wow, that was good, but my goodness, we knew we’d had it!
We made our way through some of the Christmas market…
We were looking for something to eat, so that we could soak up the alcohol we’d just had. I managed to find this, which was just what I needed.
Mark found this…
Once we were done eating, we went inside St. Nicholas church, which dates back to the end of the 12th century, although it was largely destroyed at the end of the 17th century by the French. It was only restored in the 1950s. Mark pointed out that it’s not straight inside, and my trusty guidebook told me that was because they built it to avoid an old stream. We sat in there for a while, resting our feet, then wandered around.
We got to this point, and a woman turned the lights off inside. It was the most surreal thing. I don’t know if they were telling us to get out, but it was bizarre.
Outside, we found this!
Can you guess what they were selling here? You got it – escaragot!
I found a shop selling these, but they were very expensive and the flavours were a bit weird for my taste, so I passed.
Cheese Cake Cafe? Yes please!
The bows on the windows for the holiday decor are really cute! How lucky to have the Christmas market. Love the food and drink so far.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Cheese Cake Cafe? Yes please!
The bows on the windows for the holiday decor are really cute! How lucky to have the Christmas market. Love the food and drink so far.
So did we - and you won't be surprised to know that Amaretto is on the Monday night grocery order, so that we can add it to our stock of mulled wine...
I love amaretto! Need to look up a recipe for mulled wine with amaretto! Sounds perfect.
I don't know if you can get ready mixed mulled wine over there, but we have bottles of the stuff and I was just going to put a slug (or two! ) of amaretto in before pouring the mulled wine in - that's all the woman who served s seemed to do.
Saturday 6 December – part five: what’s this all for?
We headed up this crowded street…
… and into the Grand Place. There have been markets held here since the 11th century, but it really became the centre of Brussels when the Hotel de Ville or town hall was built in the 15th century. In the late 17th century, the same French bombing that destroyed St. Nicholas church also destroyed much of the buildings here, leaving just the facades.
This is the Hotel de Ville…
This is the Maison du Roi, built in the 16th century, but redesigned in the 19th century. It was once the residence of the Spanish kings that once ruled Belgium, hence its name.
Next to it is Le Pigeon, which was home to Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables, and it was beautiful in the late afternoon sun.
At the far end of the square to where we’d entered is the Maison des Ducs de Brabant, a group of six guildhouses that is today home to a variety of things, including a bank, and hotel.
I also loved this building, which is the Everard t’Serclaes, named after a man murdered in the 15th century and now immortalised in a bronze statue at the base of this building.
Unfortunately, this end of the Grand Place is currently undergoing restoration. A sign told us it would take a very precise “190 working days” to complete.
By the way, in case you’re wondering about the Christmas tree, and we did, the reason it’s got Riga all over it is because it comes from the Latvian capital of that name, which just happens to be the European City of Culture this year.
We thought the nativity scene was a nice touch, although shame about how it had to be displayed, all padlocked away.
We wandered out of the Grand Place, seeing some contrasting architecture.
At this point, the skies look dark in the photos, and we did feel some spots of rain. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do next, but Mark spotted the sign for the Manneken Pis, and we figured we’d head that way. Well, we stumbled on something, and sat down for a while to watch it, as it seemed to be the preparations for a parade, although we couldn’t quite work out what it was for, and it all seemed a bit disorganised.
We weren’t sure what this person was dressed as… There were some guys with some amazing moustaches!
Interesting history in that square! And interesting people.... for the parade?
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Huh, kinda weird parade I love the look of your hotel!!!
It was, but it does make sense in the end.... I did wonder if you'd guess what it was all about, as I think you might be more familiar with it than we are here...
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I don't know if you can get ready mixed mulled wine over there, but we have bottles of the stuff and I was just going to put a slug (or two! ) of amaretto in before pouring the mulled wine in - that's all the woman who served s seemed to do.
I have mulling spices that I use to make my own, so it would be easy to just add a splash of amaretto to that.
It was, but it does make sense in the end.... I did wonder if you'd guess what it was all about, as I think you might be more familiar with it than we are here...
Now I'm curious But no, I don't have a clue right now...
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I managed to find this, which was just what I needed. 
) of amaretto in before pouring the mulled wine in - that's all the woman who served s seemed to do.
I love the look of your hotel!!!
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