Heavenly Lanterns

A while back we took a scenic train ride up to this little town in the mountains where they do these lanterns.  They are just like the lanterns in Tangled except bigger.  We did some hiking, and then when it got dark we bought a lantern.  They give you a can of black paint and some brushes so that you can write on it and then they help you light it and release it.  It was fun to watch all of the lanterns floating up.  The kids loved it.  After our lantern flew away, Caleb said "Didn't that make you feel happy inside?"  It did.

There it goes!

The train ride home was very crowded.  It was a long hour, but the guy in the right hand corner of the picture bullied some people out of their seats and made our kids sit down.

National Palace Museum - Taipei, Taiwan

van Eyck

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in the 1430s, has been called the most influential painting in history. It's also been called the most sought after painting since it has been stolen 7 or 8 times.   It's here in Ghent in St. Bavo's cathedral.  We went to see it on Wednesday.  The detail in it is amazing.

Bruges

On Saturday we visited the Medieval city of Bruges.   I think the kids got tired of looking at old churches, but they were excited to visit the candy shop.  They had gummies of every shape and size and we tried them all.