We bought our overpriced tickets (Mine was 14 euro; Amelia's was 10. Jack, thankfully, was free.) I opted for the cheaper "banken" seats -- bleachers as opposed to plastic deck chairs. Partly because I'm cheap, partly because the kids could see better if they were up high, and yes, partly because the folks in plastic deck chairs would be mauled by runaway tigers first.
All the animals were outside -- the goats, camel, shetland ponies and other livestock were under one tent.
Amelia was immediately disappointed, as the posters for the circus depict TWO camels.
Just across the way was the trailer housing 3 tigers (again, some explanation was necessary, as the circus poster has only one tiger...). Man, those are BIG animals.
We got inside, and selected some nice seats close to the exit (can you tell my paranoia is setting in? one glance at the "ring," and I was really worried about our proximity to the wild animals. Clearly, this would never happen in the U.S.
We got our cotton candy (note: cotton candy is messy on a good day, but just try eating it on a rainy day. Even under a tent, it lost it's fluff quickly from the moisture.) and sat down. I was surprised at how few people were there, but it was still a decent crowd.
It was overall a really enjoyable time. A small staff of circus folk, but the kids enjoyed it. A guy who looked like the namesake of "Weekend at Bernies" was the resident juggler/acrobat. He did some fun tricks. Though he did one of his "acts" while acting as a drunk sailor -- although his nautical hat said "Marines" on it. Guess it wasn't the US marines!
Surprisingly, it wasn't the tigers that Amelia became frightened of. When Bernie did a balancing act while supported by 2 sets of 4 drinking glasses, Amelia started crying "I want to go home!" When I asked why, she said she was worried that the glasses were going to break.
Of course, now Amelia wants to go every day. Luckily, driving back and forth by the animals twice a day seems to be sufficient for now.
Not Again....
Did I mention in the previous blog about how there were carnival trucks near our house? Well, we drove down to Place Dumon (in Stockel) to buy a road atlas, and we discovered that the latest carnival (and a BIG one at that) has taken root in Stockel's square. Wonder how long THAT will last.
The Cost of Literacy...
I stopped by the local bookstore/stationery store in Stockel to pick up a road atlas for Europe. While there, I noticed they had an English book section. I was pretty excited, as I've torn through 2 books in as many weeks and am already missing having some trashy reading. But I looked at the prices, and an 11 dollar paperbook from the US is 24 euros (33 bucks!). Pretty exorbitant, huh?
Today's Accomplishments
Today, I filled my gas tank for the first time, took pants to the cleaners for the first time.... hmmm, I thought there was something else of note that I did today, too, but I can't recall. And besides that, I got through the whole cleaners transaction without English (well, without French, too). Luckily, I understood her enough to pay and know when they would be ready. And Jack got a cookie.
Now I'm off to watch some taped TV and feel re-Americanized!
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