Van Dammes in Europe, yet again

To look at a whole bunch of our photos of England, Belgium and the 2005 Van Hout Reunion, go to this site:

http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=36851131248029793/l=66324586/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

You have to sign up for an account at Snapfish. But it isn't that big a deal, really. And it's free.

The stuff here is just a small sample and mostly isn't repeated at Snapfish. 








   In late June 2005 we traveled to Flanders for the Van Hout Reunion, including our kids, kid-in-law, unborn grandkid, and Jim's dad (who had never been).  Since the reunion was in Brussels, we also took some time to travel to West Flanders to see the homelands of the Van Dammes, like Zillebecke. We stopped in Gent to see a live relative, Katrien Couchez, and her family.














Here we are checking out the Brueghel in the cathedral in Antwerp. We also visited the Flemish genealogical society VVF in Antwerp.












Antwerp town square: you have to look up to appreciate it all. We had some rain, but what's Belgium without rain?











At the Brussels Stadhuis (town hall), with some costumes from the Ommegang parade the previous day.






Consulting the map. Again.
The country is flat. Why can't they make the roads straight?














Grandpa sampling the world's best bier in Tremelo, where Mary Margaret's friend Magda lives. He suffered no ill effects.











Paul Van Hout cooks some sausages at the reunion.
                    
The Van Hout Reunion portrait!






After the reunion we went to England to relax. We had a cottage in West Wiltshire which is west of Salisbury and Stonehenge. It's pretty quiet out there.











We spent the time rambling around Salisbury Plain on footpaths and a trip to where the Padbergs lived  in Portland, a prison that's still in operation 140 years later. The Padbergs are on Mary Margaret's Irish side from waaay back.











The kids did London which was OK until the terrorist bombing on the tube. Fortunately they weren't in the wrong places at the wrong times.









Our Anniversary dinner at Penney Cottage, West Wiltshire

After the kids went home we went up to Yorkshire, where our friends the Sellers live.















Here we're going to high tea in York.



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11-11-2005