In Bocholt, Exercise = Indulgence

OK, class. You may thank Grandpa for today's history lesson. (He pointed out that I was severely slacking in my blogging lately.) The skies are blue and there is a little nip in the air, so Brandon and I headed out this fine morning to enjoy a walk around Bocholt. Bocholt's original name was "Bucolt", which means beech, and dates back to the later 12th century. As in all towns in Belgium, the church is in the centrum (center). The church here is called St.-Laurentiuschurch. Loosely translated, St. Lawrence Church. This church became famous in 1910. It seems that due to the huge population growth in this area, Bocholt decided that they needed a larger church. They hired an American engineer named Weiss and an Italian constructor named Morglia to resolve this problem, and the best solution involved moving the church tower 9.4 meters. This had never been done before, so it was quite the feat. It also earned the nickname of "De Torenkruiers" ( the Tower-porters) for the inhabitants of Bocholt. Needless to say, Bocholt is very proud of this achievement, and you will find a statute and museum commemorating the event in the Gemeentehuis, which is the local government building or courthouse. This is Bocholt's Bibliotheek De Prisol, which is the local library. It's a beautiful building, and I will probably go in and pretend that I can read Dutch, just so I can check out the architecture. I'm sure that they will be suitable impressed with my vast Dutch vocabulary of approximately 5 words.
This statute is beside the library, and commemorates a military event in Bocholt. I'm afraid I don't have any information on it yet, but I hope to find out more about it soon. In any event, it's a beautiful statue, and I just thought that I would share it with you.

As a reward for our strenuous physical and intellectual exercise this morning, Brandon and I stopped at the local bakery before heading home. I'm sure that you will agree that this treat was well deserved. (I wish computers had smell-o-vision so that you could truly appreciate the experience.) A kind gentleman helped us order our fresh baked goodies, and for that we will be forever grateful. There were so many things to choose from, so we just picked out a few basics for today. I arranged them neatly on this cake plate just to take this tempting photo to share with you, then the kids and I devoured most of them. If Russ asks, we had a healthy, well balanced and nutritious breakfast. Yea, right. Like he would believe that!