Belgium

Brussels, Belgium - We had planned to close on the business today and I was very excited to close on my father's birthday HOWEVER; numerous last minute back and forth between Solicitors  and 3 time zones kept us from doing so---my stomach was in knots the entire day, I hadn't slept, I hadn't eaten.  The solicitors coupled with technology problems (I couldn't make phone calls for half the day, our UK bank wouldn't recognize my PIN number and my Skype didn't work...ugh) combined to make it a long, frustrating and disappointing day during most of which I was holding in tears and there was a huge lump in my throat. So anyway, after an emotional day, I remembered; all I can do is "Keep Calm and Carry On" And fortunately I did so and before I fell asleep; I had a solid plan for tomorrow! Happy travels, Linda and Madeline

Meeting "our" Chocolatier and Suppliers Brussels, Belgium -This morning we toured OUR (I use the collective our) Chocolatier with a behind-the-scenes look at making the chocolate. The tour was exceptional and the chocolate mouth-watering. We learned all about the chocolate making process and of course, Madeline was impressed to be able to taste along the way! We had a quick lunch in the car and then onto the packaging company...which was also a great treat! We spent hours looking at all of the lovely packaging and dreaming of the future. It's not everyday one has this opportunity. We'll tell you all about this process once we get home to America and digest. My head is still spinning. We'll also add in photos (where we can) The only downside of the day is that we were unable to connect Madeline's laptop to the hotel wifi and she was very much looking forward to skyping with her friends from Belgium. Happy travels, Linda and Madeline p.s. we plan to close on the business tomorrow in honor of my fathers birthday!

Brussels, Belgium -John ( the seller of the business we are going to buy) and I have SKYPED many times over the past month but this was our first time meeting in person. He very kindly picked us up at the airport and brought us to our hotel which was right in the heart of Brussels. After checking into the hotel and freshening up a bit (we were running on zero sleep) we were off with John on a walking tour around the Sablon district to orient us to the area. Home to some of the some of the worlds most famous chocolatiers such as Neuhaus, Leonidas, Laurent Gerbuad..., there's no denying Belgium makes the worlds best chocolate so where better to learn about chocolate then in Brussels with it's 2,000 plus chocolate shops. Madeline and I indulged in as many different chocolates as we could each time John explaining to us the differences and history. We visited 5 famous chocolatiers in total and organized some chocolate classes and workshops for our next visit. We walked until we couldn't walk anymore. For our last stop John introduced us to a chocolatier whose creations are unlike anyone else's we seen. I love to share more but honestly we earned so much today my head is spinning and quite honestly I don't remember if the meeting was proprietary or not therefore I shall not share his name at the moment. Anyway, there I had the most sinfully delicious cup of hot chocolate and it was the perfect way to end our first day in Belgium. Happy travels, Linda and Madeline