Brussels, Belguim Jan 2011

Several months after our first trip to Belgium, we have returned.  I suppose that means it is time to post the pictures!  https://picasaweb.google.com/iamacolanut/BrusselsBelguimFeb2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvkruj7zszLMw#

If given a list of major European cities such as London, Paris, Roman, Athens, or Madrid anyone could probably come up with a list of attractions they would love to see.  Now if we were to think Brussels, Belgium what would be on the list? I would not consider Belgium one of those places that top my list of “Must Do’s” but since we are here, it seems a shame to sit in a hotel room and never see any of it.  On past trips we have seen Antwerp (August 1999), Gent, Brugge, and Waterloo (all in November 2009).  So last time we came back to Belgium (January 2011), it felt like we are getting to the middle or lower end of the list.  Having never seen Brussels, we decided we should see it, even if we didn’t have a real destination. 

Belgium is interesting in that it has no real identity.  It has two languages, French in the south, and Dutch in the north. Brussels is mostly French speaking and yet is in the northern part of the country.  All signs are in French and Dutch.   Brussels is the capital of Belgium, which as a country only has an interim government.    The Guinness World Records has Belgium as the country that has gone the longest without a government in times of peace, over 300 days now.  And yet with no real personal identity it has become the primary seat of the European Union. 

If I had been asked, what are the best known facts about Belgium, I could list a few (but only because I looked!)  Most people know that Antwerp is the diamond capital of the world.  Belgian chocolate is always world renown.  Belgian waffles are also known but the ones we make in America are not at all like what you find in Belgium.  And for a few of us with the love of textiles, Belgium lace is a handmade wonder.  It has been a cottage industry for hundreds of years.  But other than that, Belgium is the middle ground for history and for wars.  This is where Napoleon met his “Waterloo” but a battle between the French and English doesn’t say much about Belgian history.  I have already mentioned the EU and the only other thing I know about is the Fields of Flanders which is a World War 1 battle ground and American Cemetery. We haven’t gone there yet but I will eventually.  There is more here, but it has never promoted in literature or art as other times and places have.

Like most European cities, towns, villages, hamlets or whatever they are called, Brussels has a main square which is called the Grand Place.  The Town Hall has an impressive bell tower which was built in the 1400’s.  On the other side of the square is the building called the Kings House, which never was (visited or lived in by a King that is…)!  It was built in the late 1800’s.  Again the architecture is impressive.  Off of the square are a lot of winding, narrow side streets.  It seems that one shop is lace, one is a chocolatier and the next is a waffle shop.

Down one of the many side streets is the statue called Manneken Pis.  Now why would you go to Europe to see a fountain with a little boy peeing in a pond?  I am not sure but I can certainly check this one off my list!  It was a very small statue and there are several stories as to why it was built.  The original statue was built in the 14^th century and has been stolen many times.  The current bronze statue was place where it stands, in 1619.  One legend tells of a little boy who was spying on some attackers who were putting explosives outside the wall.  He put out the burning fuses and saved the city.  Another tells of a family who lost a child and a search party found him happily peeing in a garden.  Others are variations of the same themes.  He has an extensive wardrobe, but only gets “dressed “on special occasions.  None-the-less, I have seen it and won’t need to go back.  There was, however, several waffle shops along the way and it made the trip worth it! 

In America we go to the kitchen appliances and we often find a Belgium Waffle maker.  It makes thicker waffles which allow for deeper divots which hold more of whatever we put on top.  I personally tend to put fruit and cream on the top of Belgian waffle and syrup on a regular waffle.  But these are not true Belgian waffles. The waffle irons are similar and they have deeper divots, but that is where the similarities end!   Where we use a runny batter, here they use dough.  I am not sure how they make it, I need to do some research, and if I were to stop now and do so, I would never get back to this.  But I will put it on my to do list.  Anyway, the dough is put into the iron and stretched or pulled a bit with what look to me like meat forks, and then the lid is pressed down and they cook.  They come out in sort of a rectangle shape but certainly nothing uniform and perfect.  Then comes the topping!  Most of the time it is fruit such as strawberries or bananas but I have seen other fruits as well.  If you skip the fruit, they are   topped with whipped cream, chocolate, or powdered sugar.  And, if you are feeling very decadent, all of the above!  Lesson learned, when traveling in Belgium, always have a supply of handy wipes, plain napkins only stick to the mess that is always made.

Next we walked up to Saints Michael and Gudula Cathedral.  I am not sure what to say about a cathedral, I don’t want to sound uncaring but they are all beginning to look alike!  After doing some reading to try and figure out who St. Gudula was I came up with a woman who was born in Belgium her mother was a saint as was her 2 sisters and brother.  The church was beautiful, and unlike some was very light.  Notre Dame in Paris is very dark.  I will say we did miss two churches but they were not in the center of town. We will have to check it out later. 

The rest of our trip was mostly walking and seeing the city.  We went to a park and I am sure that any other time it would have been beautiful, but in late January, the fountains were not flowing and the trees were bare and it wasn’t grand.  It was in front of the palace.   There is a Belgian monarchy but I never knew that!  Certainly not as popular as the British monarchy.  

Anyway, we did not stay too long, as we were cold.  It was a clear beautiful day, but it was January and we were not used to the climate change.  Getting out of the city and back to Chievres was interesting.  We had come in earlier in the morning and traffic was still pretty quiet, now it was afternoon and everyone was moving about.  One wrong turn and then all we heard was “recalculating” from the GPS.  We are getting better now that we have been in and out of the train station a couple of times.  So, will we go back?  Maybe. Next year in August in the town square they will make a carpet, for lack of better description, of flowers.  They only do it every other year.  So if we are around we will go.  Would I make a special trip to Europe to see Brussels, probably not.

 There are a few pictures posted.  Click on one of the small thumbnails at the top and then go to home.    

Amazing Date

https://picasaweb.google.com/iamacolanut/LondonMar2011#
Today marks 32 years with my sweetheart.  It has been a wonderful time, even through all the hardships and challenges, there is no other I would have wanted to share it all with.  I’ve been very blessed. 

     We’ve learned a lot this last weekend, the first thing we learned is that neither one of us are 19 anymore.  It is a sad statement to make when you can honestly say that a nap is as good as theater tickets.  A nap truly enhances the theater experience.  I took D to London weekend before last; I booked train tickets from Kettering where we took off for King’s Cross / St. Pancras Station.  From there we caught the Tubes along the Piccadilly line to Gloucester Road Station where it was a short walk around the corner to the Holiday Inn Kensington where we set up head quarters. 

     The train ride in was interesting; East Midland Rails had sold tickets to completely fill their 5 car train into London.  The only problem was that they only provided us with 4 passenger cars.  Let’s just say the rest of the trip in was amusing.  The “family” that parked beside us would have given the “Munsters” a run for their money.  Bald, drunk, chains, piercings, tats, you get the picture… a class and culture all their own.

     The rest of the trip to the hotel was uneventful.  Upon arrival at Pancras, We got tube passes for most of the city for the three days and took off.  We had tickets for “The Jersey Boys” for Friday evening.  By the time we got to the hotel, it was noonish and our room wasn’t going to be ready until 2:00 or so.  We decided that an “old times’ sake” lunch was in order so we went to Hyde Park and had lunch at the original Hard Rock Café.  We used to go there when the kids were in High School and all involved in drama.  Each year, they’d (the school) would put on a musical and use the proceeds to rent a Double Decker bus and would take the participating students to London to see some shows and see the sites.  D and I had each chaperoned at least one of these trips but had not done it together.  Inevitably, each group (regardless of the year) had to have lunch at the Hard Rock.  It made us miss the kids terribly but it is still the best Burger in the UK and the décor is still awesome.  After lunch, we took a Tube up to St Paul’s Cathedral.  It was beautiful and disappointing at the same time.  Up to this point I had not seen the Cathedral and was looking forward to it.  Upon arrival I was a little taken back that they were charging huge money to get into the church.  We paid and went in anyway – we later found it ironic that government run museums and galleries were free but Churches apparently are not…hum? (More on that irony later).  Anyway, the Cathedral is indeed garish, magnificent and beautiful.  To me the highlight of the walk through the church was the gorgeous organ music that resounded throughout.  The acoustics in there are wonderful.

     Once we did our walk-a-bout, shamefully, we voted and unanimously returned to our hotel, checked in, walked through the door, and dropped everything and took a nap.  When we woke up at about an hour from show time, our little pull bags were standing exactly where we abandoned them; with handles still sticking straight out with some expectation of being unpacked soon.

     We hurried to the theater and had phenomenal seats for “The Jersey Boys”.  I won’t play amateur critic here but will suffice to say that the music was wonderful as I am a big fan of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  I have to agree with D on the fact that I personally could have lived without all of the swearing.  To me it took what could have been a truly great show and made it merely good.  I get the whole Jersey boys = rough neighborhood thing; but I found the cussing unnecessary.  Had a wonderful time otherwise and the talent was amazing. Even after the nap, we still had no problem crashing once we got to the room.

Saturday was interesting.  We woke to the television news that they were expecting nearly half a million unhappy protestors in downtown London; each angry and demonstrating against government cuts. This kind of put a kink in our master plan but, as it turned out, it really worked out for us.  As we rounded the corner to get to our tube stop to down town, we spotted a city tour bus and thought what the heck… Anyway, due to the mob downtown, the tour buses were only skirting the city and not doing their usual and full route.  After talking to them, it turned out to be a bonus in that the tour included a Thames River cruise and walking tours and because of the mess, they told us the tickets were going to be good a full two days as things were promised to return to normal by Sunday.

     The Saturday tour turned out to be a bit of a highlight as we had the phenomenal “Phil” as our adhoc tour guide.  He was short, dumpy, balding, and middle aged and hysterical in a decidedly only “British” sort of way.  He pointed out a spot where some British celebrity had lost her leg in a trolly mishap... that's something you don't get on every tour.  He also point out a building that they used as Gringgots in the filming of Harry Potter.  We eventually took our journey all around the city and left Phil and the bus to get on a tour boat that took us from the Tower Bridge to the Westminster peer just opposite the London eye.  

     In getting off the boat in Westminster, We unwittingly wound up in the middle of the organizing protestors.  It didn't take long to calculate that the reason why the British Government had to make cuts was to be able to pay all of the policemen that were surrounding the parliament building and any other expensive point of interest (the abbey, etc…).  Tension levels helped us quickly decide not to hang around and declare our allegiance to one side of the argument or the other.  We opted for a better course and went shopping!  Why not, every other time I had been to London it was to chaperone 5 or 6 teenage boys who were more interested in the London Dungeon than they were the shopping experience.  Hence, D and I wound up in Harrods.  (Caution, the little thing on the price tag is not a dollar sign; it is a multiplier which made the amount depicted turn from what would have been astronomical in dollars to absolute lunacy in pounds.) No, ties really don’t need to cost $400 each and the cost of cuff links (@ 2800 pounds).  It really made me consider the merits of short sleeve shirts.

     We bought nothing!!! But, we had a blast.  If you get a chance, the food departments (yes plural) are amazing; with literally anything you may ever want to eat and many things that you could pay a fortune for and would have never conceived of ever putting into your mouth.  Amazing and gross!

     After Harrods it was lunch time.  We hit another memory (or what I remembered as one!) Anyway, we got off the tube at Piccadilly Circus and I was telling Dianne that Planet Hollywood was just around the corner.  We turned the corner and it was missing… hum?  I also had told her how fun it was and what a nice atmosphere… and here I was now showing her that I was totally senile… I misplaced Planet Hollywood.  We did finally find it and it wasn’t near anything I ever remembered being in.  It was a real “Dorothy” moment for me.   The ambiance was now green and plastic recycled chairs and common cafeteria type accoutrements.  D thought perhaps that I was comparing this to the PH in Orlando and I guess I had to go with it until… the waitress rescued me.  When asked if we had been there before, I honestly didn’t know how to respond until I said yes but it had been 10 years.  She smiled and stated that the I must have been at the old location as they had changed just 3 years earlier… I was so relieved that I hadn't lost my mind.

The food was still good and Lunch was a success.  Finally, as we lunched late and the evening promised to be another late one, we voted once again to nap instead of pressing forward into exhaustion. 

The nap was wonderful and set us up in time for a truly marvelous theater experience.  We had originally booked tickets for Wicked some time ago as Whitney and Robert and several others have seen productions of it that they all found truly amazing.  So as not to provide a spoiler of any type, I will only conclude that it is a fabulous production that is intelligently written, beautifully performed, and wonderfully done.  It is little wonder that it is the #1 show on the British Stage and will remain so for some time.  See it if you get the chance.

Sunday morning came and was much colder than previous.  We were going to go to the Royal Gardens and wander through some spring blooms but neither of us had much “spring” of our own so we decided to take advantage the two for one deal we got on the bus tour the day before.  We managed to finish the down town leg of the London excursion and made the complete circuit.  It was painfully evident as to where the rioters had painted graffiti all over Piccadilly Circus.  They had smashed glass out of the windows of the Ritz hotel and had battered some ATM machines.  There were discarded banners and placards everywhere.  All and all, it was a crying shame that a few hundred had to drown out the message of the several thousand with their sick anti-social behavior.  I know it is important to be heard but I’ve come to the conclusion that some people are just stupid and haven’t the slightest chance of getting over it.

Once we were done with the bus tour, we got off and made our way to Trafalgar Square.  While we were on our bus tour, we had passed the “Texas Embassy” located near the square.  That’s right; the country (republic) of Texas has its own Embassy in the heart of London.  In reality, one of the finer Tex-Mex restaurants in all of the UK.  We walked through the door and it was quite a dramatic change.  Country music was playing and the sights and sounds and smells could have come right out of El Paso.  I won’t say the food was world class but the fare was better than most.

Following lunch, we walked around the corner to the National Gallery and wandered through the pre renaissance period and eventually into the impressionists.  My favorite is Pierre- Auguste Renoir.  We saw quite a few works from Monet, Manet, Renoir, and others.  We cleared the gallery by about 3 O’clock and simply stood in the middle of the masses wandering around Trafalgar and people watched for the next couple of hours.  The heart of London is amazing and the people defy description.  There was some type of Scottish Sports Team and their families that had all congregated at Trafalgar and were all wandering around in there Clan Colors.  Two of the Young men in their Kilts pulled out their Bagpipes in the middle of the square and were playing traditional Scottish folk songs.  There was every other type of person imaginable; from turbines to cowboy hats, from kilts to punkers.  It was all there and all fairly represented…

Finally, fatigue and resolve took us back to the hotel where we picked up our bags and made our way back to the train home.  Some of the Scottish revelers made their way onto our train but thankfully not in our car.  The rest of the trip was without incident worthy of remark but only to say it was good to be home.

It was a long Blog but it was also a long weekend worth doing.  I love this beautiful world God has given us to explore and I love the companion of mine that is still game to explore it with me.  May you find joy in your journeys as well!  We’ll try and get the pictures up so you can share in some of the visuals… more on life later.

P

"Quid Pro"

(Or…  Euro, and Pounds, and Bucks… oh my)

We found ourselves sorting through the coins in D’s purse again the other day.  It was interesting to watch the inspection process… you pick up a coin and examine it and then slowly recognize the denomination and the currency and then throw it into the appropriate pile only to be mixed up again with everything else later.  The paper currency situation is as funny.  In having American charge and debit cards, there is always an associated fee from the various British / Continental merchants and their respective banking systems for the use of good ole US plastic. In order to avoid this, we go to the American banks on base and stock up on cash.  (…and no we’re broke at the moment so you can forget about looting us).

This would be a manageable process if it were only Pounds and Dollars we are talking about.  In that I regularly visit the “continent” we also have a constant ebb and flow of Euro to go with the bucks and quid.  We now have three compartments to keep whatever cash is on hand as the UK doesn’t do Euro and they don’t take Pounds on the mainland.  The problem is remembering who gets paid what and what all of it looks like when you pull it out of your pocket.  As a mentally spry 30 year old, this would have been second nature but beings that I have a hard time remembering which pants I wore last, sorting through the jingle becomes a larger problem… so, dollars, quarter, nickels, left front pocket, check!  Pence and breath mints right front pocket, double check!! Euro coins get put in a Ziploc sandwich bag until they are needed after the tunnel on the other side. OK!  Then we open the wallet and dollars are in front followed by euro which I couch in the middle cause I usually work from both ends.  D at least has appropriate compartments in her wallet.  Money segregation is a good thing…

I won’t even discuss the various bank accounts we’ve had to establish to manage this mess.  Suffice it to say that I am quite happy that I have very good on-line banking (I’ve even managed to pay tithes and offerings online).  Thus all we have to deal with is to make sure our local purchases become manageable.  Which they are for the most part unless you can’t convert pounds (the weight not the money) to grams, or sizes in cm to inches, etc…  Did I mention electronics and power cord conversions yet?  How about the regulator on my BBQ grill?  No?  Well, you get the point.

So, while D and I are “adapting” to living in Europe we hope the rest of you stay in touch… as far as I can tell, our Skype connections and Face book pages seem to adapt quite nicely.  Hope you take care and enjoy.