As briefly mentioned one of the items purchased for this trip was a Eurorail pass. The rail passes are wonderful options if you are planning to do a great amount of travelling in a small window of time. One of the pass options is a country pass. This country pass allows you to travel to any destination on the country's rail lines within a specified date. While our pass was deemed a "country" pass it actually could be used in all three countries we visited. The pass we purchased was for three days of travel within a month. The passes had been received prior to our departure and were small paper folders in which we were to fill in our own dates of travel. Of course, this made us slightly nervous and approaching the train station in Luxembourg I believe we were both convinced the passes may not work. However, we had little to worry about and while our passes received slightly strange looks they were stamped and our journey to (back to) Belgium began.
The three hour train ride was occupied with reading, landscape viewing, the occasional open mouthed nod into sleep and of course people watching. Our train route from Luxembourg to Brussels' Central Station encompassed every stop the train makes. Therefore, we were treated to a grand parade of people entering and exiting the train for the three hour ride. The most interesting of course has to be the "Truffle Hunter" or "The Poetic Flautist." As I glimpsed up from deep within the pages of Alexander McCall Smith I noticed two dogs entering the train. These dogs looked a bit like strays you would find roaming back alleys and digging through garbage cans but were exceptionally well behaved. The dogs apparent owner loped slowly onto the train behind the dogs. He was dressed in a "dodgy sweater" (Richard's words not mine), a very worn pair of pants and to complete the look a pair of sandals. His hair was obviously in the process of not only creeping steadily down his neck but dreading as well. Needless to say Richard and I were hooked. The crowning moment was when this man (who was about our own age) unfurled a sheep skin, laid it over the seats and got the dogs to snuggle down for the ride. This of course led us to discuss the possibility of train travel with our own dogs. Tucker, who let's be honest is the best dog in the entire World, would probably not handle train travel well... considering he's probably the worst behaved dog in the entire World. Richard's late dog, Henry (Or OT (Oxygen Thief) as he calls him, which has to be one of the most terrible things I have ever heard) would apparently not travel well either due to his propensity to howl at strangers. While this conversation was certainly entertaining it was not until the man and he impressively obedient dogs disembarked that we began to speculate as to who exactly this wildly interesting person was in the World. Keep in mind this conversation reemerged frequently throughout the remainder of the trip. Of course we could not agree on one story. Below you will find our individual takes on this man and his profession.
Richard: The guy was clearly a truffle-hunter. Although, as any truffle aficionado will tell you, pigs are the preferred animal used to find truffles, they have the not insignificant issue of tending to eat the truffles before the owner can retrieve it - so dogs now are also trained to hunt the for truffles. The guy and his dogs were clearly en-route to the French countryside to scout some 'white gold' to enable him to earn his daily crust for the season. As he was going to be swanning around the woods he had an unkept look. I must say though that the sandals are a slight flaw in my theory - not the ideal footwear for traversing the French countryside...
Kate: This man was obviously a poet. And, not only poet but a flautist as well. I am positive you could find him on any street corner or back alleyway in some Belgian city playing his flute. The dogs would be there to give you a sad, desperate look as their owner spouted off some poetry and then played a tune or two. You know that man you just passed on the street playing an odd instrument? Belgian man's cousin.. guaranteed.
We arrived in Brussels and dragged our baggage to the Beverly Hills Hotel (a little piece of California in Belgium?). After quickly dropping off our bags we wandered up the road for a lovely dinner. A dinner which I ate less than a quarter of but of course still had dessert. In Belgium you have to get homemade chocolate mousse.. it's a requirement.
After a few technical difficulties, a minor amount of car damage and some shouting at the GPS we had finally made out of Brussels! We were so happy to be out on the open road with our lug of a van that we burst into applause, or well I did.. Richard just began to breathe normally once more. We journeyed through Western Flanders to our first stop on the tour, the town of Diksmuide. The town has an impressive tower, Ijzertoren, which stands as a monument to the Flemish dead of WWI and houses a museum. The museum was an impressive 20 floors and provided an interactive bomb shelter, trench and dugout.
The museum took much longer than expected, meaning scheduling master was certain to nix any plans of lunch. To avoid disturbing the schedule and starvation I suggested a quick stop off at the town's grocery before getting back in the car. Perfect compromise: eating while driving therefore maintaining the schedule. After a quick run around the store and at least five checks of the watch it was decided we had enough food and it was well after our desired departure time. I glanced down and realized that so far we were prepared to purchase Pringles and M&M's not exactly a square meal by either of our mother's standards. In desperation bananas and orange juice boxes were grabbed, giving some semblance of health to our "meal." Food purchased we made the short five minute drive to the Dodengang or the Trench of Death.
Having narrowly escaped trench foot we were back on the road headed to the numerous WWI grave sites. We decided to take part in our lunch during this segment of the ride. Being the non-driver, it was my responsibility to prepare food for the driver. Meaning, I opened juice boxes, doled out pringles and M&M's and at times steered when eating and driving became too taxing. It was this job that would lead to a moment that defined the trip. I happen to be a terribly clumsy and slightly messy person (I am sure 95% of readers are debating the "slightly" part and the 5% ,that have not met me, please do not listen to the lies). While I can admit to being clumsy and messy I don't love these things and feel that I am constantly at battle with my clumsiness/messiness. However, it appears that being at battle with these traits seems only to make them worse. Illustrated by the following incident-- I was doing an amazing job at being snack supplier, I was really living up to the mini-van precedent. Richard decided he needed more juice and I was on the task. I whipped the plastic straw out of the plastic at an impressive rate, stabbed the straw forcefully through the foil lining. So forcefully, that juice sprayed across the van. While Richard enjoyed the remaining half of his juice box and I mopped the car, I was showered with compliments. Rather statements along the lines of "Mess is my Raison d'être" "I am more messy than a kid they nick-named 'Dirt'" etc. etc. Most enjoyable was Richard repeatedly asking the car if he had enough juice or if he was still thirsty. Don't worry friends karma is a beautiful, beautiful thing and you can hear about messy, clumsy Richard in the Amsterdam section of this blog. The juice incident forgiven we visited three grave sites. These sites were hosting very, very large school groups but still managed to keep a peaceful and moving atmosphere.
Langemark - German cemetery, characterised by its flat gravestones
Tyne-Cot Cemetery - Commonwealth cemetery
Another jog down the road and we stopped in the city of Ypres. We both loved this city and wish we had more time to explore. It was a beautiful and bustling city with many impressive landmarks. Before it was time to return the car we had just enough time to wander the streets with ice cream, adding to our impressively healthy day of eating.
Menin Gate
With the car safely returned in one piece we had a quick dinner and an early night's sleep in preparation for a very busy day in Brussels. The scheduling master really outdid himself in Brussels. In the morning we were scheduled to wander around the city viewing all the landmarks. Our morning jaunt was very rushed. Just when I was about to cut the schedule into little tiny pieces and throw it into the Manneken Pis fountain a trip to the Godiva Store and the Art Gallery were magically added to said schedule. Chocolate Truffles in hand, I became reinvigorated regarding the schedule and we rushed off to the next point of interest.
Richard: What's wrong with it?
Kate: Is it covered in a blue tarp?
*upon walking closer
Richard: Why the hell is this kid dressed like a doctor?
Kate: (Secretly very, very smug for having read something in the guidebook that Richard had not) Oh! I read in the GUIDE BOOK that he apparently has over 150 outfits. It's apparently in vogue for heads of state to bring him an outfit when they visit.
Richard: I hate this brat. (Snaps Picture). Let's go.
Kate: But, we just......
Richard: I'm tired of this kid. I don't want to watch him anymore. Oh look Godiva....
Kate: You're right, I hate this kid too.
Belgium is the home to many famous cartoons. One of their most famous creations? The Smurfs! (And Tintin! - Richard). This love of cartoons is reflected throughout the city with murals like the one above.
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when visiting Brussels or really Belgium in general. I, of course, associated the country with chocolate, beer, fries and the EU but these things don't form a distinct picture of a place. I think it was this lack of expectation that allowed me to be so surprised and charmed by Brussels. The city was interesting, pretty, entertaining and filled with kind people. Being the birthplace of the EU it was also an impressive European hybrid. Particular aspects of multiple European countries could be felt within the boundaries of this one city. Take for example the city's functioning on two languages, French and Dutch/Flemish. Going into any restaurant you were unsure as to which language the staff would use to speak to you. Of course this didn't really matter seeing as everyone could speak both in addition to English. The city seemed a true melting pot greeting European diplomats, business men, tourists, in addition to Americans and South Africans in a very pleasant fashion. To further explore this distinct "European" feel to Brussels we ventured to the "Europe" section of the map during the afternoon. Here, we took in many more sites and were able to visit the EU Parliament building, which was really exciting!
Parc du Cinquantenaire
European Parliament
The maestro at work!
The long European spring days meant that there was time for one final trip, to The Atomium, just outside of the city centre. A giant model of an atom built for the 1958 World Fair and now a quintessential tourist snap shot attraction.
In both pictures I had my eyes closed!
St Boniface Cathedral which was close to our hotel
Kate's top five moments in Bruges:
1. First entering the small city and seeing cobble stoned streets, bridges, waterways and horse drawn carts.
2. Shopping for paintings in the city market.
3. Drinking fruit flavored beer at a small outdoor cafe.
4. Wandering through the various shops: Christmas shop, chocolate shop, tourist shop, etc.
5. Having dinner overlooking a stone church, a river and a few swans (because any charming place believes it necessary to purchase some swans.... and they do add something).
Richard's top five moments in Bruges:
1. Although I agree with the title of the blog #1 still has to be - sampling Belgian beer. This kind of applies to all of Belgium not just Brugge, but anyway...
2. The Belfry of Bruges (although it was closed so we couldn't go all the way to the top) is really spectacular
3. Enjoying lunch in true continental style - al fresco in the main city square
4. Having never been to Venice being able to tour a city by boat, there are canals throughout Brugge
5. Despite Brugge being tourist central, Minnewater park was really peaceful and picturesque
Minnewater
Onthaalkerk Onze-Lieve Vrouw (Welcome Church of Our Lady)
Belfry
The Markt
Stadhuis
Next Stop: The Netherlands!
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