Benelux Part Two: Belgium---More than Chocolate and Beer

The following is the story of our time in Belgium, while writing this I came to realize how many stories we had and how many had to be left out! Also, I took a brief writing break and Richard (who now suffers from his own separation anxiety from this blog) did some editing. I thank him for the picture captions and the annotations he created which he apparently signed..... although, one can never be too sure.

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.

 The Manneken Pis is one of the most well recognized landmarks in Brussels. And, arguably one of the most famous fountains in the World. While I loved Brussels, I have seen the Trevi Fountain and I am not quite sure you can argue that the two are of the same caliber. This is probably best noted in the conversation regarding the fountain.

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

Having seen not only the Manneken Pis but also having participated in an audio guided tour, I knew Richard had had the best day of his life in Brussels. I was also terribly sorry to be leaving Brussels but was excited to depart early the next morning for Bruges. To keep this blog post from being horrifically long this section on Bruges will simply contain our top five lists in Bruges and pictures.

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

                                                              ......... Beautiful picture.

Next Stop: The Netherlands!

Benelux Part One: Luxembourg---A Tiny but Sneakily Charming Country

As mentioned by last week's guest author there was a slight disruption in the normal publication of the blog. The reason for this disruption? Yet, another European trip. I am so fortunate to not only have the opportunity to so easily travel this year but also to have found someone who enjoys travelling as much (and as frequently) as I do. With a slight break between the completion of lectures and the beginning of exams/deadline madness, it was decided a spring break trip was in order. Never ones to be outdone it was to be our largest and most complex trip, three countries in one week. Using past experience two days away provides a large number of stories and an even greater number of pictures (Evidenced by Richard's blog post). It can only be imagined how much seven days away provides. It is for this reason that there will be not one, not even two but three posts devoted to this trip. Each country has been deemed worthy of it's own post complete with stories and pictures.

As travel addicts Richard and I have a strong affection, or perhaps I should say compulsive attachment to, the Ryanair website. Between the two of us we probably check the airline's website once a day. Frequently sending the other messages reading simply "Brussels, the 21st, £14, look at it." And, it was a message like this on an evening in February that began the Benelux odyssey. Five hours and one delivered pizza later a skeleton of this epic trip was in place. The cheap flight from Edinburgh to Charleroi (Remember, Ryanair doesn't get you all the way there, just close!) would be purchased. A bus would then be taken not to Brussels but to Luxembourg city for an evening and a day in one of the World's smallest countries. A rail pass was to be purchased for three days of travel within the Benelux countries. The first of these travel days would be used to travel from Luxembourg to Brussels where a hotel would be booked for three nights. A car was to be rented in which, on the first day in Brussels, we would traverse the Flanders countryside making a WWI pilgrimage. A full day would then be spent in Brussels followed by another train trip to Brugge. A hotel was to be booked in Brugge and followed by another train trip to visit the Netherlands cities of the Hague and Leiden. And, finally a hotel was to be booked for two nights in Amsterdam. Confused and overwhelmed? Trust me, we were too. After a few weeks of bookings, budgeting, scheduling, mapping, researching and budding anticipation the trip was finally in order.

On Wednesday, the 21st, we were scheduled to fly out of Edinburgh. On Tuesday, the 20th I had a presentation and on the 21st an essay due. So, needless to say, the packing and printing of all booking information was saved until the very last minute. It is at this point in the story I should provide a bit of characterization for my travelling counterpart. Richard is a planner. Actually, I don't think planner is a strong enough word. He is a scheduling mastermind. The man uses more highlighters, file folders, time tables and calendars than any person I have met in my life. In fact, I believe he gets more satisfaction from the creation and  success of the planning of the trip than the actual trip itself. Therefore, you are correct in your assumption that he was slightly appalled with my last minute dash into the flat and throwing of a few sweaters into a suitcase while eating lunch at the same time. However, even with his exacting standards of promptness I was on time (I may not have highlighted timetables but I detest being late, schedule mastermind and I get along well). Not to ruin this three-fold tale but all of our bookings, train tickets and reservations were successful, we did not get lost and we were on time to everything. Much of this success is owed to the scheduling mastermind and I am lucky that his intense attention to scheduling detail and navigation precision are indeed a great part of his charm. Having said this, I can now openly mock the intensity of the "schedule" throughout the narration of the trip.

Fortunately, there is little to report of the train ride to and the flight out of Edinburgh. After touchdown in Charleroi, Richard and I briefly parted ways so that he could breeze through the customs line with his red passport while I was questioned by a slightly intimidating Belgian man. Upon being cleared by customs I made a quick restroom break while Richard patiently waited for our bags. I can assure everyone that I was gone less than three minutes. However, upon my reemergence I was greeted by scheduling mastermind bag in hand and eyes focused steadily on his watch (set ten minutes early of course). How did that even happen?! To make up for my bathroom break we made impressively quick time to the bus and took our seats 15 minutes early.A long bus ride took us through a bit of the Belgian countryside. The flat and straight highway passages were reminiscent of Kansas' interstates and the three hour ride passed smoothly and quietly. Quiet aside from slight whimpers of hunger seeing that dinner hadn't quite established a place in the "schedule."

We disembarked in Luxemborg city a little after midnight. The central station building where the bus stopped was impressive and the city felt comfortable, safe and charming even in the early hours of morning. Our plan of action was to walk to our hotel, All Seasons. Throughout our entire stay I refused to call our hotel the All Seasons. Rather, Richard and I impressively stayed at the Four Seasons (Well, that technically is All the Seaons, correct?). Besides, we were staying in the richest country in the World, only the best would do. This argument was met with the fact that Luxembourg technically has the highest GDP per capita in the World meaning that it isn't neccessairly THE richest country in the entire World. As our walk to the Four Seasons continued the streets became slightly less comfortable, safe and charming. As we wheeled our bag past a strip club I could see the worry creep over Richard's face, not quite what he expected from the richest count...highest GDP per capita country in the World. While the surroundings did leave a bit to be desired I had hope for the Four Seasons. Fortunately, our reservation was intact and the worry from Richard's brow was slowly melting away as we journeyed to our room. The opening of the door was met with great resistance and I was worried that perhaps we had been given the wrong key or told the wrong room. It was neither of these problems, rather what was making the door so hard to open was a bed. The bed was literally centimeters from the door. After squeezing through the door and crawling over the bed to the few inches of floor space I helped wrestle in the suitcase and finally Richard. Once safely inside the door was slammed shut and the bed pressed back against it. As we sat down on the bed, as there was literally no other places to sit in the room, the quaint sounds of Luxembourg gently filled our modest room. It was this gentle hum (raging choas) that was the "Friends and Family" nightclub below.

Thanks to Friends and Family the night's sleep was a bit rough and having not had dinner the evening before, breakfast was much anticipated. With Herculean effort we managed to claw our way out of tiny room and take part in the Four Season's breakfast. While Richard planned I took part in some active listening being thrilled to once again be surrounded by French. And, once again regretting having only taken one year of the language in school. After breakfast we were more than ready to get out and explore the city and discover all that Luxembourg had to offer.

Leaving the Four Seasons we figured it was best to simply wander to the city's centre and take in the various sights along the way.

Navigation Break

It should be noted that hair straightening did not fit into the master schedule!

Luxembourg was very charming, especially when we reached the city centre. After wandering through the narrow, cobblestoned alleyways we visited the Luxembourg City History Museum. I liked this museum instantly seeing as I am under 26 I wasn't charged an admission fee. The museum was tucked away on a quiet, back street of the city and we were the museum's only visitors. It was during our visit to the museum that we learned a few valuable lessons regarding Luxembourg and its history. We learned why the fox is one of the city's icons, we learned the genealogy of the royal family, we learned the meaning behind the country's flag and most importantly, we learned that the Luxembourgers are incredibly efficient and sneaky. Richard documented our museum trip through photography. He dutifully snapped a number of pictures of the museum. While in the process of taking a picture on the second floor out of nowhere one of the museum guards rushed into the room. Breathless he greeted us with a pleasant "Bonjour" before telling Richard that pictures were strictly prohibited on these premises. I am fairly certain this diligent guard saw, through the glass panneling of the elevator, Richard take a picture and promptly scampered up two floors to prohibit such an action.The remainder of our time in the museum was spent pondering where this man came from exactly and how he managed to so quietly and quickly sneak up on both of us. We are either terribly unobservant and are easily taken advantage of or Luxembourgers are terribly sneaky and impressive. For selfish reasons, I am hoping for the second. Please enjoy a few illegal photos.

After committing a crime a drink was in order. Finding ourselves back in city centre we were suddenly surrounded by the sounds of trumpets, horns, oboes, clarinets and flutes.. it was basically the greeting I had always wanted, so this is what being a criminal gets you! Of course, we quickly discovered the musical pagentry was not for us but rather the Grand Duke! Yes, somehow we had stumbled upon a royal event. The band trumpeted their way through the small streets as we followed closely behind and found ourselves with a small gathering of people surrounding a red carpet in front of the city's palatial residence.

Now that we committed a crime in Luxembourg AND spotted the Grand Duke it was most certainly time for a drink. I have yet to mentioned how beautiful the weather was in Luxembourg. So beautiful in fact, that I began to worry about a sunburn. This worry, however, did not stop the two most fairly skinned people in the World from taking a place at a cafe table in a large plaza square. Basking in the sun and sipping some delicious Luxembourg beverages was absolutely wonderful and to be honest I could have stayed in the small square all day. But, there was still so much to see and do in the small city and the scheduling master had already looked at his watch 15 times, our drink break was over. This time we wandered out of the city centre and took in the sights of the lower Luxembourg. This part of the city was so beautiful and the views from above looking down were absolutely breathtaking.

Feeling like experienced crypt explorers from our time in Paris the Luxembourg crypts seemed quite appealing. The city's crypts were much larger than those we saw in Paris. There was more area to explore and the terrain was a bit more rugged. In fact, while traversing the uneven rock surfaces and climbing behind a cannon I claimed to feel like Indiana Jones. To which my side kick promptly stated "oh yeah because Indiana Jones had all these halogen lamps around to help him see." It was at this precise moment that my side kick slammed his head against the top of the crypt. Clutching his wounded skull and making grimaces of pain it was decided  that in the face of injury we would prevail and continue on down the spiral staircase of death. While the injured party had no problems conquering the staircase I clung to the railing in fear as I slowly inched my way to the bottom all the while envisioning a slip that would certainly lead to death. (I have a small fear of narrow, steep staircases.. especially if they are spiral... especially if I am wearing boots). Needless to say, our crypt skills might not be quite par with Indiana.

 After our crypt voyage a quick lunch was had and then we made our way down to the lower part of Luxembourg. The small winding rivers, jagged rocks, lush gardens and softly paddling ducks certainly made for a tranquil stroll. It was the perfect way to end the day in Luxembourg before making the steep climb back to our hotel, grabbing our bags and catching the next train to Brussels.

Next Stop: Belgium!