Belgium

Aboard Air Zimbabwe Flight RH124
31st March, 11.00 p.m. (BST)

Here we are thanks to Gerald in First Class – probably the only time in our lives that we will fly in such luxury so we are enjoying every minute of it. Barbie Laing took us to the airport in Bulawayo that afternoon and we had an eventless trip from Bulawayo to Salisbury. Gavin and Mary met us at Salisbury Airport and they took me into town for my appointment with Mr Westerhout. Mary unfortunately was not feeling very well so Gav took her home while I saw Mr Westerhout. My appointment was most successful – the outcome was that I have some gas permeable lenses to wear while away. Back to the airport where Ray had met up with his parents and Gerald. We eventually went through to the transit lounge feeling very superior with our red first class tickets. We were offered drinks before take off – Ray had a very elegantly garnished tomato juice while I had French champagne. We have since had the starter of our dinner – smoked salmon, caviar and lobster with various garnishes and salads. With this we are having a French white wine, very acceptable! The next course is on its way and I don’t know whether to have fillet of beef or trout!

Evening of 1st April
Evening of 1st April We landed at Garwick and had an uneventful trip into London on the train at a cost of £5.80! It was raining, temperature 4^oC. We found our Salvation Army Hostel without any difficulty. It is old but clean and pleasant. We then got out Eurail Passes at £184 each, and from there went to the Austrian Embassy for a visa for me, another £5. Then to the A.A. to register us as reciprocal members for when we hire our car later. Nearby the Salvation Army Hostel there is a big shopping centre where we bought our lunch and supper. We went for a walk in the afternoon, which was lovely and clear by this time and the temperature was about 13^oC. Daffodils, hyacinths and tulips are all looking lovely in the gardens. Ann had 4 hours of visual bliss wearing her lenses this morning and she will have 6 hours tomorrow. We’re collapsing exhausted early tonight!

3rd April, 7.00 a.m. , Brussels
Yesterday we left the Salvation Army Hostel and went to Hyde Park Corner where Ray left me sitting on a bench watching the world passing by while he went to the Austrian Embassy to collect his passport.

Wellington Memorial.

Hyde Park Corner Police Station (sic!).

Then we went to Heathrow where Ray exchanged Zim$20 for £4.71. We caught our Air France flight to Paris which turned out to be on a really full Airbus. Even though we arrived at 1.30 p.m. we were not offered anything to eat or drink on board – really poor. We landed at Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Airport. After putting in my eyes (what bliss!) we caught the bus to the station and then using our Eurail Passes went by train to Gare du Nord where we bought some lunch before boarding our train to Brussels. The journey to Belgium was really flat and uninteresting. We arrived in Brussels rather late and found ourselves somewhere to stay – a rather seedy place with the advantage of being cheap and also near the station. And the central heating works, so all our washing was dried overnight!

Evening of 3rd April
We were up early and out before most of Brussels had woken up. We walked to the Grand Place, a big market square in the centre of the city, with really beautiful old buildings on its perimeter.

Le Palais de Justice, Brussels.

Hotel de Ville, Grand Place, Brussels.

The market in Grand Place, Brussels.

Then on to the Museum of Ancient Art, chiefly to see their collection of Breugels. There were not very many of them, but neither of us had ever seen an original Breugel before, and they were well worth the effort.

Then we took a train out to Bruges. What a lovely old town it is, full of old churches, squares and courtyards. We sat in one of them and had lunch. Most of our day there was spent walking around admiring the buildings and canals.

Street (above) and canal (below) in Bruges.

 

Inside the courtyard of a church in Bruges.

Canal near Gentpoort, Bruges.

We returned to Brussels exhausted, but were soon out again to see some more of Brussels … which turned out to be not worth seeing! The Belgians are a polyglot bunch, with most of them looking and behaving like Turks, particularly in Brussels, where French seems to predominate. In Bruges most are Flemish and generally more pleasant, less brash.

 

On to Amsterdam

 

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