Brussels with Becks and Mike

This week Harry started his course on how to become a teacher in England - compulsory for anyone wanting to teach. So, he attended his first class with 3 others from his work and about 15 other students - all with different backgrounds - aromatherapy was one so it should make for an interesting course. Haz also went to the dentist this week and the filling became an extraction which wasn't very nice. I had quite an uneventful week really. One afternoon after it had rained most of the day one of the woman I worked with said ‘Come and see the girls stamping on the ground outside to make the worms come up’. I went to the window intrigued expecting to see little girls playing in the mud only to see 'gulls' doing an aerobic dance - they were busy for a long time so must have been getting a bit of feast! The other bit of news is that many people I have spoken to were very surprised to hear that Sir Edmund was a New Zealander.

Friday afternoon we left for Brussels. We had chosen to fly out from Heathrow because the flights were a lot cheaper than any we could find from Bristol. We left about midday to avoid hold ups on the motorway and except for a minor incident somewhere along the way, and the spray from the trucks causing problems with visibility the trip went o.k. British Airways had told us in the morning there were few delays due to the 777 crashing earlier on in the week and our plane would leave on time!! Don't ever believe them. We didn't get to Brussels till 10 that night. All the same interesting time to travel, we drove past the plane sitting forlornly on the runway while many investigators looked on (wearing the same yellow jacket as I have except they have SECURITY written on theirs!!), the same road that Gordon Brown's motorcade almost got hit by the airplane as it tried to land (well that's one newspaper story, the other was that he was sitting comfortably in Heathrow waiting for his flight that was delayed a measly 30 minutes). Oh for being important when it comes to flying!! Heathrow airport has 55 flights leaving every hour and we watched many of them take off as we were waiting in line.. We sat at Heathrow eating our dinner and listening to sky news for a number of hours (99% of it was about the 777 - wonder what that did for passenger confidence and the other 1% was about the English girl who got murdered in Taupo - rather a shame about that one). On the way back the captain said we would be delayed by 30 minutes, and then he said another 50 minutes and so on until we were up in the air and circled around the airport a number of times waiting for our cue to land (the landings had been reduced to about 20-30 an hour while the 777 was moved) - we got home at midnight rather than at 8.30.

Mike and Becks have a serviced business flat in a relatively new part of town not far from the airport. They have a car and a garage and we were lucky that one of their friends were away in the weekend so we could stay in her flat. On the Saturday, after finally finding a bus to take us into town, we toured Brussels on foot. It was a bit drizzly and not particularly warm so we wandered around with umbrellas, gloves and hats, ate a picnic lunch in a park near parliament and the palace, and had a waffle from a street stall. Streets were full of chocolater's and waffle shops (if we lived in Brussels I think Harry and I would become little 'dumplings' or should I say 'wafflings'). Some of the things that struck us about Brussels were

• the architecture - it feels like a relatively 'new' city in many parts but the 80's and 90's buildings sit comfortable with the old - some good planning and design I'd say - some wonderful old buildings built around 1690's


• statues, fountains and wall paintings are features of the city


• the little mannequin pis is really cute - he has 801 outfits now (including an Elvis Presley one). He is quite a feature in souvenir shops as cork screws or an ornament


• everything is bilingual - french and dutch - not much good for people with english and german but we got by


• Mike and Becks had to buy their petrol in kilometres rather than litres


• we didn't try the underground but the bus system seems quite efficient


• it would be lovely to visit in spring - the market place built in the 1690's was fabulous and you could imagine it in spring time with the window boxes and gardens- what a picture it would be - heaps of gardens had pruned trees trained along frames (they looked a bit like wisteria but probably am wrong)


• shopping looked good - Michael bought two sweatshirts (you can see both his new acquisitions in the photos) and I bought a jacket - Becks said that Belgium is only allowed two sales in a year, one in January and the other in July - it was sale season - but with only two days here we couldn't spent it all shopping!!

Saturday night saw 4 very tired kiwis - we wandered to the supermarket and Mike cooked us a stir fry for tea before we collapsed into bed at an early hour. No going out enjoying the night life and the Belgium beer for us. Sunday, Becks drove us to Brugge - a very quaint town about an hours drive from Brussels. We enjoyed wandering around as the weather was a bit warmer. Went to one of the 19 museums (the medieval one) attached to a magnificent church (with Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child - what a treat to see them), some crypts with paintings, and lovely stain glass windows. We were surprised that the crypts were only recovered in the 1970's as there was no sign of a 'previous' life. Climbed the Belfort (300+ steps - spiral and narrow) and watched and listened to the bells and the clock chime (sat and saw the music being created with the round cylinder - none of us can remember what it is called!). Had a nice lunch in a cafe and had a horse and cart ride as the canal trips were closed for winter. Brugge like Brussels has wonderful statues, gardens (we could only imagine), old buildings and character. It's a place where I think we could spend a leisurely weekend, exploring the quaint buildings, churches and museums and we just might go back there one day....

What a great weekend but saying goodbye is so hard...