Brussels Day Five-Returning Home

Monday Dec. 12, 2016

We began our day early as we caught the train at the nearby train station and attempted to get on the right train and proper track.  The airport was our destination for a very long day of travel.  We began with a 10:50 AM flight from Brussels and landed at JFK about 2:30 PM. Our flight in Brussels was delayed so we got in about an hour later. We had quite a long layover so we had plenty of time to take a shower and feel refreshed before our 8:30 PM flight.  Those Sky Club Lounges are a life saver for long layovers for us.  We caught our 8:30 PM flight and got into Orlando before midnight.  All of our flights were all courtesy of Brian arranging them and checking to see which flights were overbooked or not.  He was even monitoring them from very far away in a whole different time zone from LA.  We are quite fortunate that he is paying attention so that we are not left in an airport for several days hoping and praying someone will take mercy on us and give us seats.

We were slightly disappointed in Brussels since we were not awarded Business or First Class.  There were plenty of those good seats left, but the excuse was that the flight needed to be balanced. 🤔. Pretty lame excuse unless there were some real heavyweights in the front.  Possibly a couple of sumo wrestlers or some pro football linemen were occupying some of the seats. 😟

We got home safe and sound, so that is most important.  We had a very nice time.  My next blog will highlight some of our favorite moments.

Brussels Day Four

Sunday Dec. 11, 2016

We spent a good deal of the morning on a treasure hunt of the various Comic Murals that are painted on buildings throughout Brussels.  We must have located at least 6 this morning.  Some we happened to find because we were nearby.  Others we would have been able to locate much more quickly if we had GPS that we could use on a phone.  Either way we had a good time finding them.  We circled around the Christmas Market area once again as well as the Mannekin Pis.  This time the little character was dressed as a Mountain Climber.  The comic murals were done to honor the various comic artists that prevailed in Begium.

These comic murals varied in size and number of characters and they were all well done.  Some extra graffiti has been added but by and large they are in good condition.

The afternoon was spent boarding Tram 92 to head south.  First was the Horta Museum.  This home/museum was the home of Victor Horta who was very prominent in the Art Nouveau movement here in Brussels.  He designed some beautiful buildings throughout his lifetime and his own home was magnificent.  There were lots of details as far as curves, marble, wood and steel and glass.  The home was large as well as homey.  The large windows let in lots of light even though the day was dreary.  We walked from room to room and from level to level.  Each room was warm and inviting with unique types of wood,marble, metal and glass.  You would think some of those items would be too industrial.  They were curved and smoothed and filled with colorful glass to feel cheerful and warm.The kitchen in the lower level also felt very homey.  We could not take photos inside to share.☹️

The outside of the home does not really reflect the inner beauty that Horta created.

We got on Tram 92 once agin and headed farther south to visit an Art Deco home.  We were disappointed since it had numerous sections with the doors closed.  The rooms appeared dark and the little tour booklet spent more time on various pieces of art that the family had collected.  The office area was a neat room with a huge somewhat rounded desk with a blotter made from shark skins.  That was pretty unique.  The house looked like a Frank Lloyd Wright home that did not make the cut. We couldn't take photos inside to share, but not a big loss.

  

Then on to catch Tram 92 once again to make our way back to the hotel.

Brussels Day Three

Saturday Dec. 9, 2016

We were fortunate enough to get on an Art Nouveau tour.  We took a bus to several buildings and actually went inside three.  The first one was the Comic Museum which used to be a warehouse, the next was a school and the last was an elegant home.  

Inside the school.  Brick was used instead of stone and it was also glazed so children would not damage the outside surface with their little fingers.  Tall Windows with lots of light with fancy ironwork were used to create a light and airy learning environment.

This is a home of a wealthy person.  The two side sections also belong to the center section.  The left side used to be the office area.  The right was just an addition for more guests and such.  The highest floor was for the servants' quarters, the children's sleeping area was next and below that was the master sleeping area.  The main entrance area was for guests and dining area.  This home was beautiful with marble and gorgeous wood.  Unfortunately, we could not take any interior photos.

Later we walked around and found this former department store called Old England. We were able to go up into this Art Nouveau building.  We not only walked around on the top of this lovely building but we also enjoyed a drink and admired the surrounding area.  It was really a nice treat for us. 

We not only enjoyed the view but the whole atmosphere of the place was very nice.  I guess I didn't take a photo of the outside with my phone, so I will need to get that from Walt's camera once we return home.  This was a wonderful way to end the day. 

Brussels Day Two

Friday  December 9, 2016

We went for pastries and espresso this morning.  We had to since we are in one of the great pastry areas of the world.  We decided to check out the Comic Museum which coincidentally happens to be housed in an Art Nouveau building.  The building inside was very lovely besides the comic book characters.  The Smurfs are a biggie here.  We have seen more Smurfs here than any other place that we know of.  

Neat Way to display a huge container.

We walked around to check some of the Christmas Market huts and decorations.  Easier to take photos during the daytime with fewer folks but lights don't show up very well.

Having fun on a teeter totter type art form that makes a humming type sound as you go up and down. There were lots of folks of all ages enjoying this activity.

Below are photos taken in the evening.  The lights and the Grand Place look very nice in the evening.

We had to finish our evening with a classic beverage. 😀🍺🍷

Brussels Day One

Thursday December 8, 2016

We did sleep a bit in our Business Class seats despite a fair amount of strong turbulence.  Upon our arrival, we went through the Passport area and then had to locate the train.  The train ticket machines would not accept our card so we had to stand in line with a whole lot of other weary travelers.  We then got tickets for the return trip at the same time.  Now to get on the right track as well as correct train going in the direction of the city.  We did it once again and did end up at Centrum Station near our hotel.  

The next major issue is departing the station with the exit nearest your street address.  That and the fact streets change names or are not named at all.  Herein lies the problem.  We did find a Novetel but the wrong one in the opposite direction.  We did get to our Novotel only to find out it was only a couple of blocks from the train station.  We did see a lot of the decorations overhead as well as flocked trees, and different things that we don't normally see.  This was enroute to attempting to find our hotel, so all was not lost.

This Smurf figure is below our window on fourth floor.  There is also an All Smurf shop nearby.

Belgium Fries (in the paper cone in back) are fried 2 to 3 times to become crispy on the outside but still soft in the center.  They are also hand cut.  You don't want to make the mistake of ordering French Fries in Belgium.  Just to be safe, just order fries. 😊  Notice catsup and mayonnaise are served with fries here.  

We will need to be part of the evening festivities, but not tonight, since we are rather weary and feel like we are operating on one cylinder.

Leaving for Belgium

We did get out of Orlando without any difficulty.  We landed in New York in Terminal C and had to get to the International Terminal by way of a shuttle.  It was a bit chilly since I could blow smoke or the vapor that you see when it is cold.  We waited a few minutes for the shuttle and then headed to the Sky Lounge in the International wing.  it is quite nice and also busy.  We relaxed there for several hours.  It was very overcast when we arrived about 2:30 or so.

Papa is quite relaxed. 😴💤

Now for over a 7 hour flight.  Maybe, just maybe we will be in Business Class.

TESTING BLOG

I am trying to figure out if the blog will actually work for me.

These photos are from Tucumcari, New Mexico on Route 66.  You can see that some buildings have been preserved such as the old motel.  The restaurant Kix had a yummy green chili burger.  A nice historic town but also a very vacant and economically deprived area.