Home Again, Home Again

Home again, home again Jiggidy Jig!

You may have thought you were done receiving these ramblings from me but surprise!  There are just a few loose ends that we wanted to clear up about our trip.  

First and most importantly a huge thank you to Kathleen.  She not only pushed us to go on this adventure but she also made all of the travel arrangements from airlines to all of our train travel, to the VRBOs, the AirBnBs, the reservations for tours and the hotels.  She also served as our navigator on busses, trains and while walking.  Thank you.  We look forward to your return to us from NYC.  

Secondly, there were some photos that I thought were worthy of sharing that did not make it to the daily email so I've included some of them.  

Lastly there were some items that I learned during our travel that I found kind of interesting.  I'll feel foolish if everyone reading this already knows these things.

The official Languages of Belgium are French, German and Dutch.  Flemish is not really a language.  It is Dutch dialect. 

At least in London (maybe other places too) you can tap your credit card to use the subway.  No need for subway cards or tickets (Billetts).

There are places (London and Paris) where you may have to rescan you card or subway receipt to get OUT of the subway.  It seems they sometimes charge according to how many zones you crossed)

There were many places where we were only able to use credit cards, no cash.  Perhaps it's a Covid thing.  

We spent 2 days and two nights in London and during the entire time we never used English money (pound sterling) only credit cards. 

The ratio of the Euro to the dollar is almost 1 to 1.

The ratio of the dollar was $1.20 to the pound.

In London we had to scan our room key (card) to get the hotel elevator to move.

In an Amsterdam hotel we had to place our card pass in a receptacle by the light switch for the room lights to work.  

December 5 & 6 is the night when children in this area of Europe receive gifts.  Christmas is more of a family big meal holiday.

One of the people who helped Ann Frank and her family did not die until 2010.

Twice I was equally embarrassed and grateful when a young woman offered (insisted) that I take her seat on the subway.  One, I was hauling luggage to the airport and she was just going a few stops and the other time I must have just looked old and pitiful. 

In a somewhat related note, there is nothing in subways that would would come close to meeting the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Therefore, there are not a lot of senior citizens who take the subways. 

We rode trains in the Netherlands 3-4 times and never had our tickets checked.  

Thanks for putting up with these almost daily updates of our trip and as I said earlier (and I'm talking to you Bruce Ruzicka), none of this will be on the test.  

Canals of Brugge

Market in Brugge

Father Christmas or Pere Noel

Canal in Amsterdam

Burg Square in Brugge

Coronation Chair in 
Westminster Abbey

Yup, they still have them in England

Street decoration in Amsterdam

London

We leave for home tomorrow, so we wanted to milk our last day for all it was worth and I think we did.

The first stop was at Buckingham Palace and the Queen Victoria

Queen Consort
Camilla

Memorial.  Both are truly impressive.  The day continued with a walk along St. James Park to Westminster Abbey.  We were part of a small crowd that attended a communion service lead by David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster.  Of course

Queen Victoria Memorial

the church is amazing.  As we walked along the outside of the church I questioned a couple of police officers as to why there were so many of them outside the church.  The first said, "There is a private event going on inside".  

We walked a little further and I asked another and this one said "we're waiting for the Queen Consort to come out".  So the three of us walked to the other side of the street, waited three minutes and got some great photos.   

We also took some good pictures of the

Westminster
Abbey

London Eye, Big Ben and of Parliament but were not so lucky getting photos of number 10 Downing Street.   

After a nice but quick lunch we walked to Trafalgar Square and attended a play in the West End. Agatha Christie's "The Mouse Trap" has been running

🏃

continuously for 70 years.  We left the theater and headed directly to a Double Decker I’mBus tour of London's Christmas lights.  The day ended with a walk along the Thames river and a stop at our last Christmas Market in Europe.

Big Ben

Trafalgar Square

Christmas Lights
In London

Travel & Travel Tips

Bikes in Amsterdam

We left our hotel in Amsterdam at 6:50 this morning - long before sun up (8:34 a.m.) to give us time to catch our train to London.  As always, we gave ourselves plenty of time for our walk to the train station, especially today as we knew we were traveling outside of the European Union.  As we waited at our assigned platform we were notified by a rail employee that we had entered the platform from the wrong entrance.  Long story short, because of Brexit, our trip today was treated more like a flight.  We had to have our luggage screened and our passport validated to enter the UK.  All this was done in a different part of the train station and we ultimately were not allowed to board our scheduled train  Thanks to an exceptionally helpful person in Amsterdam, we were able to book a train to Brussels, where another kind person credited our tickets and put us on the next train to London.   

There were two lessons learned: Train travel to the UK is different and there are still nice people in the world.   

We eventually made it to London and found our hotel in time to drop our bags and head to a

Fish & Chips in London

pub for some fish and chips.  Like I said earlier we are leaning in to the cultural stereotypes.

After dinner we walked to Covent Garden to see its extensive Christmas light display.

Gardens

Covent 

Amsterdam

 

Church of our Lady

We started our only full day in Amsterdam by walking to the Anne Frank Museum.  If you've been there you know it's a very moving experience.  We spent 1.5-2 hourstouring her secret quarters where she, her family and their friends spent two years in hiding.  For some reason I was surprised to see her father, Otto, in an interview and the interview was in color.  The same was true for a few of the people who helped hide them.  Otto Frank was the only member of his family to survive the holocaust.  He did not die until 1980. 

From there we walked to the Church of Our

Padding for kneelers

Lady for Mass which was said in Dutch.  The congregation at the 1:00 Mass was specifically people from Suriname.  Of course there wasn't much we understood but the church was beautiful.  Suriname is in South America and had been colonized my the Dutch so it seemed to make sense. However, I was confused when the Mass started out with a song sung to the tune of "God save the King" for reasons I still don't understand.  The Kneelers in that church haven't changed in hundreds of years accept now they have a piece of cloth padding you can put down on the kneeler before you kneel.  Finally we experienced the rare Catholic reverse wave.  Meaning the people in the back knelt down first, then people in the middle and finally people in the front.  As most church goers know, it's usually just the opposite. 

Seven Bridges

After Mass we walked to one of the canals for a canal tour.  The tour was 75 minutes long, was informative and allowed us to see sites we would probably not have walked to.  

The last stop was one that every tourist has

Cathy embraces
her heritage.

to see when they visit Amsterdam, The Red Light District.  It was only about a 20 minute walk so off we went.  There isn't much to say about the area that you haven't already heard except in my opinion it just seemed much sadder than I expected.   I did learn from our hotel guy that there are actually three areas in the city were prostitution is legal.  Two small areas and the famous red light district.  Our hotel is in a nicer area but happens to be only blocks away from one of the smaller areas.

Erin made it home safely and Buddy was excited to greet her.  It truly was very nice of Bill to stay with Buddy at Erin's house while she was gone.  

I would be remiss if I didn't

Bikes are
EVERYWHERE 

mention the bikes of Amsterdam.  Before coming I read that there are literally more bikes in Amsterdam than there are people which I now believe to be true.  They are everywhere and they are ridden by everybody from young to old.  People carry everything oin bike carts including groceries and children.  We even saw one man bringing home a Christmas tree on his bike.  

Brussels and Amsterdam

 Brussels/Amsterdam

It was hard saying goodbye to Erin as she left at 6:50 this morning.  It was also hard to say good bye to Brugge.   We truly enjoyed our time there.

Grote Market

One of the great things about traveling is the unexpected.  Our itinerary called for a 2 hour wait in Brussels as we changed trains heading for Amsterdam.  Instead of wasting "all that time" we stowed our luggage in the train station and headed into Brussel's city Grote Market (Grand

Nativity

Place).  I'll try to attach some photos.  The views were amazing and with the huge Christmas tree and the nativity scene in the square it was truly spectacular!

View from our window

Outside RijksMuseum

We made it to Amsterdam later in day but still had time to walk the suitcases to our hotel room and then walk along one of the canals to the Royal Palace on Dam Square.  From there we took an Uber to Rijks Musuem.  It was closed of course but in front of it was a skating rink, part of Ice*Amsterdam  (artificially cooled as it was too warm) and

Royal Palace

plenty of Christmas lights.  After a simple dinner at Leidse Square we headed back to our hotel. 

Bye Bye Brugge

 If I left the impression that Brugge was an iconic European city, untouched by WWI or WWII with which we were falling in love - I was still understating our affection for this place.

Today the weather was near perfect, sunny and 54

Brugge Christmas market

degrees.  The City switched on the Christmas lights and we chose not one but two tours, one by horse drawn carriage and one by boat.  The city's canals are narrow, shallow and surround the city.  

Making a raclette

The Christmas markets were open and we had a fine open air lunch in one of the town squares.  I learned of a sandwich called a Raclette.  Basically the vendor has a half wheel of cheese under a heat lamp.  To prepare the sandwich the vendor scrapes the wheel and adds the warm cheese to a baguette and adds ham and whatever else is ordered.  Seems not too different from Wisconsin.  Cathy had a white chocolate waffle on a stick. 

We've visited three Catholic Churches.  Saint Salvador

(just a block away), Our Lady of Brugge (which is now a museum and home to the Michelangelo statue) and The Basilica of the Holy Blood.  The church displays the blood of Jesus Christ.  The vile was awarded to a nobleman for his support during the crusades and was brought back to Brugge and presented to the local bishop. 

Vile of the precious blood
Photo taken from a brochure

Tree in Brugge

Canal in Brugge

Brugge

 

Our living room

We got off the train in Brugge and during our 10 minute walk to our rented house we couldn't help but notice that our bags don't roll very well on cobblestone roads. We have since learned that ALL the roads are narrow and cobblestone.  Kathleen wrote this real life tweet about her walk to our rental home:  "I am a tired New Yorker facing an existential crisis about my career. I was just dragging my roller board suitcase down a cobblestone road in Bruges and had to pull off to the side of the road to let a horse drawn carriage pass. If Hallmark has taught me anything, it is that I will be a princess by Christmas."

I said earlier that we were trying to play into the

Steps in Brugge

stereotypes of the countries we visit.  Brugge is about as old world as one can find.  The streets, the architecture, everything seems not to have changed for hundreds of years.  Even the house we are staying is a small three story house with a fireplace in the parlor/sitting room/dining room.  I'll try to include photos.  

Chocolate is everywhere

One in five shops seem to be chocolate shops.   One in ten seem to be Christmas shops.  Over the streets are Christmas lights.  In one of the two town squares a Christmas market opens today. In the center of the other town square is the huge village Christmas tree which will be lit tonight.                  

In Paris, we learned of Pere Noel

Canal in Brugge

(Father Christmas).  In Belgium the children anxiously await Sinterklass who comes each year on December 6th.  He comes from Spain and gives sweets and small toys to all the good children children.  Sinterklass rides on a white horse and is accompanied by his sidekick, Black Peter.   

On Christmas children get gifts under the Christmas tree but this is not the same everywhere. In some families, they buy gifts for each other and put them under the tree. It is not Santa or SinterKlass that brings the gifts.

Belgium has three official languages, French, German and Dutch and we speak none of them.  However, it does seem like if you may an effort, your effort is rewarded by kindness and English.  

Thanksgiving dinner

Our Thanksgiving included Carbonara and wine at our home.  We hope you had a wonderful gathering as well.  

In Chocolate

Michelangelo

Moving Day

Apartment Stairs

Paris apartment

Today is moving day.  We leave Paris and head to Brugge by way of Brussels.  

I had to give up on the blog as google did not recognize my sign in and wanted to send me a code via phone call or text message as verification.  I can't get either while in Europe so I'll continue to just email.  To be clear, nobody has to read my emails.  I write them mostly for myself as a journal of our travels.  You will not be tested on any of the material when we get home.

Our window view

We will miss our little apartment that we had in Paris.  I've included some photos.  We were five stories up on the fourth floor.  Floor 0 is the entry level floor.  There is a tiny elevator (comfortable for two people) that we ride when going up.  We usually walked the near 100 steps down when we left as the elevator was so slow. 

The subways in Paris are a good way to get around.  They are clean and seem to be safe.  However, there were times that we were packed in like sardines.  Seriously, if I had lifted both of my feet, I think I would have remained upright because we were squeezed in so tightly.  Also, while there are a few escalators and we even saw an elevator once however the norm is lots and lots of steps going down and coming up out of the subway.  I'm not complaining but even after we were in the subway we could walk half a mile before getting to our track.  The buses seemed to be more senior citizen friendly but slower.

I mentioned that we've tried to embrace the French culture by indulging in pastries, wine, cheese and bread.  I forgot to add that we decided to also take up smoking.  I've heard a lot of good things about it.  
*************

Kathleen’s Crown

We've arrived in Brugge today.  I'll write more about this city that is busting with old world charm later.  But I'lll sign off with something that Kathleen tweeted today,  " I am a tired New Yorker facing an existential crisis about my career. I was just dragging my roller board suitcase down a cobblestone road in Bruges and had to pull over to let a horse drawn carriage pass. If Hallmark has taught me anything, I will be a princess by Christmas."

Paris Day Three

 Today was another late start day which began with a subway ride to the Montmatre section of Paris.   Sacre Coure is a huge Catholic basilica

Sacre Coure, Paris

built on a hilltop in the Montmatre section of the city.  There has been organized prayer there every day for over 100 years.  The outside is alabaster

Stairs to Sacre Coure

white.  Beside being a spectacular church it is also known for its view of Paris from atop the mountain.  Some people will say the church was built on a mountain some would say hill.  As someone who walked up to it from the subway (300 or more steep cement steps) it's a mountain. The area surrounding the church is filled with cafes, bakeries and gift shops.

After leaving the church we walked to Moulin Rouge, known in its hey day as the place where

Eiffel Tower

the risqué can-can was performed.   It's surrounded by restaurants and seedy smut shops.

From there we were able to take a city bus to the Eiffel Tower.  While we had already seen it from a distance at night, it was even more impressive up close.  We did not take the time nor spend the energy to go up into it.  Nearby we found a nice cafe for a meal.

We got back on a city bus and got off at the

Champs de Elysees

Arc de Triumph.  Having already been to the Arch de Triumph, our goal was to stroll down the Champs de Elysees.  The Christmas lights along the famous boulevard were all lighted and twinkling.  We stopped at a cafe for a round of Chocolate Choud (hot chocolate).   It does seem like the wait staff didn't care how long we lingered even with such a small order.   We made it back to our apartment by about 7:30, in time to prepare for our departure tomorrow.