Brussels to Amsterdam

A new day, a new country.  After four nights in Belgium's capital, we headed out to a new country for us, the Netherlands.  We enjoyed Brussels, which does not attract many tourists, but it was time to say good-by and move on to a new country.
Brussels' Nord station is a perfect example of how not to do something right.  While dozens of trains come and go each hour, the signage and information is very difficult.  To top that off, it is often necessary to haul your luggage (and we had more than enough) up and down staircases and onto trains, since there is no checked baggage service on the trains.
Donna made sure we got to the station in plenty of time and we eventually made it to the correct platform for our 10:55 departure.  We were able to heft our 50 pound bag and two others onto the passenger car, only to discover that nearly all the overhead luggage racks and seats were taken.  We never saw any of the railroad personnel and finally found an empty seat to handle our heaviest bag.
We weren't aware that this was not an express train, and many stops were made along the way including two airports, Antwerp and several stops too obscure to mention.  At many of these stops, some passengers would exit and others would enter, finally giving us a chance to sit together.
We passed through numerous Belgian towns and some scenic countryside and soon found ourself in the Netherlands.  The only way we knew this is that the license plates on the automobiles had changed. 
Many people use the words "Holland" and "the Netherlands" interchangeably, but this is not correct.  Holland is part of the country of the Netherlands.  True, it is the most heavily populated part and the most famous.  To further complicate matters, we refer to these people as Dutch.  Traveling across the flat lands of Holland, we saw many scenes that remind us of the stories of our chilldhood; wonderfully flat fields drained by canals, neat houses, and even windmills.  To be fair the windmills are not the picturesque type of the story books, but are modern, three-bladed wind generators.  We did not see any stout, rosy-cheeked farmers wearing wooden clogs, but that is reality.
Soon we came to the industrial heartland of the country.  Rotterdam, Europe's chief port as well as other cities showed the savvy of the modern Dutch people, as factories, warehouses, barges and tank farms sprouted on both sides of us.
Three hours after the start of our train trip, we pulled into Amsterdam's central terminal, a modern and efficient facility, complete with elevators and easier access.  Under no circumstances would I recomment rail travel in Eupore to anyone with mobility challenges.  It appears that those individuals are simply forgotten by the system
A short taxi ride brought us to the Hotel Carlton, in the heart of Amsterdam.  The view from our room was incredible and we were soon off in search of adventure.
Details will follow in our next blog entry.
Oh, by the way, our rail tickets were never checked..

Donn a inspects the Flower Market

Dutch countryside

Visiting the Palace Where a King Actually Presides

Today we spent our last day in Brussels with another trip down to see some of the national treasures of Belgium. We took the tram down to Palais Royal after breakfast to first tour the Musical Instrument Museum. The MIM is a ten story building with a spectacular view from the top floor of the whole city of Brussels and many floors of instruments from all corners of the world throughout
history. Some of the string and other instruments date back to the 14th century. At each of the displays, the audio player that we were loaned with our admission played a selection of the music from the instruments on display when we stood in front of the display. Anyone who teaches or plays an instrument would appreciate this enormous collection of instruments that the museum has on display.  We walked from floor to floor and saw and heard so many different ones that we soon found we were experiencing a brain overload. After two hours, we went to see the Brussels' Experience Exhibit which was a high tech floor in one of the old buildings explaining the things to do in the city and some of the places not to miss while exploring the area. Probably would have been more beneficial to see exhibit at the start of our four days here but it was still interesting and well displayed.

at the Royal Palace in Brussels

After a picnic lunch in the Parc van Brussels or the national royal park, we headed for the royal palace. We were surprised that the public was invited to visit this expansive home of the king and his family but we were told that it is opened to the public for just a little over a month this summer for public visits. We weren't personally presented to King Phillipe but were able to walk through many of his royal rooms and take pictures. We have been pleasantly surprised how accessible buildings and national artifacts are to the general public in the cities we have visited and how open they are to picture taking. We were also surprised that we didn't need to even go through a metal detector as we entered. We just were asked to check our backpacks in the foyer.

King Phillipe

We hopped back on the tram and headed back to the Stephanie neighborhood where our hotel is located. They have 24 hr coffee/latte/mocha machines in the lobby so we had a latte before heading up to our room on the fourth floor, which in Europe is actually the fifth floor. All of the buildings that we have been in thus far have the mainfloor/lobbies as floor zero so our room was actually five stories up. We are glad that it is modern hotel with an elevator.

Donna, the photographer

We relaxed in the early evening after our day exploring and then went out for a late dinner at one of many neighborhood cafes. We walked through the area, enjoying the lovely architecture for one last time and checked the many cafe menus that eveyone posts outside of their cafes until we decided to try a Belgium vegetarian pizza at an Italian cafe. John ordered another one of the various beers but did not like the taste of it at all. Yesterday, he actually took one sip of a beer he had bought and then spilled it down the drain! I guess that he has now found that there are lousy beers here also. With over 450 Belgium different beers, there are bond to have some that have an unpleasant taste. The one he spilled out tasted like it had poultry spices such as oregano or sage in it!  I guess that he won't be able to sample all 450 varieties before we leave to find one that he actually really enjoyed. A few were good but nothing so far has been outstanding.


Brussels is not listed in most guide books as a very popular tourist location but we have found it to be a very bustling city with lots to see and do. They refer to themselves as the capital of Europe since the EU is based here.  It isn't the easiest city to get around on foot due to the ever winding streets, without adequate street signage,  but a place that we wil long remember for its beauty, interesting languages and friendliness.
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow on the 11 am train. It is not a high speed one like the one we rode in from Paris but should prove to be a great opportunity to see the countryside and to rest our tired feet from four more days of miles of walking.

Finding Your Way in Brussels and Other Myths

We have enjoyed our stay in Brussels, but have noticed that finding our way around its maze of streets can be a bit confusing.  Today, July 22, we were determined to visit Grand Place, the cultural and tourist center of the city. Little did we know that we would get a lesson in humility.
If this had been in the USA, we could have easily programmed our smart phone and followed its directions.  Unfortunately, we need wi-fi to use most of our phone's functions.  Therefore, after. A quick breakfast in the hotel cafè, I brought up Google Maps on the wi-fi in our room and wrote down each direction. Displayed on the screen.  It gave us a total distance of about 2 km, about 1.5 miles,  an. Easy walk for us.  We headed for Grand Place immediately after dropping our laundry off at a local shop.
One of the things you need to learn about Brussels is that is not laid out on a grid. Every few blocks streets comè in from 6-8 directions into roundabouts, none on compass directions.  Another feature that endears us is that many streets are not named.  Of. Those that are, most use both the French and. Dutch names.  We followed the directions from Google carefully,  but after a. Kilometer or so, reached a point where we could go no further.
The map we were given by the hotel was incomplete and very hard use and being unable to speak either of Belgium's languages did not help when it came to directions.
Wè did find a few things we weren't looking for including. Brussels' main synagogue and the Jewish museum, which we visited.  Like so many countries, the Jews of Belgium came close to total extinction during the Nazi holocaust of 1940-45. This is not something from the ancient past.  It still goes on today.  Last year, 2014, three Jews at the museum were gunned down by terrorists.  At the present time, the entrance to the museum is guarded by two, fully armed soldiers.
After a complicated series of wrong turns, backtracks, attempts to ask directions and a miniscule speck of good luck, we came across the area outside the. Grand Place where our Waterloo tour had started yesterday. 
Our mission today was clear.  Seek out consume Belgian fries, waffles and beer.  We purchasèd a large cone of the fries.  Nothing special, perhaps because we didn't follow the local custom of dousing them with mayonnaise.  Nearby, we found a stand vending waffles and churros (an interesting combination?)  The waffle we shared was light and tasty.  We then dropped into one of the many beer sales shops, stores that sell hundreds of varieties of local and imported beers for takeout.  I chose one bottle of. Blonde and one of Porter.
About the Grand Place, it is absolutely gorgeous,  reminding us of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, but with different architecture.  Google this!
Footsore and dragging (John woke up at 3:00 and couldn't get back to sleep) we decided to take the tram (streetcar) back. To our hotel (if only we could locate the tram line.) We only had to ask 3 people this time.  It was a short ride and dropped us off right in front of our hotel.  We picked up our laundry and took a break while the beer cools in the fridge.
Here is an oddity.  When. We asked for ice at our Paris hotel, we were given a small bowl of it.  In. Brussels, we got strange looks from the staff who replied that it was not available.
8.5 miles walked today, not bad for a 2 mile walk, eh?