Tanzania 2015 - Stopover in Bruges, Belgium

We traveled to Bruges, Belgium to adjust to the time change, before traveling to Tanzania.

Flight - Friday, 24 July 2015

Jack picked us up and drove us to Ft. Lauderdale Airport. We had a lively conversation on the way.

I did not have a problem obtaining a boarding pass, even though the name on the ticket did not match the name on the passport.

On the flight to Newark, we watched some old Star Trek shows and part of the last Jason Bourne movie.



 We had a red-eye to Brussels, Belgium. The flight was delayed two hours due to faulty AC. We played cards in the boarding line.












We used head wraps and ear phones to deaden the senses. The food was good, but a little spicy. We did our best to rest and sleep. We arrived one-and-a-half hours late, but did not mind, since we were stopping in Belgium for two days.

Arrival - Saturday, 25 July 2015

The walkway in the airport was covered with poppies, commemorating Flaunders Field, the site of a battle in WWI. Customs in Brussels was so easy that we never stopped walking.













I learned something new: Credit cards with chips are not swiped, they are inserted and left in the machine. It is a good thing that I did not know that, as we got a better rate by speaking to the train ticket agent. We bought a return ticket for the reduced weekend fare. We were a little tired on the train, but stayed awake looking at the scenery. At one station, we saw a parking lot full of bikes, not cars.










We arrived in Bruges and had lunch at a healthy restaurant in the train station. Only in Europe can one find good food in a train station. We took a taxi in the rain to the hotel. The usual route was blocked because it was market day, but we still arrived for less than 10 Euros.

Our room would not be ready for several hours, so we headed to the main square, call Markt. We ate a waffle with chocolate topping and drank some tea at an open air restaurant on the square.

The day was gray and overcast. The rain started to come down as we returned to the hotel.

After checking in, we watched the Tour De France. Quintana took 1:20 off of Frome's time to cut the lead to 1:30 with one day left.

The rain stopped so we went for a walk. We walked around the canals with the sunset reflecting high off the walls and roofs. The view was marvelous.


 It was plain to see the charm of Bruges.

The canals offer beautiful views of old world houses.
















The narrow streets twist and turn, revealing a distant steeple at the next bend.
















Calm waters reflect the evening light as quiet lanes beckon the traveler.
















The setting sun set the buildings ablaze.













 

 

Exploration - Sunday, 26 July 2015

The breakfast buffet was complete and delicious.

The sun was out. We looked up the top ten things to do in Bruges and learned of a little lace place
on one of the walking routes. The shop had all hand-worked lace, some antique lace. Bobbi bought a few pieces. When we left the shop, the clouds started moving in.

We sat by a canal and meditated. The wind picked up and some drops began to fall as we finished. We walked to the square and ate mussels and Belgium fries (with ketchup and mayo). Delicious.

The rain started to fall as we finished our meal. We walked home in the rain. We stopped into a chocolate shop and bought some truffles. Yum. We turned the wrong direction in the rain. After a bit of a delay, we made it back to the hotel.

We watched the TDF final stage: The race around the Champs Elysee. Greipel won the stage, Frome won the race.




We walked around at night in the rain, with umbrellas. We bought some water in a local shop. The streets were quiet as it was Sunday night. We had hot chocolate on the square. What a wonderful way to enjoy a damp, rainy night.

Sculpture

The city is full of sculpture and art work, from small to large.

A small frog at the base of another sculpture and a small seashell in the sidewalk.

Old and new sculptures of people.

All kinds of other sculptures.






















Sculpture on houses.

Sculpture that made a statement, and some that didn't.













Sculpture along the canals.

















Amazing churches and architecture.

Shock

As we were getting ready for bed, I realized we had not checked in for our flight the next day. The flight was not until 8 pm, so it was not that late. I looked on my United app and saw that we did not have a flight from Brussels in the itinerary, the first flight was the flight from Vienna.

I called United and learned that Austrian Air had cancelled our 8 pm flight. The 5 pm flight was full, so the agent put us on the 10 am flight.

We had planned a leisurely day for the next day: get up late, eat breakfast, pack, eat lunch, return to Brussels in the afternoon. Now we had to pack at 12 am, get in bed by 1 am so we could get up at 4 am for an early train back to Brussels. I did not sleep at all. I worried all night long.

We caught the 5:15 am train to Brussels. We arrived on  time, but the United agent from the night before had made a mistake: We were NOT booked on the 10 am flight. After an hour or so, we were placed on standby.

We had time to grab some muesli for breakfast. We were dragging. We made the flight. As soon as we got the boarding pass, we were also given the boarding passes for the remainder of our flights. Phew!

The agents had told us that we had a high chance of getting on the flight. In hind-sight, it seems that Austrian Air cancelled the seats that had been assigned to us by United. Austrian Air wanted to leave four open seats, in the event that someone had to buy last minute

Vienna- Monday, 27 July 2015

I slept on the plain for the entire 1.5 hours and felt a little better when we arrived in Vienna. We arrived at noon and the next flight did not leave until 11:40 pm.

We ate some focaccia pizza and then slept on some seats (sprawled across three seats). We used some oversized seats too, but three seats in a row was better for sleeping. We played cards and then ate a cheese sandwich. It was so good, we ate another.

Security is the last thing to do before boarding. To get water on the plain, we bought it in duty free.

Addis Ababa - Tuesday, 28 July 2015

We tried to sleep on the next flight. The man next to Bobbi did not speak any common language. He was always drifting into Bobbi's space. After a little while, he got the message to stay in his own space.

Landed early. The Ethiopian terminal is small and crowded. It is one big area with some stores down the middle. The bathrooms are inadequate for the number of people.

We found some lounge chairs and fell asleep. Luckily, Bobbi had to use the bathroom or we might have slept through our boarding call.

We queued for security, but a huge line had formed. The agents had to pull people out of line as flight times approached. The line was filled with men in robes and women with luggage on their heads.

We were upgraded to economy plus class. We had a bulkhead and extra leg room. We saw the peak of Kilimanjaro above the clouds as we landed.

At customs, Tim was fingerprinted, Bobbi was not. Our bags arrived and Festo met us from OAT and drove us to our lodge.