Beautiful Brisbane

View from the Botanic Gardens, Brisbane

Roscommon



Roscommon Gaol

Today we had lunch at the Roscommon Gaol, where my great-great-great-grandfather was condemned to death (see yesterday's blog entry).  Luckily this sentence was commuted.  When we visited this gaol in 1994 it was still obviously a gaol, but today it contains shops and restaurants.

Also went to Roscommon Castle, in ruins, and now a lovely public park complete with children's playground and adult exercise equipment.

Now back in Dublin, and tomorrow on the plane to Australia - this holiday was too short!

Tracking down the ancestral home

Abbey Hotel, Roscommon

We've just come from drinking Irish coffee beside an open fire in this 18th century manor house in Roscommon - feeling very mellow!  The view directly outside our window is of a 12th century abbey (the hotel is called the Abbey).

We travelled today from Westport to Roscommon, via Rooskey and Kilglass parish, where our ancestor, Francis Hanley, lived from 1805 to 1835.  In 1835 he and two mates planned an uprising against the British rulers, and stole a gun from the Protestant minister - Francis and his mates were all Catholic, and Catholics were not allowed to own guns.  They were caught and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment in Australia.  Francis Hanley was set free after 14 years and married a girl who had come out to Australia in 1849 on the "Earl Grey" ship for "Irish Orphans".  Jane Hogan had been in the Ballymanagh (Ballymena) poorhouse in County Antrim, but because of the Famine was sent off to marry one of the convicts who were finishing their sentences and probably causing trouble as there were too few women in the colonies.

The view from our hotel window - ruins of Roscommon Abbey

Francis and Jane settled down and had lots of children.  Unfortunately Jane died in childbirth with child no 8, but Frank took care of all the children and eventually established himself as an upright citizen.  Their eldest child, Catherine, married an Irish Protestant, which probably would not have happened if they had remained in Ireland.  Catherine was my great-great-great-grandmother.

In 1994 Alek and I attended the Hanley (Ainle) clan rally in Rooskey, the seat of the Hanleys, meeting all the Irish, British and American Hanleys.  Many had left during and after the Great Famine.  Evidence of this is all about in this part of the country - the land has been divided into smaller and smaller plots, there were more than 8 million people in Ireland at the time, today there are only around 4.5 million.  Subsistence farming was the norm, but with the tiny plots for each family, disaster was just around the corner.

Strokestown, the location of the National Famine Museum, is only a few kilometres from the location of Francis Hanley's family plot, as this was one of the areas hardest hit by the famine.  If he hadn't been a naughty boy and been sent to Australia, he probably would have been amongst the millions who died of starvation.

At the Hanley clan rally, people were encouraged to tell the stories of their ancestors.  Many of the Americans told of the Ballykilcline evictions, where hundreds of people from the Rooskey area were evicted from their land, and the lucky ones made it to America.  I was reluctant to tell the story of Francis, and began by saying "you may not want to hear this story, as Francis Hanley was the black sheep of the family, a convict in Australia".  When I finished my story, there were cries of "he wasn't the black sheep, he was an Irish hero!"  I suppose it depends which side of the equation you are looking at.

I have copies of the petitions made on behalf of the three who were committing "outrages" in the Irish countryside at that time, signed by their parish priest, Brian McDermott, and many of the upstanding citizens of Rooskey (also named as Russkey).  The details include the location of the house of the Protestant minister.  We tracked this down, at the time it was the largest house in the village.  Interestingly, it is now owned by the Hanleys!  We also looked for the Protestant church, but were told it had been dismantled by the Catholic population of the village as revenge for the repression by the British.

site of Francis Hanley's plot

It is now easier to find exact locations based on GPS, so we tracked down Francis Hanley's plot of land, which has recently been built on - good to see life again in these locations, when we were here in 1994 it was sad to see the tumbledown building left on the plots after the evictions and the famine.  There are many new houses and estates in and around Rooskey, which is located on the River Shannon.

We also visited the Kilglass cemetery, just outside Rooskey, where the Hanleys are buried.

Today we are travelling back to Dublin, then tomorrow we face the long trip back to Australia - but on reflection, it is not as long as the journey faced by the convicts back in 1836!

Bog-trotting our way to Westport

Galway

We started the day in Galway, a university city with an obvious medieaval past.  The city has a very fast-flowing river and I contemplated how dragonboating would work here, but concluded that going fast backwards would be the only result.

Travelled on many backroads to get to Westport, County Mayo.  Alek has renamed all the roads, which are:

• L (local) = lousy
• R (regional) = rough
• N (national) = nice
• M (motorway) = magic

The roads here have improved enormously, thanks to a huge injection of EU funds.  In 1995 there was only 2 kilometres of motorway, now they stretch across the country (but not to Westport, County Mayo).

Here in the west of Ireland, and in fact everywhere we've been, there are lots of new houses, and many beautifully restored and maintained older houses.  It's been really uplifting to see such changes for the better - we'll see what the future brings with the euro problems and the unemployment rate rising.  A great pity, as there seems a sense of optimism.  I've never seen so many B&Bs in my life, and they are all beautiful.  We've been staying mainly in hotels, as the off-season the rates are really good, but occasionally we've been in a B&B.

Croagh Patrick

In many parts of the country we have seen the cutting of peat from the bogs, great to see they are still using the old ways.  Country markets are everywhere, the ones here in the west seem to sell only hay and gumboots.

Westport is home to Croagh Patrick, where many pilgrims climb the rocky slopes on their knees as homage to St Patrick - I can assure you we are not here for that!

Today on to County Roscommon, the ancestral home of some of my maternal relatives, and then a final day in Dublin - sad for this journey to come to an end .... 

Ennis, Galway, and kicking the wall

We started the day in Ennis, County Clare, and now we are in Salthill, County Galway.  Ennis was a starting point for many who were transported to Australia as convicts.  There's a gaol which was known as the "Convict Depot" where many Irish began their long journey to Australia.  During Famine times, crimes were being committed deliberately to ensure a passage to Australia.  The Convict Depot is now a hotel, how's that for a drastic change of use?

Alek adding years to his life by kicking the wall

This afternoon we arrived in Galway and walked the Salthill Promenade, which ends by 'kicking the wall'.  Apparently it has become a tradition to do the 4km walk, kick the wall at the end, turn round and walk back.  Legend has it that kicking the wall adds years to your life.  Well, this is at least as likely as kissing the Blarney Stone gives you the gift of the gab!  We kissed the Blarney Stone last time we were here, so thought that doing it again might lead to being just too loquacious!

The County is encouraging the locals to do the walk as a fitness improver.  I'd read about it but didn't really believe it till I saw several people kicking the wall.  Here's Alek giving it a go.

Tomorrow to Westport, County Mayo.  Hard to believe this long journey is now coming to an end.

McGillicuddy's Reeks

Gap of Dunloe

When I was a small child, I remember reading in a book the name "McGillicuddy's Reeks" and thinking how exciting it sounded, though I didn't know what it meant.  I thought somehow that it was a swamp in Ireland.  But no, it's not, it's mountains in Kerry.  They are fairly inaccessible but we took a punt on a very narrow (one car wide) road and ventured to McGillicuddy's Reeks, and the Gap of Dunloe.  We were rewarded with amazing scenery, indescribable beauty and a deserted winding road.  I couldn't believe that I finally realised my childhood dream.

We also drove part of the famous Ring of Kerry, where we had been previously, so decided not to use the whole day for that. 

Thatched houses in Adare

We continued on to the "prettiest village in Ireland" - Adare, in County Limerick, passing by the Cliffs of Moher and Drumoland Castle, where we stayed during PM Keating's visit in 1993.

Lots of people speaking Irish in this part of the world - fascinating to hear such an ancient language, almost lost, but now revived.

We're now in Ennis, County Clare.  Tomorrow Galway!

Cork to Killarney (via Blarney, Cobh, Kinsale, Skibbereen, Bantry Bay, Kenmare and Glengarriff)

Kinsale, County Cork

A virtually unknown road in the west of Ireland is the trip between Bantry and Glengarriff, yet it is absolutely stunning.  The views are just amazing - Alek got some great video shots.  The other places we travelled we'd been previously, but went back to reminisce and to take some photos to show the boys - Kinsale is still just as pretty.

Cobh is the last place the Titanic docked in 1912, so of course they are gearing up for a big commemoration this year.  We took a car ferry between Cobh and Monkstown, but didn't see any icebergs ....

Tomorrow Limerick and Ennis, County Clare.

It's a long way to Tipperary



Johnston Castle, just outside Wexford

Today we travelled from Wexford through to Cork, passing through Waterford, Tipperary and Kilkenny on the way.

Interesting places were the Johnston Castle, Ormonde Castle, the only Tudor castle in Ireland, and the Opera House in Wexford, which has as its frontage a row of terrace houses.

At the pub tonight, people are speaking Gaelic, and we're only as far west as Cork - fantastic!

Wexford

Ferrycarrig Hotel

We had a day in Wexford, staying at a very nice hotel overlooking the Rosslare Harbour.  Ahead of this we travelled through the Wicklow Mountains, visiting the well-known Glendalough, as well as Avoca, which is the village featured in the Irish soap Ballykissangel.

We also went to see the house we lived in, which looks much the same as it did 15 years ago.

Our old house in Coppinger Wood, Stillorgan

We went to the Stillorgan Shopping Centre to take pictures for Pierre and Daniel, who enjoyed Eddie Rocket's (also known as Fast Ernie .... it's a long story), Papagallo's and Ping's.  We checked out the pub in Stillorgan where we used to drink Irish coffee.  It has the largest thatched roof in Ireland, and seems to be still going strong.

A good day!

Dublin

Marian O'Dea, of Plurabelle Paddlers, with "A Dragon's Tale"

Plurabelle Paddlers – friendship across the seas: Plurabelle Paddlers are Dublin’s equivalent to Dragons Abreast in Australia.  Plurabelle are the only breast cancer dragon boat team in Ireland, and perhaps even the only dragonboat team in Ireland.  Dragons Abreast Australia kindly donated a copy of our book “A Dragon’s Tale”.  Dragons Abreast ACT donated a DAA cap and some other items.  Australian Dragon Boat Federation donated a cap for each member of the team.   Marian O’Dea, founding member of Plurabelle Paddlers, is seen here accepting the gifts on behalf of her team.   They paddle in the Grand Canal Basin, which is only a few hundred metres from where we are staying.

Grand Canal Basin, only 500 metres from our hotel

We’ve had a lot of trouble with the phone, so apologies to anyone who has tried to call or text us on the Brussels number.  We gave up in the end and bought a new SIM card, and thus have a new number – please email us if you’d like to know this number.

We’re staying at Pearse Hotel on Pearse Street, which I have to admit when I first saw the area I thought was a bit rough, but it has been upgraded considerably and is only 2 streets back from the River Liffey. 



Oliver St John Gogarty in Temple Bar (David, eat your heart out!)

Yesterday we walked into town from here along the Liffey, a lovely scenic walk, and also saw many of the sights of Dublin, including Molly Malone, also known by the locals as “The Tart with the Cart”.  There are also statues and monuments in Dublin known as “The Stiffy by the Liffey” and “The Floozie in the Jacuzzi” (Anna Livia).
We wandered the streets of the famous Temple Bar district, crossed the Halfpenny Bridge, visited O’Connell Street, Grafton Street, Trinity College and St Stephen’s Green.  The first time we came to Dublin we stayed a week in Shelbourne Hotel, across the road from St Stephen’s Green.

On our first full day in Dublin, we celebrated Orthodox Christmas, first to church and then lunch with friends.

Following this we had dinner with some old friends from the International Women’s Club.
Today we’ll be revisiting our old home in Stillorgan, and then on to Wexford.

Magritte

Visited the Magritte exhibition at the Musee des Beaux Arts in Brussels, with Daniel and Laura.  A strange character, Magritte ....

Africa Museum

Yesterday we went to the African Museum in Tervuren.  The trip to the museum is via tram 44, which travels through the forest - the tram journey alone makes it worthwhile.  When we lived in Brussels, the boys had Wednesday afternoons free, so we often used to make the trip to this museum as both Pierre and Daniel loved it so much, together with the tram experience.  The journey itself was an adventure, heading into the dark forest to emerge into the lightness of Tervuren and the Museum.

The Museum itself is a product of colonial exploitation, which is one of the reasons I couldn't bring myself to take pictures - all those stuffed animals in glass cases.  In the past it was Belgium trumpeting its colonial triumphs, but today this has been toned down somewhat and there are some indications of apologies and reconciliation.  For example, there is a wall of names of Belgians who died during one of the inevitable conflicts in the Congo, but not a single name of a Congolese who died during the conflict.  Of course none of these have been recorded and not even the numbers are known with any accuracy, so to redress this somewhat there is a changing Powerpoint slide on the wall below which asks, in three languages "where are the names of the Congolese?"  Possible numbers are indicated by crosses which appear and disappear on the slide.  It is quite poignant, though my words can't express it adequately.

dragon boat with spears as paddles?

The only pictures I took were of the huge boat fashioned out of a single tree, which of course to my mind looks like a giant dragon boat designed for 100 paddles.  The main difference is that the paddles also serve as spears, which could come in handy at the end of a race!

If you want to know more about the Africa Museum, see http://www.africamuseum.be/home

Searching for squirrels, and another trip into town

We're preparing to leave Belgium, so packed up some of our stuff.  There's always a complication if you changed airlines at all, as suddenly we are overweight with our luggage.  Etihad allows us 23 kgs, while Aer Lingus allows only 20kgs.  So we'll have to pay excess on the trip to Dublin.  Of course the fact we have bought presents for everyone, as well as for ourselves, doesn't help our situation.

Etangs du Woluwe, on Ave de Tervuren

After this we walked down to Etangs du Woluwe, just for the walk and the scenery, but we kept an eye out for squirrels, and saw quite a few.  However, they wouldn't sit still long enough for me to photograph them.  Nice to know there is still urban wildlife.

After this we again caught the metro into town and had frites in the Grand Place.  We'll miss this, but I'm sure it will be better for my waistline not to eat frites and gaufres.

Television is similar to when we lived here - there are the Belgian French channels, the Belgian Flemish channels, the German, Luxembourg, Italian, British and Dutch channels, with the addition of Arabic, Turkish, Portuguese, Spanish and Greek.  The French are great at dubbing, though sometimes the voice doesn't seem to quite match the actor.  The Germans are also quite good at dubbing, it's interesting to see Paul Hogan speaking German or Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking French. 

The Dutch, however, favour subtitles, which could explain why they learn English so easily, the children are exposed to the sound from the beginning of their lives.  You often see very young children speaking entirely fluently in several languages, they will change languages for different members of their family.  All within seconds.  I don't know why we make such a big deal about children learning languages, they do it naturally until about age 12.  Which is of course when we normally start teaching children languages - once they reach high school!  Crazy, no wonder we're not good at them.

Tomorrow, the Tram 44 to the African Museum in Tervuren - haven't been there since 1989!

Amsterdam

We took the train to Amsterdam on Friday and came back late yesterday (Saturday).  Had a great time in Amsterdam, a wonderful city. Bit of a shock, even to old hippies like us, the number of 'seed' shops, the sex museums, and what we found lying on the footpath (see our photos, you'll be surprised).

Christmas-time on an Amsterdam houseboat

Loved the bicycle culture, and those Dutch bikes, so old fashioned, so practical in every way.  Plenty of spots to carry stuff, and I love the way children are catered for, on the front, in the safety of their parents arms.  I remember my father having a child's bicycle seat like that, it was a leather and metal contraption, but it was between the handlebars and the seat, so the parent's arms were shielding the child.

Also on the Dutch bikes, the children are normally in a wheelbarrow-type contraption in the front, not in a wheelie thing on the back, so the children can see, and the parents can see them - it seems more sensible than the ones we usually see in Australia.  And there are windshields on the front of bikes to protect children from the wind.

There are multi-storey bicycle parking lots, no wonder they've been able to bring down emissions, with bikes and a great public transport system.  The ferries are free for everyone, and since 1990, trains have been free for students.  Don't tell me socialism doesn't work!

a few of the houseboats we saw

As we only had the 2 days in Amsterdam, we did a lot of walking, but also took a canalboat tour.  I went a little crazy taking photos of houseboats, it's always been a dream to live on a houseboat in the middle of Amsterdam.

Lots of stuff going on in the streets, as it was New Year's Eve - Daniel and Laura are due back from Amsterdam tomorrow, so no doubt we'll hear more then.

Today was quiet in Brussels, though I did my usual long walk just to see what was going on.  Tuesday will be back to work for most, and back to normal.

Bonne Année à tous!

Dinant

Today we took a train to Dinant.  Happily waiting on Platform 3, with 2 minutes to go before departure of train when the announcement comes - in French and Dutch - to change to Platform 5.  Raced upstairs and then back down to Platform 5.  Luckily I understand enough French to get it, but not sure what would have happened if we only spoke English. 

We jumped on the train with seconds to spare, only to be told that we were in the wrong carriage - we should be in the 'trois dernieres' (the back three), as the train was to 'scinder' in the town of Namur, with part going to Liege and the rest to Dinant.  This was a new word for us so we had to work it out, it means to split, could be that it is related to the word "asunder"?

We tried to go through to the back three carriages but it was locked off, so had to wait for the next brief stop, jump off the train, run up the platform and jump back on.  An exciting start to the day!

The trip however was beautiful, especially the part between Namur and Dinant, which follows the River Meuse, and is dotted with pretty villages topped by fortresses, castles and citadels - a bit like the Rhine on a smaller scale.

Dinant is worth it, as shown by this picture, and many more.

Citadel on the hill at Dinant

We travelled up the hill on the Teleferique, where the views are phenomenal, and had quite a history lesson in the Citadel.  Why is it that wars indirectly bring about the most beautiful, interesting, and enduring architecture?  The area has seen plenty of conflict, and parts of the Citadel date from the Middle Ages.

We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the River Meuse, the views were remarkable.  Alek has decided that he needs to learn a little more French - when asked what he wanted to drink, he said "pomme de terre", which of course means potato.  What he meant to say was "jus de pomme" (apple juice) - no wonder the waitress looked confused.  I put my head in my hands and pretended I wasn't with him ....

One thing we wondered as we sat there in the warmth, with the rain pouring down outside - why do seagulls float backwards on the River Meuse?  I tried to get a picture, but failed.  Every single seagull floating blissfully on the river was serenely going backwards with the current, I've never seen this before, can anyone explain it?

Charles the Bold was a right royal bastard!

Dinant is also famous for the "Couques de Dinant" which originate from when Charles the Bold besieged the town in 1466.  There was no food left in the town except honey and flour, so the residents made this into biscuits, imprinted with designs from the copper works, another specialty of Dinant. 

We bought some of these biscuits, and were given a printed explanation of the history, which is quite hilarious as it is a translation and includes such classics as "flattened with a rolling-pin to make it rightly-tick", and "then put into a mould to be impressed".  "The couques, ranged on plates, were baked to following day in a wood hoven" and "no rolling-pin a rolling - a kind of carpet-working by means of a mere switch: two steel cylinders revolve each other in the opposite direction and flatten the paste".  "The sell particularly well in summer, durin the tourist season, but the best time is Santa Claus".  Well, I think we bought them at the right time!  Alek is just trying to eat one now, it is as hard as a rock ....

Tomorrow we go to Amsterdam for a couple of days, and then it will be new year!

Back to Waterloo

our house in Waterloo 1986-89

We again visited Waterloo today, this time with Laura and Daniel.  It's the first time Daniel has been to Waterloo since 1993, so we had to check out his old school as well as our house and the well-trodden route between the two.

We took the train from Etterbeek, and then walked from the station, quite a long way.  After dinner at a Chinese restaurant, we did the same in reverse - we'll all sleep well tonight, as it is a fair walk.

Daniel in front of his old school

For Pierre, we revisited his favourite lolly shop.  This was the Librairie across the road from the school, where Pierre spent many happy times selecting 'one of those, two of these ...". 

Pierre's lolly counter

Chateau de la Hulpe

Chateau de la Hulpe

Today we travelled to Chateau de la Hulpe, firstly by tram, then train, and finally a pied (walking) for around 40 minutes.

This chateau is not open to the public except by appointment, but we were happy enough to wander around the grounds.  The chateau has been used in a number of movies, including The Music Master,  and is also a popular wedding venue, as you can imagine.

It was another nostalgia trip, as we took the boys there regularly when they were small, for walks, picnics, and general adventure.  Pierre always challenged himself by climbing up the hillsides, which no doubt appeared as mountains to him at the age of six.

Another big walk back to the train and tram, and we were tired by the time we returned to the flat.

Tomorrow, Waterloo with Laura and Daniel ....

Christmas

Daniel, Alek, Laura

Christmas lunch was a challenge with just a small electric hotplate with two burners.  So I potroasted a small pheasant with apples and onions, and also a stuffed turkey roll in case we didn't like pheasant, which none of us had tried before.  I cooked the potatoes and pumpkin in a little frying pan, and steamed the beans and Brussels sprouts.  A tradition with pheasant is a spiced fig sauce, so we tried that too - delicious!

In the absence of Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, we had panettone.  We drank apple cider, as Alek accidentally opened this in place of the Champagne - never mind, we have a bottle to celebrate New Year!

From cardboard rolls and Christmas napkins, filled with celophane-wrapped chocolates and corny jokes, voila - Christmas crackers!  The Christmas hats are also made with napkins - see photo.

Happy festive season (winter solstice) to all!

Bois de la Cambre

punt to Chalet Robinson

Today we took a trip down to the Bois de la Cambre, which is very close to where we first lived in Brussels, so was also a trip down memory lane, as we used to take the boys there to play when they were little. 

We wandered around the woods, and then took the little punt over to a small island to have lunch in a restaurant at "Chalet Robinson" - I think the reference is to Robinson Crusoe. 

The island has rabbits, ducks and geese which are unmolested by dogs, cats or foxes, so are totally unafraid (see the photos).

Universite Libre de Bruxelles

To walk off lunch, we strolled around Ixelles, including the University Libre de Bruxelles, where I taught English for a while - a beautiful building.

After this we took a tram and Metro to Place St Katherine, which has the largest Christmas market in Brussels.  It also has a ferris wheel and sideshow attractions, such as this merry-go-round which features Leonardo Da Vinci inventions.

Merry-go-round at Place St Katherine

Tomorrow is Christmas, and I've had to be inventive with Christmas lunch, as we only have two burners and a microwave - no oven.  We are having pot-roasted pheasant, which I've never tried before, plus a small turkey roll in case the pheasant doesn't work.  Daniel and Laura will be with us.  It will be great to eat proper Christmas food in proper Christmas weather - though no snow is forecast, disappointing.

We wish you all the best for the holiday season.

The biggest nativity in the world

The display at the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur in Brussels is billed as "Le plus grand creche du Monde".  There are a series of nativity scenes from around the world, from Poland to South America.  Mary from Equador has a bowler hat!

Equadorian nativity

And I was unaware until now that the Three Wise Men arrived on elephants (see the photos).  Also unsure of the role of giraffes and alpacas, but they are all on display at the Basilica.



view from Basilica

Well worth a visit is the panorama from the roof of the Basilique.

Christmas with Daniel and Laura

Laura and Daniel at Cinquantenaire

It's good to have Daniel and Laura here with us at Christmas time, but also sad that all the other kids and grandkids are not with us. 

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas in Australia! 

Archealogical treasures of Brussels

Coudenberg - former palace of Brussels

Yesterday we visited the underground palace of Brussels.  This lies beneath the current Royal Palace, and is called Coudenberg.

Very interesting archealogical excavations, dating from the Middle Ages.

Twists and turns in Bruges

Today we travelled on the train to Bruges, about 1 hour from Brussels (5 euros return - a bargain!).  As you leave Brussels, the announcements, and the signs on the train, are in both French and Flemish, but once in Flanders, in Flemish only, which proves difficult.  The trip takes you through flat farmland, very muddy, which brings to mind the trenches of WWI, which must have been unbelievably horrible to live in, let alone die in.

Ice-skating in Bruges

However, Bruges is absolutely beautiful - the "Little Venice of the North" with canals and very quaint architecture. A must see at least once in your life. It's lovely in the summer, but very much on the tourist trail, so very congested. Winter is better, with Christmas making it very cosy. An ice-skating rink has been set up in the centre of the old town.

We visited all the sights of the town, including the Beguinage, the Town Hall, the canals, the Lake of Love, churches and cathedrals, the lace shops and the markets.  Lots of parts date back to the 1600s, and the narrow cobbled streets are full of twists and turns, making it very picturesque.

canals and quaint houses in Bruges

We had a bit of trouble in the Metro on the way home, we had to evacuate two trains, but finally made it home on the third. There is to be a strike later in the week, so we hope not to be caught up in this.  Not so nice at Christmas time ....

Brussels : comic book capital of the world

Bande dessinee magasin

Today we stumbled upon a bande dessinee shop, selling everything from Smurfs to Asterix to Manga, in numerous languages.

Laid out over several floors, the shop is also a cafe/restaurant, and there are seating areas where you can check out the wares in comfort. One area is dedicated to antique Tintin memorabilia.

We also wandered back into the Grand Place, it magnetically attracts us every time we are in town. More sound and light show - magic!

Sound and light show in the Grand Place

Lost on a Sunday afternoon

Today I went for my usual walk around the local area.  I choose a different route each time, and never know where I'm going to end up.  Two and a half hours later I was still walking, and couldn't tell where I was.  I knew that I could catch a tram or a metro to get home, so wasn't totally bereft.  Nevertheless, when I saw the familiar rooftops and statues of Cinquantenaire, I was vastly relieved.  I was way to the south of it, but by walking through the park I was only a half hour from home.   I had seen a lot of interesting streets, markets, churches, and European Union buildings.  Alek was a little surprised to see me after all this time.  When I started walking it was snowing, but it soon cleared, there's not much evidence of the snowfalls apart from a few cars which have deposits on their windscreens.

dusk in Etterbeek

We went for another walk later on, but with my own personal GPS (Alek) we managed not to get lost.

Daniel and Laura are due in Brussels tonight.  They were to arrive this morning, but went to the airport in Riga and found their flight had been cancelled with no explanation.  They are now coming via Copenhagen and will arrive after 10.00, so we have cancelled the planned dinner together.  We're looking forward to seeing them again.

This week we plan to visit Brugges and Ghent - and then it will be Christmas!

Snow!

We woke up this morning to a white wonderland in the garden, just in time for Christmas - let's hope it lasts into next week.

snow in our garden

Skiing in the city

Porte de Hal

Today we visited Porte de Hal, which is the last remaining medieval gate to the city of Brussels. We also went to Les Marolles, the Palais de Justice, which was covered with scaffolding, and passed by the Museum of Beaux Arts. 

When we lived in Brussels the boys and I visited Beaux Arts very often, I took them in for their dose of culture, even though they were only around six and seven at the time.  They didn't always appreciate Monet, Rembrandt or Breughel, but were always ready to check out the 13th and 14th century stuff as it was filled with all sorts of gory details, such as the martyrdom of saints, beheadings, torture, removal of entrails, and plenty of blood.  I remember taking them to a castle, and we went down into the dungeons, which were full of torture equipment.  I tried to convince them it was a medieval gymnasium complete with exercise equipment, but Pierre, aged 6, was too smart for me, and said "I know what this is, it's the mean room".  Every time we visited a castle he insisted on seeing the 'mean room', the nastier the better.

Musee des Beaux Arts

As we walked down towards the Grand Place, we came upon the Ski Centre, which is just being set up - there'll be a ski run down the slope.  Lots of Apres Ski places already set up, it looks very appealing in this cold weather.  We are supposed to get snow on the weekend or Monday, so lets hope it eventuates, and I'll be adding snow pics to this blog - looking forward to it!

Skiing in Brussels

Reminiscing ....

Today we went to visit our old friends Klaus and Paulette once again.  As Alek was the consular officer in Belgium, and Klaus worked in that area too, they had a number of stories to mull over from the old days.
Alek and Klaus remembered the time they were called to visit some Australians in gaol near Bruges, knocked up for drug-running, amongst other misdemeanours.  A parcel had arrived at the Embassy for the convicted pair, so Alek and Klaus drove to Bruges to take the Christmas presents for the two, speculating as to whether the parcel contained the classic 'get-out-of-gaol' file.  They duly delivered the parcel, only to be called by the prison officials a week later to say that the pair had been making money from the other prisoners by renting out their blow-up sex doll!  The doll had of course been in the parcel.

The Lion of Waterloo

Klaus told the story of when the Bjelke-Petersens came to town, probably during Joh's long reign as Premier of Queensland. Flo wanted to climb the Lion of Waterloo, and 'asked' Klaus, whom she referred to constantly as 'Karl' to help her climb the steps. She then took his arm and hauled herself up the long climb. For those not familiar with the monument, here it is, 226 steps to the top (right)

More than halfway up, Flo remembered her camera - "Karl, go back to the car and get my camera!" Once they'd been to the top and were again at the bottom, she wanted coffee and scones, but had also 'forgotten' that Australian dollars are not accepted in Belgian cafes, so 'Karl' had to pay the bill for Flo and her entourage.

Klaus also remembered an old Australian who came into the embassy on a regular basis.  He was a smelly old bugger, so the embassy staff gave him new clothes, fed him and let him use the bathroom for a wash.  Eventually they found out that he was a veteran of the Dunkirk evacuation during WWII and had scraped up enough money for a fare to Europe to see where his mates had died.  He didn't have enough money to return to Australia, or even to keep himself while in Europe, so was sleeeping rough and staying warm by coming to the embassy.  After embassy staff contacted veterans associations in Australia, he was eventually repatriated.



Joh and Russ

When we were in Luxembourg last week, Alek told me about the time he went to see Russell Hinze in gaol in Luxembourg. Hinze was to be extradited to Australia for alleged corruption. For those too young to remember Russell Hinze, here he is with Joh - a good pair!

And if we were on a trip in Turkey and Syria, we could reminisce about gaols in Turkey and Syria - all part of the joys of diplomatic life overseas .....

Sound and Light Show in the Grand Place

Christmas tree in the Grand Place

This evening we went into the Grand Place to see the Christmas Sound and Light Show which is on every night until New Year.  Very impressive, and my photos didn't do it justice, but Alek's videos will be much better.

We also ate health food - Belgian frites and mayonnaise, followed by a Belgian waffle!

Santa and his escargots .....

Perhaps we should have had this instead:

These kiosks selling escargots are very common in Belgian, and this one well advertised with snails pulling Santa's sleigh.

On the way back in the metro we were treated to an accordionist playing Hernando's Hideaway, amongst other things.

A view of where we are staying

The area where we are staying in Brussels is at Square Montgomery - here's a picture of the man himself:

Statue of Field Marshall Montgomery at Square Montgomery, with Cinquantenaire in the background

We are 500 metres from the square, where it meets Avenue Tervuren, and Boulevard St Michel.  The nearest metro is Boileau, about 50 metres away (in fact, underneath us) but Metro Montgomery has more links, so we normally use this.

This is our apartment in Brussels - http://www.eu-brussels.be/apartments/lucca.shtml

Daniel and Laura's apartment next door - http://www.eu-brussels.be/apartments/pisa.shtml

the garden (but not at this time of year!)

more photos in the slideshow ....

Learning different languages

We arrived in Brussels the first time on 11 November 2011, and as it was Remembrance Day, all the shops were closed, except for a little Polish supermarket.  We bought a jar of instant coffee (for Alek, I can't stand the stuff) and on the side it says "Bogaty Smak" which sounded to me like a character from Harry Potter.  I asked Alek what it meant, but because of the way I said it - like a character from Harry Potter - he said he didn't know.  I've just looked it up, and it means "rich taste", as I thought, and when Alek looked at the actual words he found he did in fact recognise it, as it's almost the same as Serbian.

TV is interesting too, as here in Brussels we only have Dutch, German, French, and Italian.  In Serbia, apart from Serbian news, which was always about the European Union, the soap operas were Turkish and Indian, with Serbian subtitles - hard to follow, especially in Cyrillic, for example   αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρςστυφχψω - I just get the letters worked out and there's a new lot on the screen. 

And I only remember half a dozen words from Turkish, so I spent the week in Serbia not understanding a thing.