After clearing immigration and customs, I picked up my rental car and drove
into downtown Brussels. There was almost no traffic and getting into town
and finding a parking place just off the Grand Market Place was no problem.
The Grand Market Place is considered one of the prettiest town squares in
thre world. I walked around the area taking several dozen pictures. A small
cafe beckoned me, so I stopped in and had a delightfully delicious hot
chocolate. My goodness, the chocolate sure is good in Belgium!
I walked up to the St. Martins Cathedral and listened to part of the mass.
There were far more tourists than parishoners at the service which seemed
to be very disjointed. The organist certainy had her own idea of how fast
and when to play and sing!
About 12:30 I was tired enough that I left and headed for Oudenaarde. By
that time the Market Place was filling up with tourists. Only a few cafes
and souvenier shops were open on this Sunday morning.
Getting out of Brussels was just as easy as getting in — and luck played
well for me. The route I elected to take turned into the Expressway I
needed to be on to Gent and then to Oudenaarde. By 1:30 I was checked into
the small hotel and unpacking.
The Hotel Da Vinci is kind of a Bed and Breakfast place. It looks like they
have about 8 rooms available. The owner saw me and immediately asked if I
wanted “the big bed”. I’m glad I didn’t opt for anything else! The bed and
the room have seen much better days.
A short nap later and I’m now at dinner in a small restaurant on
Oudenaarde’s town square. I thought I had ordered a veal cutlet, but what
was served were lamb chops. They were quite tastey and I’ve made a note of
the menu item as I’ll want to order that again. It came with scalloped
potatoes, baked tomatoes, brocolli, and cauliflower. Everything (except the
bones, the brocolli and the cauliflower) has been consumed. I think I’ll
order a creme brulee for desert if I can get the waitress’s attention.
It’s about 8:30 p.m. here and after dinner I’m headed back to the hotel
room. I’ll be up until about ten and hopefully will sleep the rest of the
night. There’s a large bathtub in the room. A nice bath may be in order
before bed. Tomorrow is a full day at work.
Nina says the Big Storm has delivered about 8-10 inches of snow so far
along with huge drifts in Pocatello. The temperatures are now above
freezing and icecicles are starting to melt. The storm is over.
————————–
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld