After a very uneventful flight from Austin through Atlanta. Tana and I landed in Brussels about 8:30am Sunday morning. I'm an advocate of Ambien for overseas flights and was able to sleep soundly sitting upright in coach. Awoke refreshed and "hit the deck a runnin'."A driver Tauck Tours was waiting to whisk us to The Amigo Hotel in Brussels where we dropped our luggage and headed out to see as many sites as we could before meeting the rest of our group back at the hotel by 1:30.
The Amigo Hotel is very centrally located -- just a couple of blocks from the Grande Place (above photo) . This is the beautiful old city square surrounded by ornate medieval buildings. They must have been recently cleaned as the gold spires were gleaming in the sunlight. Flower markets in the center of the square further complimented the beauty of the scene.
One of my favorite memories from my first visit 30+ years ago was seeing the little Manneken- Pis statue which is the mascot of Brusssels. This small boy 'spraying foliage naturally' is visited by thousands of tourists annually. I was so disappointed today -- someone had dressed him in tourist attire and instead of holding his anatomy he was holding a digital camer. I guess the city fathers are cleaning up more than just the spires on the buildings!
By now Tana and I were feeling pangs of hunger so we headed down a quaint street, the size of an alley, lined with restaurants. Delicious aromas of local seafood enticed us as well as a friendly maitre d' greeted us with a friendly "Bon Jour." I was feeling confident in my high school French and returned the greeting with another "Bon Jour" to which he immediately answered, "Hi". So much for my fluent French! Lunch was a delicious salad, shrimp croquettes (local speciality) and local wine.
With only 20 minutes remaining we managed one more stop at a chocolatier on the Grande Place and hurriedly downed a coffee and decadent fudge torte.
Back at The Amigo again, we met the rest of our group -- travel agents from various areas in the south and southwest. We had been invited to join the cruise by Cissy Searingen, our Tauck Busines Development Manager. Our very comfortable motor coach had seats that almost totally reclined, and most of us were asleep by the time we left the hotel.
Our ship, the MS Swiss Emerald, was docked in Antwerp when we arrived, and we were warmly greeted by the staff and escorted to our cabins. The ship is elegant, and I was so pleased to see that we had cabins with French balconies providing great views of the Albert Canal. I took a quick peak at the dinner menu which looks fabulous -- beginning with escargots and finally ending with Death by Chocolate. Must locate the Fitness Center soon!!
Tomorrow we tour Antwerp and then cruise to Maastricht. A very full day but looking forward to more adventures tomorrow.
Au voir,
Linda
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