Day 4 Bruges, Flanders Fields, and Oudenaarde

Day 4 – Bruges, Flander’s Field and Outaarade

I did not sleep well last night and I think I kept Sue awake also.  I just can not get my sleeping straightened out.  Some of the others are also having trouble sleeping while others are doing great.  I guess a 6 hour time change takes time to adjust. 

We met for breakfast and then some of us went on a carriage ride.  It was a half hour ride and mainly covered the same ground as yesterday’s walking tour but it was a nicely different perspective.  The clip clop of the horse’s hooves and the motion of the carriage was nice.  We stopped half way through for a break for the horse and got to see lots of swans and ducks.  We also took a ‘few’ photos, as usual.  I got lucky and got horse slobber on my coat when he turned around and pushed at me.  I’m always sooooo lucky.

After the ride was over, some of us left on foot for the church that has the Michelangelo statue while I headed back to the room to charge my phone and then left for the church.  Turns out the church was closed for a funeral to take place.  It took a lot of walking for us to learn that.  After more walking and shopping, I ran into part of the group on the way to get Belgium Fries but since I had a Belgium Waffle in my hand, I didn’t join up with them.  I asked the concerige about where I could buy a small oscillating fan to help cool the room and found out they would loan me one.  Great.  When he brought it up to the room, he also explained the thermostat and how to use it.  I think I may sleep better tonight.  Course, it’ll be the last night in this hotel, but still . . . one night of good sleep would be nice.  He also told me a place I may able to buy one so that we can use that on the riverboat. 

We loaded up the bus for the ride to Oudenaarde and the bus was full.  It took about 1 ½ hours to get there but we went through beautiful countryside.  I did a lot of knitting on my scarf using the Brioche pattern, but made a major error in it – I decided to leave it alone to show that it was handmade.  We arrived at the American Cemetery in Flanders Field. It is a wonderfully maintained place and just very nicely done.  We learned about the designing of the cemetery and the connection to Charles Lindbergh who fly over and dropped poppies on it.  The man in charge is a very nice looking American, former Navy, and he is posted here.  All American military cemeteries around the world are maintained my former American military people.

We then rode another fifteen minutes into the city and again, it is a beautiful city.  It has been a wealthy city for centuries because the commerce of the city has been tapestries.  We had a demonstration of how they are made and how the old ones are being restored.  Both processes are very time consuming, expensive and intense.  We then went to the city hall and toured their collection of restored tapestries.  We were all very tired of standing up by the end, but it was very interesting.  While we were there we saw a bridge being raised so that barges could pass underneath it on the river.  That town is a few kilometers from the ocean and the rivers are very important for commerce.  Bruges used to be a major trading area but the river silted up so now the canals are maintained only for the tourists. 

We went to dinner in a family restaurant.  We had Flemish Stew with warmed apples/applesauce and chocolate mousse.  Of course, we also had Belgium fries. 

We started home and I decided the since I had made another mistake in my scarf to rip it all out even though I had about one foot done.  The rest of the ball of yarn had become a real mess and I despaired of ever getting it unraveled and put in a neat ball, but Sarah MC worked very hard on it and got it all fixed up.  Paula had one end of the yarn wrapped up in a ball and I had the other end of it wrapped in a ball, but by the end of the bus ride, it was all nice and neat.  Maybe I’ll start again in a day or so.  Daniel talked to us all the way to the cemetery, city and dinner, but he agreed not to do so on the way back. 

When we returned, we sort of started getting ready to check out of the hotel in the morning.  We are all very tired and our feet and legs and backs hurt, but it’s not slowing us down too much.    I prepared all my clothing for the next day in case I couldn’t sleep again during the night so that I could leave the room without disturbing Sue too much.  I also had a long conversation with Frank who led me through the process of putting photos up for all to see.  When I have a little more time, maybe I’ll be able to actually put the in the blog.  Hopefully.

Right now, the plan is for Phyllis and Sarah MC to leave at 7:45 on a side trip to the Atlantikwall and return to the hotel at 2.  The rest of us are going to have a lazier morning and be ready to get on the bus at 2:30 for the hour long drive to Antwerp and the riverboat.  Bruges has been absolutely wonderful, but it’s now time for a new adventure.

I've about decided that most of the photos will have to be posted on Facebook.  So go check for them on mine or Sue's accounts.  If you are not yet friends with us, friend Sue Killcreas or Melanie Wilson. Mine is my photo with my mother in front of a Christmas tree.  I'll keep trying to get them on the blog but we'll see.