Days 1, 2 Leaving the USA for Bruges, Belgium

Belgium Days 1 and 2   April 16-17, 2012

We were all hyped up and ready to go.  Linda got up earliest because she was still in Birmingham.  She got up, dressed and drove to Ringgold and then boarded the Groome Shuttle with Cuzin Sarah before noon in Chattanooga.  The Dalton Gang made it to the LaQuinta Inn before noon. There is some mystery as to who got to the LaQuinta first – was there really a curling iron left in a refrigerator that had to be retrieved or not???  We’ll just say we were all there waiting on the shuttle when it pulled up.  The eight of us made up the entire roster for the shuttle with Doug as our driver.  We had a really nice ride down to the airport with no incidents at all.

We checked in our luggage at the curbside and we were free to wander on into the airport – checking in online and dropping off the big luggage is a wonderful thing!!  We made sure that our liquids were packed in the right kinds of plastic bags and were ready for inspection.  The security checkpoint went fairly well.  Of course, Paula was frisked as usual, but I got to do that full body scan for my first time.  It was no problem at all.  Then we started working out way to the International Concourse.  After a train ride and an escalator ride and some walking, we were there.  We all found food for a late lunch and then we headed for the gate, which surprisingly was not all the way at the end of the concourse.  There was a lady from Grand Circle Travel (GCT) and she marked us off her list.  Turns out there were 14 of the GCT folks on this flight.

We didn’t have a tremendous time to waste waiting but we managed to buy some stuff and do a bunch of talking.  We and lots of other people got on the plane and were ready to take off by 5:40 p.m.  Some of us got really lucky and sat at the emergency exits so we had lots and lots of leg room.  However, these seats were right next to the bathrooms so that smell added a little piquant to the trip.  We were cold in the airplane and it wasn’t just me – everyone was cold.

On the shuttle to Atlanta airport

Getting on the bus at the Brussel's airport for the ride to Bruges

Mine and Sue's room in Bruges

Overall, the trip was quite smooth but none of us really slept much.  I tried and tried and even took a sleeping pill, but I never fell asleep.  We had supper (chicken or pasta), breakfast the next morning, and a snack.  We all did quite a bit of reading and movie watching and finally the flight ended.

We could tell a difference in the weather as soon as we walked off the plane – it was much cooler than Atlanta, that’s for sure.  As we took bathroom breaks in the terminal, I took off my flip flops and put on heavy socks and shoes and got out my heavy coat.  We walked miles in the terminal, went through the passport check fairly quickly, and then picked up our luggage.  Well, most of us did anyway.  Wouldn’t you know, Paula’s was not there!!  This is the third time her luggage has had major problems!!!  She filled out paperwork and then we all headed for the GCT bus that would take us from Brussels to the city of Bruges.  When are spending a few days here before joining the riverboat.  We had a nice ride except when the bus driver pulled the bus over and checked what had caused loud noise.  He didn’t find any kind of problem so he pulled back onto the road and we continued on our way.  Actually, Linda had forcefully closed the door to the bathroom on the bus and that was what caused the noise.  We just won’t mention that to the bus driver. 

We arrived in Bruges and it has narrow cobbled streets and tall quaint houses and businesses and is just very pretty.  We checked in at the hotel and met up with the other GCT visitors and our tour guide, Daniel, for an orientation walk around town.  We were all freezing cold in the strong wind that was blowing but Daniel said it was nothing – he was in short sleeves and the rest of us were in pretty heavy coats.  He did a very informative little tour of the area around our hotel and then we went shopping.  Yes, we are back in shopping mode.  We found little souvenirs, a beer store, lace shops, and a yarn shop.  I found a couple of scarves I really liked and since I needed a good one to help me stay warm, I bought one already knitted and the yarn and needles to makes another one.  I have the instructions, but they are in Flemish!!!  I did find English directions, but I don’t know how to do the patent stitch, but hopefully Linda and I can figure it out.  Sue found scarves and hopefully we will be better prepared tomorrow for the weather. 

We ate lunch at a little place on the square and them main requirement for eating there was that they had a table for eight on the inside where it was warm.  Most of us had Flemish Stew made from pork but a couple of us (I’m not going to admit that those two were Sarah and me) had grilled cheese sandwiches.  All the food was very good and I got to sit right next to the gas logs that were burning very nicely.  I found it somewhat strange that two sets of customers brought dogs into the restaurant, but the dogs were well behaved and did not cause any problems.  As we left the restaurant, we discovered that it had started raining.  The man at the yarn shop said the weather was TBW – typical Belgium Weather so it must be like this quite often.

After shopping and wandering and freezing, everyone was back at the hotel.  Sue made another post card/post office trip, but the rest of us are resting (but not sleeping) before our 6 p.m. meeting with the whole group.  Actually we are trying to stay awake so that we will sleep well tonight and get out sleep pattern straightened out quickly.  Turns out that Sarah MC and Paula had a two hour nap but they think they’ll fall to sleep easily.

We had a meeting of all 43 people traveling with GCT at 6 p.m.  It was a pretty long meeting but we learned lots of important information for the next few days.  We are planning on a walking tour and boat tour tomorrow around Bruges, a bus trip to Flanders Field on Thursday and some of planning to brave the wind and rain on the Friday trip to the Atlantikwall the Germans built to keep the Allies out of Europe during WWII. 

We went to dinner and enjoyed pizza and spaghetti and Carlito’s Italian Eatery just down the street from the hotel.  It was all very good.  It’s almost 9 p.m. and we are back in our rooms getting ready for bed.  We all plan to sleep well and be ready for action at 8:30 or so in the morning.  It’s been a very good start to the trip.