Day Trip to Ghent

Train travel is smooth and we were soon in the heart of Ghent (after a taxi ride as we were unclear on the bus directions from the train station). We found a great folk museum which had a lot about the blending of earlier pagan beliefs with Catholic religion in relation to the stages of life from birth to death.

the bridal veil was originally used to disguise the bride so as to make her unrecognizable for witches...
Upon entering the new house, the bride was carried over the threshold..around the chimney crook...The chimney was seen as the residence of the household genii. By letting the bride look into the chimney or by leading her around the crook, one presented her to those household genii...
To prevent the dead person from carrying off domestic happiness, locks of hair and small bits of the nails of hands and feet were taken away and kept in the family.

This cathedral had a wall repaired with modern block and windows.
Some old houses were in evidence but much of the streets of the town could have passed for the Victorian looking streets in San Francisco.
Axel woke up half way through the folk museum and was playing in the yard after a snack. He found that crab apples looked good when floated in a puddle.
Then on to the castle. This castle was never a pretty place. The gray grim foreboding look was cultivated as the people of Ghent were quite rebellious and were forever having to be beaten, tortured and threatened to stay in line. Apparently it did not help much as room after room in the castle had to be turned into a spare torture room.

Axel liked that strollers had to be left behind and he had to climb up many of the stairs.
William is in line for the guillotine.
Water boarding was one of the routine torture methods.
Up against the wall, Axel.
Look for William up against the far wall.
We finished up our trip at Sint Baafs Cathedral mainly to see the Mystic Lam by van Eyck.
This is just the center panel of a huge altar screen that is painted front and back.

Quiet House

It is early AM. The Borden's plus Leah have left for Paris for a few days. Jon is in Spain to race. Support is being provided by some of Jonathan Page's entourage. The remaining Bakers, Bill , Cyndi, Axel and I plan to take a train to Ghent this AM to sightsee there. Bill is looking forward to the torture museum in the castle. He was so disappointed the last time we were in Europe as the torture museum in Prague was closed. According to the guidebook this one has all sorts of lovely items such as a working guillotine, a rack and thumbscrews. I wonder if they have a bench where water torture was administered, as that is a very old torture method also. The date of this woodcut is 1556.

A Brugge Walkabout

William and I went Christmas shopping today. We have to get our shopping done because Saint Nicholas has landed from his steamship from Spain with Swartze Pieter and will be in Brugge for the great celebration on the evening of the 5th of December.

We also just walked about and took pictures. This is De Golden Spin (Spider).A really scary housefrau

Bill was climbing up the windmill

Another windmill

Our Lady of Peace pray for us

William in the oldest bar in Brugge established in 1515

Monument to nursing mothers

Santas climbing up the wall (also traditional)

St. George slaying the dragon

Me with the birdman

This is one grim guy

The Lion of Flanders is thinking about eating the Brugge Bear

The Canon White Bear and photographic entourage.
They take pictures and direct you to the canon website. You can have the picture for free, but it will have a Canon ad banner on it like the pic of Leah and I from Lotto.

The Borden's are here

The Borden's, Frank, Robbin, and Desi, arrived on Wednesday and Thursday night we are getting dressed up to go out. Grandpa Bill is holding up a very dressed up Axel.Cyndi and Frank chose the same understated color scheme. Understated is the fashion in Brugge.

Desi has already been to the hairstylist. Her hair has been had subtly highlighted with red in addition to the partial blond highlights she had. Her hair now smells like candy and feels like soft kitten fur. She is very, very happy with it. The consensus is that European hairdressers are much better than at least Redding hairdressers.

Harry and Dudley

Dad and I were drinking gluhwine (mulled wine) and Hasselt Coffee (espresso with gin and whipped cream) while we watched the skaters on the ice rink in Markt Square. And there were Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley skating together, best of friends. Dudley was the better skater.

World Cup at Koksijde

Saturday we all went to the World Cup, since it was so close in a sand dune at the coast. Leah and the baby and I had our pictures taken at the Lotto van and got free Lotto hats. Then they cut off the baby with the Lotto advertisement. Jon had a stomach ache and only went a few laps. From now on he is going to take some stomach medicine prior to the race.

Soigneur for the first time

If you see a rainbow on the way to Gieten you might find mud on the race course.
Today I went along into the Netherlands to the Super Prestige race at Gieten. Gieten-in-the-mud might be a more descriptive name. After one time around the course with Wm, I elected to stay near the start and finish line. When we were walking the course Wm was looking for a frietes stand, but this was the Netherlands so we found a fish stand. We passed up the cold salt herring sandwich with raw chopped onions in favor of a fried fish fillet sandwich. It was a huge fillet seasoned and laid out athwart a bun with a fork stuck in the top. Quite tasty.

My spot near the start finish line had a small snacks stand that had coffee and cake, nice in the cold intermittent rain. I was mostly on grass or pavement with little mud. As Cyndi had suggested I watched the prior race start and finish, so I could see where the soigneur's got onto the course and where they would stand. Jon said I did fine as the soigneur. I was definitely helped by the fact that we were not in Belgium and the weather was bad, because the crowds were smaller at the finish line. At the finish I heard them call out Jon's name and I was looking for him, then he loomed up right in front of me. I had not recognized him in his coating of mud.
Read all about his race on CyclingNews. He really did quite well.

Axel The Shoe Stacker

Axel was working hard on a project up in the Living Room. Then he called to Leah and me to look. He had carefully stacked up his shoes.
He was so proud of his stacking. He said Stack!

This was right after we had gotten excited about seeing Jon in an advertisement. Channel 4 was doing an advertisement for the televising of the race tomorrow and they showed some footage of a prior race and there was Jon!!

Remember Phone Booth Stuffing

Should have taken the camera today when I went out for a meander. Just after I left the Train Station after getting a brochure for the ice sculpture show, I saw a giant rainbow over Brugge. So I started digging out my umbrella. Never leave home in Brugge without that essential piece of equipment. Icy rain and hail and a strong wind buffeted people on the street and 4 people had crammed themselves into a Belgacom Phone booth to seek shelter from the storm ( a rare section of street without a pub or tearoom).

Thanksgiving

We managed to have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. William found a roasting pan so I roasted some turkey thighs and a breast fillet, Belgian style with plenty of butter and a bit of nutmeg. The rest of the meal was a Belgian style stuffing, rough mashed potatoes with garlic, turkey gravy, sweet potatoes, Cyndi's Brussels sprouts, bread and butter, and homemade apple crisp. We had to set up the dinner Smorgy Style as the table is small.Why not some champagne?

A Night Out

Bill and Leah went out for a look at the Free Concert behind the Our Lady Church that he and I had gone to on Monday. Leah played on the Silverpand play equipment on the way.

A different group of musicians played on Wednesday night.

Another Weekend in Brugge

Jon, Cyndi and Bill were off to the races. Read more on CyclingNews here and here. The TV coverage of Jon was best in the second race. They showed him as usual at the start and since there was a crash at the start that kept most of the pack together longer, there were a couple of good shots of him. Then they highlighted his big crash and when he was lapped by Sven near the end and stayed behind him till he was waved off at the finishing straight away. Jon was not as thrilled by that coverage as he showed us the long livid scrape on his leg from the crash. He said if he had not stopped when he heard the roar of the crowd building up, as riders are to get out of the way of a faster bunch coming through, and kept racing hard, he could have been through the finish before Sven turned the corner and would have avoided getting lapped. He also did not like it that the results looked like he was second to last at 27th when there were 40 starters. This picture from CyclingNews shows Jon looking strong behind a guy who did not finish. The children and I did the Saturday Market in T'Zant Square. Leah and I just read that this square was used for jousts and tournaments in Medieval times. We just bought candy (Leah's allowance), and cheese. We then went off the the T'Zant Cookie Cafe. It was packed as usual, but the front table (best for us) was newly vacant. Leah had her usual waffle and Axel had pancakes. He fell asleep in the stroller from over-engorgement almost as soon as we were out the door. We then shopped heavily in the stores along Smedenstraat, as we are paranoid now about running out of some crucial food item on Sunday when everything is closed.

Sunday we took a picnic to the Speelplein in Astrid Park, but it was so cold we only stayed about an hour. No other children were there.

Posters are out everywhere for all the Christmas activities this place is gearing up for starting on November 23rd. There was even a band headed for an event in the Berg today, but we were too cold so we went on home.

Up from the depths

Are your eyes blinded by the glow from the glistening faucet and trash can?

We have been living a horrid last 24 hours. After Cyndi sent her very nice note to Christophe saying that we would be no longer be requiring the services of the maids, he sent her a return email saying that we would have to leave the house at the end of the month as he did not want people in here who were destroying the property that he had spent millions and millions on (possibly old Belgian Francs).
After a good cry by all, Cyndi put her best diplomat skills to work and got Christophe to agree to come to inspect the property. I have been channeling my inner Aunt Petunia (Harry Potter's Aunt) and polishing everything.
We also spent a lot of time looking for where we could move. 3rd floor walk-ups in Brussels? A delightful and expensive country house in Hoeke? Nothing was left in Brugge that was even available for short term rental that was not already rented for at least part of the Christmas holiday.
So today Christophe and Mom showed up. They were impressed by the glow and decided we could stay. Christophe said he was sorry about the email and Mom was remorseful for her part also. So all is OK, except for our having aged a few extra years physically and emotionally.
Jon and Bill have gone bike riding. The baby passed out asleep in his high chair and I think Cyndi is napping also. I am sipping Val's cure-all TheraFlu.
We are looking forward to hugs from our guests, the Bordens, who will arrive in 12 days.

Another Family Blogger

Leah has been using my Dell to blog and answer her emails. Axel wants to blog also.

The Farmer's Market

The quality and variety of the fruits and vegetables in the Farmer's Market is phenomenal.You can get a delicious roast kippen here, too. I got some beef steaks from the butcher lady and she threw in a gift of a blutwurst. Jon was thrilled and plans to cook it and give all a taste. Legal use of blood products by the cross-rider.

I want flowers for the window ledge like everyone else.

Last Night Pics

Axel shows off his Fast Magnetic TrainWhat else did we buy?

Leah got postcards of great art, including the Mona Lisa.

The Eiffel Tower