First Impressions

It wasn't too early a start for the airport on our way to Belgium which is always nice. (The airport is a former military airstrip, the spot Elvis landed en route to Germany and also a spot where Hal landed and took some photos that Nana had brought with her.) Traffic and timing worked well and with Nana limping as best she could we hopped on the bargain airliner (we only paid about $175 for all four of us to fly!) ahead of the masses and saved some seats for the boys. With the bargain airlines, all the food and drink aboard is highly priced so we had planned ahead (travel tip!) and packed a lunch.

Arrival was a breeze in Belgium (no yelling immigrations officers or anything) and we were swiftly on the road in the rental car toward Brugge. We had vetoed a stop in Brussels since it would put us into heavy Friday afternoon traffic on the way to Brugge afterwards and instead went straight to Adventure #1 at a big supermarket where I hoped to get provisions and some things like nice bread and cheese we can't get in Scotland.

All was going well, although it was not one of the really nice French style supermarkets I had anticipated, until Scott and Frank went in search of the restrooms. While Scott was prepared to encounter some soccer hooligans at upcoming soccer matches, he never thought he'd meet one in the toilet! Apparently, this guy, hearing Frank and Scott speak English, started up about English premiere league football teams and starting picking a fight. When Scott finally said he didn't understand him, he was from the states, this guy started in on American politics. The harassing continued and as Scott was leaving, the guy just headbutted Scott! Unreal.

Thankfully both our boys kept their cool and walked away from what could have been an escalating situation. But you can imagine that the adrenaline was pumping, and fear, uncertainty and discomfort were rising. As well as not wanting to alarm anyone at home, we sure didn't want it to cloud the home trip either. Frank, Nana and I have always felt so safe in Brugge, and really in Europe altogether. We hated for this to be Scott's introduction to a magical place. So we prayed, we processed a bit, and fortunately, the rest of the trip was wonderful.

That evening, after a bit of trouble finding an ATM, a payphone, and the holiday house and getting in touch with our landlady (here it must be said that we had a wonderful encounter with another local who was helpful and friendly and a great representative of Brugge) we finally managed all our tasks and settled into a great location where we cooked a great dinner. Keeping to our itinerary, we did manage a nighttime walk through the streets of Brugge and it began to weave a little spell on Scott too. The canals, the squares, the quaint cobbled streets, and the lights were dazzling. As Scott said, each little step is a new photo op.

That night we cranked up the heat, piled on the blankets, and dozed happily. Nana was in the top floor (her skullery as she called it) Becky and Frank were on the 3rd floor which also had the bathroom and WC and Scott stayed on the 2nd floor in the living/kitchen room. We were all connected by an endless spiral staircase. I'm sure we dreamed of stairs and Belgian waffles...