Sunday 26 July 2020

Project 366 : Photo Diary weeks 29 + 30

As you may have noticed, I didn't post last week. That's because we'd headed off to Belgium on the train for our holidays. I'll probably be posting more about the places we went but here's a quick overview of our ten day trip.


Monday 13th July - Our dogsitter kindly dropped us off at the train station in La Panne, the train station just over the other side of the French border from Dunkirk. We had a few head-scratching moments as the train station didn't open until 11.30 and it was only 9am. As we didn't have a Belgian travel card, we couldn't use the original tickets we had planned, but we bought three ten-trip tickets in the machine (one adult and two children's, as the three kids could share). You just have to fill in the town of departure and arrival each time you travel for each person. This leaves us with enough trips for another Belgian adventure at some point in the future (it's valid for two years) and it wasn't that much more expensive that what we had originally planned. Our first destination : the capital city, Brussels ! After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we went to check out the Mannekenpis (who is smaller than I imagined !) and the main square, then popped into the Hard Rock Cafe for souvenirs.

 

Tuesday - Our first full day in Brussels. We headed to the Mannekenpis Museum, which displays all the different national costumes that this statue possesses, gifted by the different countries. As today was 14th July, the French national holiday (or Bastille Day, as British people call it), he was dressed up in the French costume, which made us laugh ! We had a good look at the Grotemark main square, did a museum, then some thrift stores and finally ate waffles. A pigeon pooped on my head, which had the kids in total hysterics ! lol

 

Wednesday - Our final day in Brussels and we got the tram to the Atomium, a huge atom-shaped construction that you can visit, going right up to the top (luckily in a lift). There are exhibitions, displays and viewing stations in each of the balls. This is the only time we've been so I can't compare, but there was absolutely no queue, despite a huge zig-zag queue marker like you get in theme parks. We had a joint ticket to visit Mini Europe, a model village featuring many top European landmarks, with lots of things for the kids to do, like pushing buttons to make music and sound effects start up or playing racing games, trying to be the quickest in a cycle race, for example. We finished off at the Design Museum (also included in the joint ticket). Heading back into Brussels, we went to Five Guys for dinner. Then slept. A lot !


Thursday - After packing our bags, we were back on the train to Antwerp (or Anvers in French, or Antwerpen in Dutch). Although Brussels is the capital, this is known as the biggest shopping town - it sounded like it was going to cost me a fortune, but I got away with a box of Dunkin Donuts to share back in our hotel room ! We were staying in a lovely hotel, just opposite the train station, in the Jewish district (posh jewellery shops and gold shops everywhere !). We had a wander around town then back to the hotel to chill.


Friday - Today was Pierre's birthday - eleven years old, where does the time go ?! - so we went for a trip to the zoo, which was literally 2 minutes from the hotel. As elsewhere, we felt totally safe in terms of Coronavirus as everyone was wearing a mask and was pretty much spaced out. There was a one way system in place and, if there started to be too many people in one area, we just went for a drink or an ice cream, then came back when it had calmed down. There were no crowds as you had to sign up for a time slot which vastly reduced the number of visitors. After having lunch at Pizza Hut, we headed off to see a mural that Sophie wanted to see, for a programme she's been watching called Scam.


Saturday - Our final day in Antwerp, so we used up our tram tickets, heading down to the bottom section of the town, below the main square, to check out the riverside promenade and the castle. We did some more shopping, bought some more Dunkin Donuts (sigh !) and ate in a local restaurant just opposite the cathedral. Lovely !


Sunday 19th July - We left Antwerp and Brussels, the two big towns that we had been visiting, to head to the quieter towns of Ghent and Brugges, where we had two-night instead of three-night stays planned. On arrival in Ghent, we had a long walk to our accommodation (the youth hostel, but the only people there were families and older people as far as I could see !) so we headed straight for lunch and some welcome drinks in a restaurant just opposite the castle. We looked around town and wandered up and down the canals, soaking up the atmosphere.


Monday - Our final full day in Ghent and, as breakfast was included at the youth hostel and we had to be downstairs to eat within our specified time slot (another Covid restriction, reducing the numbers of people in the big room at each time), we were at the castle just as it opened so managed to avoid having to reserve a time slot online. After a wander around town, we went on a boat trip on the canals. 


Tuesday - Our final destination - off to Brugges, a town that we had visited before, but only really for the Christmas market. Our last visit here was with Madhouse Daddy, so it seemed a little bit strange at times, but  the atmosphere was very different, as it's the summer season rather than all festive. We wandered around, letting ourselves get lost in the alleyways and canals, checking out the shops.


Wednesday - A lazy day, checking out the shops, spending some time in a nearby park and soaking up the atmosphere in the main town square. I wasn't really sure what we'd make of our trip, as it's a definite change to what was originally planned, but it worked well and the travel/hotel options were much easier than I had initially thought. The only things to think about with the coronavirus measures are making sure you have enough masks to wear (we had about twenty-odd for us four and regularly washed them but you could buy a box of disposable masks to take with you instead) and make sure you have internet/phone access to book timeslots for all the museums and attractions, otherwise you won't get in.


Thursday / Friday / Saturday - No photos for the end of the week, which involved shopping, washing and settling back into our normal routine !


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

31 comments:

  1. It sounds and looks like you had a good trip. You fitted so much in. I love all the photos.
    Happy birthday to Pierre! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reading it back, we did do a lot - I'm not surprised I'm worn out now ! lol

      Delete
  2. Thanks for your blog and all the pictures. I went to Brussels many years ago. I remember the chocolate shops! I like the look of those doughnuts. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The doughnuts AND the waffles were very tasty, but we didn't actually bother with the chocolate, as we can get it in Dunkirk anyway ! :) It was our first visit and I'm sure it's usually so much busier.

      Delete
  3. Happy belated birthday to Pierre! He looks so grown up in that photo, with reflections in the canal. Your trip sounds fun, lots of activities and tasty things. Those donuts look tasty. Last time I visited Brussels and Antwerp, I was a student at KIAD (Canterbury), and we did an art-related trip, visiting galleries and talking to the artists, so not much shopping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't believe primary school is now over for all of the Madhouse kids - eeek ! It was great to see Brussels and Antwerp but I'm sure we got a much less busy and toned-down experience to usual !

      Delete
  4. Oh wow! Belgium looks absolutely fantastic, I think this may make our list for our next adventure! I feel like we have been stuck at home for so long now :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely ! It felt so weird to be going to zoos and seeing famous landmarks and just acting "normal" ! The scary part is, as soon as we got back, they went back into stepping up all the safety measures because the rates of infection were rocketing again, including in the towns we visited :-/

      Delete
  5. It is a lot of masks, especially if you're not got proper washing/drying facilities. Glad to hear the booking slots worked ok. It's one of the things that put me off our camping trip this year - usually we'll see 2-3 places each day, but having to get slots, potentially a long way ahead, means you lose he day to day decisions. I'm a planner, but things take longer or less time when on holiday, so it's hard to plan so much. Glad it worked out a good holiday though, and happy birthday to Pierre

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The masks dried out overnight and I just washed them in the sink with soap. It would possibly have been more of a problem in winter, but it was hot luckily ! It's hard to see how we can ever get back to "normal" now ! :-/

      Delete
  6. glad you all had a good time. Have to say never thought to move hotels when on holiday but you get to see more.
    Shame about having to book but to be honest less crowded is right up my street

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was pleasantly surprised by how calm all the attractions were. As you say, that's the big plus side !

      Delete
  7. Sounds like you had a lovely time visiting Belgium and glad all worked out well with the coronavirus restrictions. I’ve never heard of the Mannekenpis before and his costumes so had to go and find out a bit more. Love that he has so many different costumes. Hope Pierre had a lovely birthday and enjoyed the trip to the Zoo. Visiting Brugges must have been quite bittersweet given that you last visited there with Madhouse Daddy – hope that it helped that it was a different time of year and that the memories were all happy ones. #project366

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was nice (but also a little bit sad) to remember all the times we'd been to Brugges with Madhouse Daddy. Time to make new memories though :)

      Delete
  8. Happy Birthday Pierre, looks like you had an amazing time in Belgium. The Atomium looks really interesting and I would love to visit Antwerp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Belgium is so close to us, I can't believe we've never done this trip before !

      Delete
  9. I have never seen such cute donuts before! I want to try them. Looks like you had an amazing holiday! So many fab sights and those waffles, oh my! I so would love to try them too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Donuts, waffles and chips ... what's not to like about Belgian food ?!! lol

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ooh this looks like a wonderful trip! Beautiful sights, fab food and time together as a family: perfect. #project366

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're totally right - who needs an exotic location?! The only thing I was missed was not having to think about food and drink, the big advantage of an all-inclusive break :)

      Delete
  12. I am so glad you had the best time... even with a pigeon pooping on your head... seriously, what are the chances?! Isn't that supposed to be lucky though?
    In all fairness you lost me with the train tickets... I am no good with trains at all, I would have been flapping lots but how lovely that your dog sitter dropped you off at the station, takes the pressure off a little! Fab pics and lots of smiles... even behind the masks! Hope Pierre had an awesome birthday! Hope you are all having a lovely week! Sim x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did say that it was supposed to be lucky to have a pigeon poop on your head ... but everyone was too busy falling on the floor laughing to actually listen to me ! lol.

      Delete
  13. Interesting information about the tickets. I didn't know that. Cute to dress the statue on special days. A bird pooped on my head once too, very gross and I was also laughed at. The statue of the boy and dog looks amazing!The mural looks amazing.
    Looks like you had a wonderful trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww sorry to hear you got pooped on too ! lol

      Delete
  14. Oh how lovely. We have visited Brussels but not the other cities so much to see and do. Looks like you had a great time and I hope Pierre had a lovely birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well done on fitting all that in. I've been to all those places, but it was years ago in my early 20s so it brought back happy memories seeing your pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so close to where we live, I can't believe we've never done it before !

      Delete
  16. Sounds like a lovely trip and great to revisit places you'd been with Madhouse Daddy. I've only driven through Belgium, other than one night in Bruge. The train ticket situation sounds a bit complicated, but glad you worked it out. Some lovely memories for you all

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's lovely to hear the kids mentioning things they remember about their dad - usually things I'd never even noticed at the time ! lol

      Delete
  17. Wow! You saw so many wonderful sights! Life should be full of adventures like these but I must confess that I can do without transport mix ups as part of mine!
    Belated happy birthday, Pierre.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad we managed to do something special in the summer - and made it home before it got too tricky !

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...