Friday AM we had to get a 5:30 AM cab to Dublin airport. And as I expected it was only 13 Euros, thus confirming that we got ripped off the night before.
This morning we were flying Aer Lingus. Now, the last thing you want to hear when you have woken up at 5 AM for a flight is that the flight is delayed, but yes that is what happened. So our 6:50 AM flight became an 8 AM flight. But don't worry, we were able to board at 7 and then sit on the tarmac with a full plane for 45 minutes. Good times.
Finally we arrived in Brussels. Paty took a cab directly to work, while I being the veteran of Brussels took the train to town and then walked to the hotel. There is something nice about travelling to a city that you know well. You don't have to find the hotel or figure out how to get from the airport to town or any of the normal stresses that come with travelling to a new city. It is nice to just know exactly where you are going.
This was my first time in Brussels since we moved to Galway. And one of the first things that struck me was that Brussels is that I really liked Brussels. Both Paty and I felt this way upon returning. It was really fun. And since it was the Christmas season, Brussels was all dressed up! And they had Christmas Markets:
Christmas Markets are a German thing. Every city in Europe seems to have at least one main square. In that main square all over Germany ever town sets up a Christmas market during December. The Christmas markets sell a lot of gifts and also have food. Also, they all sell the Gluwein. This is the hot mulled wine. It is not a delicacy or anything, it is just really good to have the hot wine when it is cold outside.
Part of this Christmas market is they had this very large inflatable lizard:
I think it was for the kids, they could go inside of it and it was a type of 'fun house'. This must be a Belgian tradition as the German markets most definitely do not have large inflatable lizards. Our hotel in the background. Interestingly enough, they built the hotel around an old Roman tower.
This is the view from our hotel room, next to the Saint Catherine's Cathedral and the Christmas market:
Friday night we stayed in Brussels. We were able to peruse the Christmas markets together and also we were able to revisit our favorite restaurant in Brussels, la canevra.
Brussels being Brussels, they had to add their own gourmet touch to the Christmas market idea:
Yes, that is an oyster stand in the first picture and below is a stand selling cured sausages. Other unique stands were a cheese stand and a foie gras stand. Both were very impressive if you like good food.
The Grand Place was also decorated, no Christmas Market but they had a nativity scene with real animals, a light show and a really large Christmas tree:
After dinner we partook of a couple (few) of the Belgian 'delicacies':
Saturday morning it was off to Antwerp and more Christmas markets!
This market is in the plaza outside the largest Gothic cathedral in the low countries. It was an impressive cathedral, here is picture of the vaulted ceiling from inside:
After the horrid weather we have been experiencing in Galway, Antwerp was a delight. We lucked out with an absolutely beautiful day. We decided to take advantage of this by killing some time at an outdoor cafe. I was able to wear only my Rugby shirt it was so nice:
I had never been to Antwerp before and was really impressed. All I knew about Antwerp was the diamond connection, but it is actually a really nice city. It is a lot like Brussels, but smaller. Kind of like a Brussels light. Except in Brussels they speak French, in Antwerp they speak Dutch or Flemish. But it is only 45 minutes on the train, so they are relatively close. We were told that a lot of Dutch came to Antwerp to shop, that was apparent with the number of people on the main shopping street:
Paty enjoying the Gluwein:
This market was a smaller one that was food and drinks only. They were open very late. And to keep you warm they employed these coal stoked fire pits:
Needless to say, they worked very well.
Saturday night was the Christmas party. It was really fun. Met at the lobby at 6:30 PM for drinks. Then off to the dinner portion. It was a five course dinner that was based around a cabaret style show. While the show left something to be desired, the food was good. What made the show better is it garnered a 7 out of 10 in the unintentional comedy scale. And we had the entire balcony all to ourselves. All the drinks, food and the Saturday night hotel room were paid for by the company. This was a little more extravagant than what I was used to at my former place of employment: 'here is your $25 gift certificate to Safeway, enjoy!'
I think I like the Euro Christmas party better.
Sunday we had to get back to Galway from Antwerp. Not exactly a hub to hub journey. First we caught a train to Brussels. Then switched trains in Brussels to Charleoi. We were flying Ryanair on this leg of the journey, of course they do not go to the regular Brussels airport, but the Charleoi airport. Forty minutes from Brussels to Charleoi, then a bus from downtown Charleoi to the airport took about 10 minutes. We flew from Charleoi to Shannon. In Shannon we were picked up by a car for the 60 minute drive home.
All in all it was a fun and busy weekend. Paty really enjoyed meeting up with her Benelux colleagues at the Christmas party.
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