Belgium

Some final postscripts from previous entries: My plane ride was mqde even more exciting by the sick woman seated across the aisle from me. Every few minutes, she was wretching or everything was being moved so it could be cleaned up. Then either me or the old man next to me kept pressing the call button. Then when I actually needed someone, they stopped coming. Not much sleep on the plane, but I did watch the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. And Nickie, I thought of you because there was an earth from the air display along the Thames.

We are sitting in a rather dodgy internet cafe. The keyboard is of a messed up European variety with keys in the wrong places. Particularly problematic are A W and M. Please forgive any mistakes. I amtyping less than half my usual speed. It is horrible.

Our journey through the chunnel brought us into France where all the villages on the horizon proudly cluster around a church spire amid the rolling green agriculture. So technically, I have now been in France.

In Brussells, we stayed the Vincent Van Gogh hostel. I highly recommend it. Good value for the money. The famous painter spent a year working in the main building. Once again, our roommates were asleep early, leaving me fumbling in the dark.

The city is a lot more relaxed than London. We spent our days wandering around the old city. A beautiful Gothic cathedral was hosting an organ recital. As an organist rehearsed, we wandered around. I lit a candle and prayed for my family back home and wondered if any of my Belgian ancestors had ever stopped to pray in this church. In the base,ent, we were able to see what remains of the Romanesqe church that once stood there. Another Belgian highlight is the Grand Place, lauded by Victor Hugo as the greatest square in the world. Buildings hundreds of years old cluster in a square.

This keyboard is driving me crazy. Hopefully I will be better at using it tomorrow. We are going to Antwerp today. I cannot use contractions because I do not know where the apostrophe is.