Tale Seven

                          The Bridges of Brugges

     I was awakened by a terrible alarm-like whistling sound in the room. In near panic at
the early hour, I contemplated evacuation of the room. Was there any sign of activity outside
the room or the hotel? (There did not appear to be!) Shall I get dressed or what? (Several
unsuccessful attempts were made to ring reception - no luck- disgusting!).

     After pushing one of the buttons on the radio (a silly piece of electronics with neither
English nor French annotation to the controls! [Maybe it was Flemish or Chinese - but it was
unhelpful]) the noise and near-panic were over. Some previous occupant had left it in this
user-hostile configuration!! I was then convinced that this was a very local problem (my room
only) and that there was no danger or need for alarm.

     However, getting back to sleep after partial recovery from this panic was no easy
matter!!  In the morning at breakfast, I shared the table with a couple who had been
associated with GEC Avionics (a major contractor that I had dealt with in the past). They,
too, had dealt with the Nimrod side of things, but I recognised neither their names nor faces.
We all had extra coffee with our 'English' breakfast - and I normally avoid 'English' breakfasts
on health grounds!!

     In Gent, I spent some of the morning walking about 'doing my own thing' with a map
obtained from Pat, the courier/co-driver, - and taking photos ( so that I could relive the
memories in the comfort of my own home). Not that it was uncomfortable here! It was lovely
and cool (as befits Northern Europe in Winter!), with interesting buildings and places to see,
excellent Flemish Waffles to eat. First time that I've had 'wafels', as mildly distinct from the
'gauffres' from French-speaking Belgium!

     We departed 'Gent' at 13.00hrs (now 22 February '96) and travelled to Antwerp on our
coach. There, I also did a D.I.Y. walkabout (as is my 'way') and thereafter went on the
'included' visit to the Diamond Factory and their presentation.

     Whilst walking 'mapless' I was caught in a delightful snowstorm in the city. I 
explored interesting sights, buildings, squares, statues. Great. A nice feeling of freedom. One
building, labelled the Middenstatie looked an imposing, interesting building - and my eyes
fed on this a lot. I even photographed it as the 'Telegraph Office' which it appeared to be
from the signs at its corner. "Quite a building for a 'Mid-State' telegraph office", I thought.
More like a Stately Home!!!

     However,  on attempting to enter this magnificent edifice from another side when
returning from one of my walks, it seemed 'too easy', just following plenty of others.  Into
the foyer we went, up some magnificent stairways - right to the entrance to whatever lay
beyond. Surprise! Surprise!!! It's a railway station....Quite a place! A place of striking beauty.
'Middenstatie', in another language, is "Centraal Station", or more specifically, "Antwerpse
Bowwergken Station", an architectural gem both before and after reconstruction.

     I covered many roads, streets etc in Gent - each one attractive in its own way. None
were more seductive than 'Belgrado Straat'. That reminded me of the 'Place Rogier' area of
Brussels in the 'seventies' before that area was redeveloped. In other words, it was an area of
a Continental town or city with 'girls in windows' - making quite an interesting sight. I still
can't understand why the areas with these girls are called 'red-light-districts' when all
illuminations are "blue-to-ultraviolet"!! All continental families [husband, wife & children]
walk around freely, looking together, quite unashamedly, just like the English would look at
ice-cream and gift-shops in an English sea-side resort.

     After a good meal at the Holiday Inn in Gent, I then returned to this street in the
evening - having memorised the town from the previous visit. It was even more interesting,
then, as the girls were hunting in pairs from the safety of their side of their windows. My
whole evening walk-about of Gent was done in a snowing environment, sometimes appearing
just in flurries, - sometimes in a 'fair' storm. Great !! What an atmosphere!

     It was on my return to the coach that I got into conversation with Winsome - and
learned her name. She can remember mine easily - as Roy is her brother's name!

     The following day saw us visiting many towns. The first was Bruges [apologies for
the variation in the spelling of Belgian place-names; they varied with the signpost,
advertisement etc, etc - presumably due to the respective influences of the English, French,
Flemish and Germans!!] Brugges is called the "Venice of the North" so I was prepared to
take, and buy, a number of photographs. First though, I bought a very useful map in a sort
of Visitor Information place in a belfry near the centre (I found out later!) of town. This
would be useful for navigating around town on foot, choosing optimum and interesting routes.

     On the walk from the coach to this belfry, I hadn't seen any canals (a "curious sort of
Venice", I thought). However, on studying the layout of the town in this map, it became
obvious where the canals are - and what would be the best way to walk.

     I, thus, made a mental instantaneous note of the preferred route around Brugges to suit
my personal preferences. My preferred walk would mean that as much of the time and
distance as possible would be spent near canals  - together with samples of parks and unusual
buildings. 

     If you can refer to a map of Brugges, I decided to walk from the Tourist Office 
(Visitor Information Centre) across the canal bridge to the area of the Fish Market and then
follow the canal to the North. I followed the canal-bank, its interesting bridges, snow-covered
streets etc and then came across some girls making, not only snowmen, but snow-dogs, snow-
cats and snow-ducks!!  They gathered snow from distant drifts and placed it near the wall (on
their bridge) to expand their 'display'. It was all very informal and laid-back. They were just
young girls enjoying themselves - as the photo shows.


     I, later, crossed the canal and joined Hoog Straat before rejoining the canal. The roads
and paths were not too tricky to walk upon, just a little care being necessary. After a while
along Predikherenrei, I turned right across the bridge to Schaar Straat, a narrow old-fashioned
road, to get to a Park that I had selected.

     This was the Keningin Astrid Park with it's snow-covered grass-areas, easily walkable
paths and a very attractive bandstand painted in cheerful colours.


     Exitting from the opposite end of the park, I progressed via even narrower old-
fashioned streets towards the canals again - including closer views of the fish-market, now
being used by a small number of traders and customers.

     After these interesting walks, the special features of Belgian arts continued ,- for
example - the 'Lace' shops and their attractive architecture ( which involves looking OVER
the buildings for their gables and other designs high up.

     Before the arrival back at the canal, I lingered to get the feel of life around the ancient
fish-market and take a photo or two. (N.B It's only the market which is ancient - the fish
smells VERY fresh!!)  Thereafter, I took a different route (aided by my map) back to the
coach's expected arrival and collection point on the edge of a very large square with its
intriguing statues.

     We left here at 1pm , heading for Ostende for more walks, photos and exploration.
The SNOW disappeared somewhere between Brugges and Ostende so the walking was very
easy there. The rapid exploration lasted from 1pm until 4.30pm, covering a vast amount of
streets in the time with minimal distraction for food (which was taken 'on the trot').

     It didn't really look like a 'docks&harbour' town, just like some East Coast seaside
resorts in the UK!! Quite a pleasant walk, nevertheless. Then we had to leave this attractive
City with its Cathedral (which I photographed from a number of different angles), cross the
French border, make the obligatory stop at the "Duty Free" place outside Calais (for the
nicotine  and alcohol addicts, on board, to refresh their stocks - but a waste of time for some
of us!!).

     Thereafter, we headed for Le Shuttle to England ( a Country 'behind' in its
administration of this engineering masterpiece). In mid-tunnel, we hit 140kph, - it informed
us via the Public Address System. On no other shuttle-crossing, that I've made since, has the
speed been given to the passengers.

     Back on English soil we could now indulge in British 'cockups' (for example, with
'cases' at Reading station!!) - but the subsequent coach, an 'interfeeder' from Wiltshire to
Worcester, dropped me personally at the hotel there (as we were quite a bit behind time now).
So, a little after midnight (well, 12.50 a.m.) I went into the Osbourne House Hotel for a short
overnight stop, chatting with the owner, Rick, before turning-in.

     In the morning, I enjoyed a longer chat with Rick, and his wife, Josie, before catching
the train to Malvern. Belgium had provided us with "quite a nice 'break'" at this time of year.