Monday April 6
Finally the day is here. On trip blogs I better include the date. I never know when I can post something. Yes, and now I better hurry up before my eyes can't stay open any longer.
We had our friend Dariush ask in church whether he wanted to be our driver. He drives for Uber and Link and he certainly wanted to do it. We had scheduled him for 7 am and given him a gate card to swip it for easy entry. He was very punktual and we were ready. Sarah and Wade had recently flown and said it was way to early but traffic can be quite unpredictable and news about Flughavens in the US were very unfavorable. Oh, the politics. Datiush came even a bit earlier and gave us the gate card back because I like to have them if it happens like at our very last trip where we didn't catch the last flight. That time we really lucked out because since it was the airlines fast that took good care of us and brought us from Washington D.C. home all the way with a driver.
When we were at the gate and everything totally ok we finally could relax and decided to have some breakfast. We didn't wanted much but we certainly didn't make a good choice. It was very grease and I lost my appetite.
There was some commotion at the gate because a gate person was talking to some ladies that there was a program with an IT program. Our flight was not even listed in their computers as happening. But it all got sorted out. Yes, waiting.
And finally seated about 10:50 am leaving Richmond for Chicago. I like having a window seat because I find everything so interested.
This picture, glimps of Chicago taken 11:49 AM. Hard to do the math when flying because we changed timezones frequently.
We had a very large layover there and debated about what to do but came quickly to the conclusion to see whether we can buy one of those want-time tickets. Yes we could and taked about it afterwards that it had been so worth it. Food and drinks were now free and lots of other amenities (and concidering the awful breakfast for a price not to mention...)
They even had alcohol-free beer.
And we played our card game.
It was getting dark when we boarded the next flight and I took a lot of photos of a strange cloud formation and stranger light.
Our seats were excellent (bulk head). I watched one movie and tried another which was not my taste. Mainly we both like to follow the flight, get statistics and see the map.
The food and service was so-so, but they had a medical emergency. No blame then. Doesn't do any good.
Tuesday April 7
Not much sleep, I never do even with ta good seat but the sun in the morning was different. Bloodred and seem to come out of the water and dip back done again several time. Impossible to take a good photo because spiegelungen from the cabin.
Soon after view onto Belgium and Brussels were interesting too.
We were pretty much on time and all seem good but then we stood in line for more than 2 hours for the passport control. Oh how James and I wished that England was still in the EU because there was no line. Anyway, it was quite awful. At our age the standing still for so long is agony. Walking we can do easier. It was a relieve when it was finally over and the actual passport part didn't take even 3 minutes for us.
Our suitcases were already on the carousel and we asked at the information desk how to get tickets for the train and were to go for that etc. Information was quick and easy. The tickets for both of us were $27 we got out of a machine. We went down to platform 1 and had to wait only for 11 minutes. Everywhere we found friendly people who gave us information and were happy to chat.
The luggage was a bit awkward but again a young man moved to give us space. It must have been a speedy train because it stopped only two times in-between and it only took about 30 minutes and we were in Antwerp Central.
I took only a few pictures but it was so interesting. Would have liked to know what that tower was?
And many houses, even obviously older ones, had solar panels on the roof.
The train ended here which was nice because we didn't feel to hurried with the luggage.
The Station was a gorgeous building. There was also a tourist information which gave us information/options how to get to the hotel.
We opted for walking. It was less than a mile. The weather was lovely, it was short before 1 pm and we were tempted to stop for some refreshment. Yes, alcohol free!
We checked into our Hotel Hilton Antwerp Old Towne. It is in the perfect place. We enjoyed Antwerp after a shower and some clothes changes.
Most photos are probably self-explanatory. This of course got my attention. Antwerp's last and only lace shop seems to be closing. The lady inside (owner, I am sure) told me that there are not enough lacemakers to make the lace for selling. Her inventory was incredibly marked down and I bought 3 little pieces which ended up to almost not being enough for a credit card because I didn't have my cash Euros with me yet.
This mannequin in front of the shop was saying "I am not making lace any longer and selling everything marked down".
Gone back to the hotel to rest and played cards in the lobby. After two nights with not much sleep I was very tired but it was just to early to "call it a night".
We decided to go out once again. May be a soup or salad?
The Australian icecream shop is across from the hotel. We could not go passed. It was not even 8 pm.
I started writing on this blog and it went pretty well. But ... night night ....
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