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May 24, 2018

   The temperature was 14 ° C some wind and the sky had thin cloud.  We have learned in the four days in Belgium that you need to be prepared for all kinds of weather.  Each day we decide what to wear in the morning and have umbrellas and sunglasses ready.  By afternoon the weather can change.  We had at least a rain shower at some point every day.    We checked out of the hotel by 9:30 walked to the train station and bought a ticket for the 9:49 train to the airport, the backs of the seats had pulldown trays, like planes. The train was just a single level train. The signs for destinations are in Flemish (Dutch) and French but a few destination announcements are in English. We had reached the airport at 10:11.  We took the escalators up 4 flights and checked in to Brussels Airlines over four hours in advance with no problem.  Security was quick and we were into the departure area by 10:35, just...
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May 23, 2018

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   Today the forecast was for rain 2  l  /m 2 which on another website translated to about 3 mm of rain. The streets were wet when we woke up and still damp when we walked to Brussels Centrum for our day of sightseeing in historic old Brussels. The temperature was 14 ° C, the sky was cloudy and there was some wind.  We left the hats at the hotel and wore raincoats and rain pants over our shorts.      The walk to the Grand Market or Grande Place was just a few minutes longer than walking to the train station. The square is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The magnificent buildings surrounding the square, their gold leaf trim, sparkling when the sun shines, date from 1695 to the early 1700s. These buildings were the guildhalls for the trades and professions of the middle ages.  The king built a palace here, Maison Roi, just for entertaining the influential merchants and counts. The Bread Market had occupied that site f...
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