May 20, 2018

    We were up early to catch a ride from the ship to Dublin airport to fly to Brussels, Belgium.  There was a bit of light rain, temperature was 16°C and just a bit of wind.

   The van took the route with the 3.5 mile tunnel from the port to the airport in about 20 minutes. We were dropped off at Terminal 1 to catch the Ryanair (discount airline) flight.  We needed to wait to drop off our luggage, since that can only be done three hours ahead for our 10:30 flight.  We just needed to get baggage tags, as we had checked in on board the ship yesterday. With the luggage dropped off, it took less than 10 minutes to go through the security line. There are added fees with Ryanair.  Fees for regular luggage; fees to take a carryon case or computer case; fees to choose your seat and, if you do not, the system assigns seats not together for tickets booked together; fees for food or beverages on under two hour flights.  There is no TV/audio system and the seat backs do not move, but for a short flight the lack of airline audio video or non-adjustable seats is tolerable. The plane was a Boeing 787-800 with 198 Economy seats.  We will see how Brussels Airlines compares in a few days when we fly to Venice.

   We had found our gate within 45 minutes of entering the airport, then walked around the terminal to the four different gate sections. We were surprised to see several WestJet planes at gates. Some flights had passengers bussed from the building to plane or sent down a staircase to ground level to exit and then walk 50 meters to the plane and climb stairs at the front or back of the plane to find the seats.   By 9 a.m. we had registered 3.66 km.  We found seats at Soho Coffee, ordered coffee and posted photos for the past five days.  Where it was taking nearly nine minutes to post one photo on the satellite wi-fi on the ship, in that time on the Dublin airport, wi-fi 53 photos were posted.  

   When our flight was called it had been delayed 20 minutes, we had priority boarding somehow and got to use the shorter line for boarding the plane.   I left my book that I had just started in the waiting room and didn’t realize it until I was on the plane.  It was a second hand bookstore find that I can get from the library at home.  We will be busy for the next eight days and there are only two sea days on the next 10 day cruise, so I may not have time for reading.

   We needed to advance our watches an hour to be on Belgium time which is the same as time in Italy, so there will not be a time change for more than two weeks. 

   We went through Belgian Customs quickly and collected our backpacks, found the ticket office to buy a train ticket for Central Brussels station.  We were on the train 45 minutes after we had landed. The train ride was less than 30 minutes long.  Brussels was 21°C, with a gentle breeze and mainly sunny as we walked to our hotel only a 15 minute walk from the train station. We were in our room by 3 pm and unpacked quickly so that we could explore the Royal Quartier of Brussels. The rumble of the trams is noticeable as they pass on the street below.

   Close by is the Congress Column which 25 meters high topped by a statue of King Leopold I who was the first Belgian king.  It commemorates the 1830 National Congress that was established after Belgium’s fight for independence from the Netherlands. After World War I, the tomb of an unknown soldier was interred at the base of the column.  We continued to St. Michael and St. Gudula’s Cathedral which was started in the 13^thcentury but took 300 years to build. The site was where St. Michael’s chapel existed in the 9^thcentury. It was not until 1962 that the building officially became a cathedral.  We entered the large church with its beautiful stained glass windows and modern pipe organ. It also has a huge older pipe organ. Next, we walked to find a large park and the Royal Palace where the Belgian king lives.  On the way we found another church – St. Jacques sur Coudenberg Church which is officially part of the Diocese to the Armed Forces of Belgium. In front of it is a column topped by King Leopold I who became the first king of Belgium on July 21, 1831 when he took his oath.  We found Brussels Park where people were enjoying the sunny weather and walked toward the Royal Palace.  This area has many museums and art galleries. We took a photo of the Museum of Musical Instruments.  It is an odd building with “Old England” in metal attached to its upper floors.  We heard the bells of another church as they were played for almost 10 minutes as the time approached 6 p.m.  Across the street is a park with lots of statues surrounding it.  Nearby is a fountain featuring the Statue of Egmont Hoorn, who was a prominent citizen in the mid 1500s.  His former mansion is up the hill and under restoration.  We decided to walk a few more streets to the Palace of Justice, also surrounded by scaffolding.  It has a commanding view of Brussels.  It was time to find something to eat as we had breakfast about 6 a.m. and did not eat on the plane.  We saw a building with orange awnings for the restaurant and bar “Le Perroquet”.  It’s menu had salads and pita sandwiches and hamburgers to go with four kinds of Belgian beer.  It had tables inside and outside and got very busy while we ate our dinner.  As we walked back to the hotel, we passed a street corner where a restaurant called “vente d’éte” which has huge toy windmills on its upper floors.  We passed the Central train station, that looked more like a department store.

    Once back at the hotel, we checked the pedometer which said we had walked 22,801 steps equaling 16.97 kilometers.

Distance today 16.97 kilometers.