Saturday, October 28, 2006

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Not quite but it was a day of travel ...

I caught the train to Brussels, the metro to Stokel and the tram to Tervuren Park.
A humbling experience ... there's nothing quite like asking a fellow passenger on the metro where to punch your 10 ride ticket and discovering that no, you click it on the way in.

Do you know how mean ticket inspectors are in Belgium?
Had I been found lacking a clicked ticket, they would have quite possibly brought on the foreign tram police ... a big fine and much humiliation.

I sat very quietly waiting for Stockel and once there I resisted the temptation to explain why I was punching in my metro card after asking directions to the Tervuren tram ... that is, after clearing the metro area.

I looked like a crazy foreigner when in actuality I was merely a slightly ditzy foreigner.

I was out taking photographs in Tervuren Park today, with stunning results.
It's not that I'm not humble but the family I photographed were purely delightful and you can see it in the results.

I'm sorry but my word will have to be taken on this. I can't post anything until I get their permission and even then, they are completely free to say no ...

Tot ziens.

3 comments:

Sal DeTraglia said...

You've shamed me into opening my own bottle of red wine. Not Australian (too hard to find here; not to mention comparatively expensive), but Spanish.

BTW...you wander more in one week than I do in a year.

Sal

Anonymous said...

Although public transport is well run and organized in Belgium, most operators assume that you 'know the rules' (ie: in Antwerp you punch your ticket on the metro/tram, in Brussels on the way into the subway). Unfortunately, there are no 'how to' information panels, not even in Dutch. With many tourists speaking only English, this issue should be addressed.

Glad you made some stunning pics, Tervuren Park is a great piece of Belgian colonial heritage - I've been there quite often.

Di Mackey said...

Shamed ... how can there be any shame attached to opening a bottle of red.

Shame on you for putting the thought out there ;)

Hmm, the Australian reds aren't too badly priced here. That one was more expensive at almost 6euro but it was an old friend, a McGuigans Shiraz.

Lol, it was a busy week but you know what, I'm happiest wandering.

Oh Peter, I was mortified. So I didn't click the ticket pre-tram ride, then walked past the clicker at the exit gate ... asked for directions to the entrance to Tervuren (which I failed to follow just btw), then remembered the unclicked ticket and turned back and clicked it.

I looked idiotic and knew it ... surely the worst kind of idiotic.

But yes, I do enjoy public transport in Belgium ... you can get pretty much anywhere and for a decent price.

I hope to get permission to post a couple of my favourite photographs. They were the loveliest family and Tervuren is looking superb at the moment.