Monday, January 29, 2007

Day Two - Belgie

We wandered today ... through het Steen, along streets dotted with small boutiques full of end of sale season specials, into het Elfde Gebod for a hearty lunch and later, a German Kaffeehaus for good coffee to sustain us.

Gert whipped up a fish dish and tonight is all about 'what happened to Joe?' on an unnamed British drama.

A good day ... if one doesn't mention the horror and laughter that followed the tram door closing unexpectedly, leaving Yakup to run after us as fast as he could.

Lisen and I climbed out at the next stop, just a few hundred metres down the track and waited ... just typing this has me giggling again.

And there was the problem with the 10-ride tram and bus ticket ... you can't put it in twice for 2 people dammit. I wandered off to confirm it was true and paid for a new single ride ticket ... wisely because close to the city the ticket inspectors boarded the tram and one really doesn't want to be caught in an unticketed state.

A good day ... really!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Closing tram doors? I think trams don't like you that much, you always experience new and never before happened things with those machines. Have fun tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

You know Di, we keep on wandering along the same streets. I walked through the Steen today, along "streets dotted with small boutiques full of end of sale season specials ;-) - and obviously, het Elfde Gebod is on my way to the Hilton Shopping Center. One day we will meet, and I will make sure to say hello :-)

Anonymous said...

They are darling!! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time!! That is great!!( That is Lissen in the picture??

Di Mackey said...

Good morning manic ... trams are tricky beasts. I think the problem is surely more them than me ;)

When I'm wandering so close to your place, I do wonder if that guy or this guy is you but I'm not sure I would recognise you ... you mysterious creature :) So I'm relying on you for the hello.

Yes ml, that's Lisen :) We had a lovely day yesterday ... my guiding is improving all the time, so you and Al will enjoy the new shops I've found when you're next here.

Anonymous said...

About the 10-ride tram ticket: I once saw a woman repeatedly punch one of those buttons on the machine (1 etc), those were originally intended for traveling through several "bus zones", but are irrelevant on an Antwerp tram. She put in her card twice, each time pushing "1". It seemed to do the trick.

BTW: although I saw a very clear face shot of you on Expedia, I do realize that I remain rather "visually mysterious", which has been a deliberate decision. I've heard stories of people who were recently denied entry visas in the USA, probably partly based on their very critical blog posts.

But you can rely on me to say hello when we should meet, as I'm quite familiar with the face of your husband, and yours as well ;)

Di Mackey said...

Do you know Peter, today we went on the tram and I could click the ticket twice ... it was a new tram but perhaps it's just about perseverance.

And as for the rest, I look forward to the day we finally 'bump' into each other in the street. Introduce yourself to Gert if you meet him ... he's round your area more often and he knows of you and will know you if you stop him to say hi :)

Anonymous said...

You know, meeting someone by accident in the street can be a tricky thing. A couple of weeks ago I bumped into Patrick, Antwerp's mayor, on his way to city hall. The very first time in many years. I would have missed him if I had first checked my mailbox on my way out.

But I do know Gert's face (at least, if he did not change too much after appearing on some local election posters) and I'm pretty sure I would notice you passing by.

If you don't mind, I can always mail you a clearer face shot - but anyway, I'm sure we'll meet one day, just to say "hi" :-)

Di Mackey said...

Hi Peter, of course I don't mind if you email me a clearer image of you.

I just checked my 'email me' function here and noticed it goes to gmail - so I guess it only works if you have an account to sign into - I hope you do.

Talk to you one day ... :)