Europe 2023 - Day 9 - Our Second Day in Paris

It was our first full day in Paris and our hotel is about a kilometer away from the Eiffel Tower so we headed in that direction first. Our destination was actually the Arc De Triumph but we had to get a few shots of the tower first. It's a very nice tower. Nicely designed. Very tall. Stands out against the rest of the city. The areas leading up to it from our direction were not very clean. Certainly not as clean as areas in England. We'll get a better look at it later in the day.

We attempted to have a nice breakfast at a French café but were initially frightened away by prices and waiters wearing aprons. We felt we weren't worthy of these fancy cafe's. We ended up at something a bit lower key and had chocolate croissants and a lemon tart. We'll need to do some more exploring before we figure out what style café is for us. I did notice that most of the cafe's have their seating in tables for two with the chairs beside each other looking out towards the street. Not sure how I feel about this yet.

We made it to the Arc de Triomph. Luckily Callie knew in advance that there were stairs leading under the street. It would have become apparent to us anyway because there was way too much traffic coming and going to expect tourists to make it across over the street. We made it onto the other side and sorted out how our tickets worked. I initially didn't understand what they were for. I just thought it was a big arch. Turns out there are stairs leading up and down each side.

The stairs were very windy and take you up 284 steps to an area on the interior that has a gift shop, a lobby like area, as well as a bathroom. It even has WIFI. The arc was started by Napoleon but wasn't finished until several years after his death. It originally represented victory for the armies but has evolved to represent the tomb of the unknown soldier for Paris. The view from the top is amazing and it's interesting to see how so many streets radiate out with the Arc as the center. We also met up with Melissa while we were there even though we had intended to meet her later in the day.

From the Arc we walked down the Champs-Elysees. (Add a few random accents in there. My keyboard is in English mode right now.) We saw a number of yellow bike groups touring around town. Same brand but with different helmets at times. My guess is they were advertising the yellow bike company because everyone had the exact same bike which you wouldn't expect from a smaller club. The real teams are doing the actual tour right now. It ends on the 23rd which is after we leave. Probably for the best. I imagine it would have made our stay a lot more expensive.

After lunch at Five Guys (traditional French food I hear) we headed back to the Eiffel Tower. Kerry, Melissa, and Ethan had tickets to take the elevator to the second floor. It had already been messed up by the fireworks before because it was scheduled at 8:00a but was moved to 1:00p because the tower was closed. We dropped them off and it took them almost 3 hours in the rain to make their way onto the elevator. The tour company hadn't pre-purchased tickets so they had to stand in the slow line. They eventually made it. The rest of us had gone back to our hotel to wait.

After their elevator ride up the tower, we separated families again and we attempted to make it to the Musee D'Orsay. It was about a 40 minute walk that we thought we could make but were delayed a few times and ended up getting there at 5:15p. It didn't actually close until 6:00p but they stopped letting people in at 5:00p. We would still have time the following day to try again. This was on our museum pass that we got from my brother so we made plans to go back the next day.

Our next destination was to get to a book store Callie had wanted to go to. It was another 30 minutes from our hotel. We hit the 30,000 step mark again with walking. The bookstore was very neat. The first floor had books you could buy and the second had older books for reading. There was a line up to get in, but once you were in you could technically stay as long as you wanted. There was a no photo taking rule which I think disappoints the Instagrammers. The store itself is very old with timber frame construction. Callie picked up a few more specialty books for her collection.

At this point we caved and grabbed a taxi. We had to get back to the Eiffel Tower for our 8:00p tickets to walk up and we still had to have dinner. We had dinner at another Italian place. I'm sure there are millions of options for food in Paris but we found many menus seemed the same and there was some big differences in prices at places. Our food was still good. Our walk up was uneventful, with us getting through security, walking up and back down in less than an hour. View was great. Stairs weren't that hard or scary.

We finished our day avoiding getting scammed by street vendors. I did get asked to fill out a petition. Bart Schwab however, was unable to make a donation so they quickly went on to their next mark. I found it funny that they started by asking for people that speak English. I think it was so they could then quickly tell you the name of the group benefiting from the charity in French to make it sound official. Carter wanted to by a souvenir from one of the bed sheet sidewalk vendors but I said the 3 for 1 Euro was likely just a way to get you talking. He donated to the street dog instead.

Europe 2023 - Day 8 - Travel to Paris

It was our last day in Amsterdam and our train didn't leave until 3:11p so I got up early and rented a bike from our hotel. $9 Euro for 3 hours was a good price for the convenience of walking out of our hotel and hopping on a bike. It took a bit to get used to the single gear. There were actually two gears but it was geared much tougher than I'm used to so I kept it in first gear most of the time. The bike also had pedal backwards braking which I haven't had since I had a BMX when I was 10. Travel was easy until about 8:00a when bike rush hour really got going. I didn't have a destination and just drove really far and then came back.

I did have one destination for my ride. I wanted to find the 3D printed bridge. It was made by robotic welders and it was much lighter weight then I was expecting. Where there was structure it was hollow. They 3D printed it off site and then had it lifted into place. It looks somewhat temporary so I'm not sure if they move it around or not. It's sitting on top of the two sides of the canal. This was an early version of 3D printing with steel and I think they've advanced since this. Pretty amazing that they can do this sort of thing with metal. 

After my morning ride we got packed, checked our bags with the front desk and then started walking towards breakfast. I stopped by the local hardware store. Most of the businesses in the area we are in are not big box in any way. They are local businesses with just the things that locals need. The hardware had an old style feel to it and the two guys working immediately came to ask what I was looking for. I was only browsing and took a quick walk down stairs where they had the lumber section. Different continent but the same lumber I work with.

Carter had wanted to have a real breakfast so we stopped at Mama Pancakes and had a mixture of English and Dutch breakfasts. I had a Dutch pancake with bacon. They cooked the bacon right into the pancake which I was expecting since they described the bacon as a topping rather than a side. It was bacon but I guess not Canadian bacon which I'm still trying to understand. It was the same cut but not smoked and not cooked very crispy. Pancake was good and I had the 'Caramel' syrup which was okay but definitely not Maple syrup.

We still had a bit of time until our train so I looked up the local coin store. My goal was simply to come back from Europe with some random coinage from all the countries we were visiting. I realize the Euro was in three of the countries but they still have their own versions and coins can end up in any of the other countries. I walked into the sore and asked if I could see a tray he had with random coins. He muttered something about typically only selling by the pound and I started perusing. I pulled out $20 Euro and asked how many coins I could get for that. He said I could take the lot. It was definitely worth more than that, just in the effort it would take me to ever collect that many coins from that many years from that many countries so I gave him $30. So far I've found coins from the 1700's and a silver dollar from the US. It's probably not worth much more than the $30 I paid but It will be a lot of fun inspecting them all.

We got to the train station about an hour before hand knowing that it wasn't going to take us long to check in. Once again, our train wasn't even listed yet. We eventually figured out which platform to go to and as we were waiting, the sign switched to indicate that our train had been cancelled due to logistical issues. There were many very confused passengers looking for answers. Several attendants soon arrived including the stewardesses for our train and said the train was stuck at the airport so we had to get it from there. They said 'stick with us because it won't leave without us'. We took a train to the airport and found our train. All was well.

We attempted to figure out the Metro to get to our hotel in Paris but there was only one out of six ticket machines working and we didn't really even understand which line we were going to take. We decided it would be easier to catch a cab. This wasn't a horrible decision except for the fact that it was Bastille Day and roads were closed everywhere. The recommended route was about 8k but we ended up on a route that was more like 15k. We also were stuck in traffic for about twice what it probably should have taken us. We eventually got to about 10 blocks from our hotel and used our poor French to ask the driver to let us out.

Our hotel room isn't as nice as what we had in Amsterdam but it's relatively new and bigger than I think we were expecting. Separate rooms for shower and toilet and bunk beds. It's also got USB charging everywhere which is handy. It was 8:00p already so we went to the store to get a few things to eat and then went back to our room. At 11:00p the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower started. We didn't really feel like getting too close so we walked down the street a bit to see it from the side. I had gone down on my own and watched the first half before going  back to the hotel lobby to watch it on the 8 foot by 12 foot screen made up of 9 TV's. A great view without the hassle of all the people. 

My Long Lost Uncle Andre

Introduction

This is an evolving story and I'll probably have to update this page several times but I wanted to gather some of the background information into a single location. 

It would seem that I have a half uncle on my mom's side, born just after WWII. His dad is my maternal grandfather and my family connected with him via "23 and Me" so we're fairly certain this is all real. Neither Andre (My half Uncle) nor myself knew Robert Jackson (My Grandfather), or 'Bob' as he is referred to in the article below, as he passed away when my mother was 15.

Below you'll find all the information I have to date 

• We start with an article that was translated by my cousin from Dutch to English about my uncles search for his family starting in 1992
• I've added in what I know about the "23 and Me" genetic test.
• There is then some additional correspondence and background from my Uncle after the connection via "23 and Me"
• We finish up with my family meeting up with him in his home town of Amsterdam.

I'm still hoping I can find his news paper ads that he placed in Canada and his interaction with Canadian media.

Hope you enjoy!

Dutch Article

The war is not over for Andre Swart. Although he will be 75 this fall, he still has that one big question: who was the Canadian soldier who fathered me?

It must have gone something like this: in the summer of 1945, Maria Geertruida van Loenen and the Canadian soldier 'Bob' got to know each other in Nijmegen. She then works in the Prince Hendrik Barracks where he is stationed, awaiting his return to Canada. There are black and white photos of a Christmas party in the barracks and there is a picture of the two lovers in Volendammer costume, apparently taken during a trip to the fishing village. “I conclude from that that they have been dating each other for a long time,” says Andre. “But that is not certain.”

What is certain is that he will be born on Saturday 14 September 1946 in the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam. He is three days old when he comes into the home of a childless couple from Amsterdam as a foster child. “He was 36, she was 35. They had responded to a newspaper ad offering a child. That happened more often then.”

 

The mothers who placed the advertisements were unmarried pregnant women who, in their desperation, offered their unborn babies as foster children. In many cases they had no money to raise a child on their own. Giving up their baby was a way to hide the shame of unmarried motherhood. Because girls with a child 'without' a father were looked down on at the time. Andre Swart later heard from his foster parents why the choice fell on them: “Because they lived in Amsterdam South. That was known as a neat neighborhood.”

 

He says that as a child he always felt welcome with the father and mother who raised him. The word adoptive parents does not pass his lips. “I see them as my parents. Period."

 

It was never a secret that they are not his biological father and mother. “As toddlers, they already told you how it was. I don't think it ever had an impact. They have been very loving parents to me.”

 

In 1947, another letter arrived in which his biological mother inquired whether her son was doing well. Then it stopped contacting. Liberation child Andre received a technical education, got married and had a career in technology. The question of where he came from slumbered. Until in 1998 he wanted to know more about his background. He found out Maria Geertruida's address through the municipality of Nijmegen, after which he sent her a letter. "She replied that she had had a terrible life and that she did not want to be reminded of the past."

 

Later, her other son — a half-brother whose existence he did not know — took over the post. He contacted Andre, after which a one-off meeting came between the mother and her 'forgotten' son. “She said she was no longer sure if my father's name was Bob and she no longer had an address for him. The letters she received from him after the war were gone. I still blame her for that. She only had the photos from that time where they were together.”

 

In the end, thanks to questions from his half-brother to mom, some backgrounds emerged: her Canadian 'Bob' knew at the time that she was pregnant. That's why he had proposed to her in a letter to come to Canada with the baby. What the returned soldier did not know was that the young mother had already had a child before. So the half-brother in question. Emigrating would therefore mean that she had to abandon her oldest son. Breaking with 'Bob' and giving up her youngest son was therefore her escape route. Before she would find a new husband, she stayed with her parents for a while with her eldest son. To cover the shame of unmarried motherhood, the family told everyone that the little toddler was their youngest child. The fact that their eldest daughter was the boy's mother was kept secret.

 

Meanwhile, Andre's biological mother has passed away. He realizes that "Bob" probably isn't alive either. He is still in contact with his half-brother, who has never known who his father is. After Andre retired in 2010, he made another attempt through Canadian media to find 'Bob'. In vain. “I only had those pictures. Not even sure of his name, let alone an army number or something. That offered too few starting points.”

 

A search at a reunion of Canadian veterans in Nijmegen and a letter campaign in Canada also came to nothing. “Of course I started looking too late. Unfortunately."

 

What had he wanted to know from his father? "Nothing special. Just what else he has done with his life. And if I look like him. In the photos from back then, he looks just like me when I was in my twenties. I would also like to know if he was technical. Maybe I got my technical talent from him.”

 

Recently he had to go to the hospital. There they inquired about common illnesses in his family. "I said I had no idea because I don't know my family."

"23 and Me"

We pick things up at Christmas time in 2020. My cousins wife purchased a "23 and Me" test for him for Christmas. He sat on it for close to a year before doing the test and waiting for the results. After some initial enjoyment of seeing where in the world his DNA came from and how much Neanderthal he is, nothing happened until the following Christmas when he was clearing out his e-mails and found one from "23 and Me" indicating they had discovered a match. He had already seen several 'matches' of less than 6% but this one was close to 12%. People can often share a few percentage points of DNA without it being anything close but anything above 6% and you are into a family tree you can draw on a single page.

Below is the first correspondence between my cousin who took the test and my half Uncle.

Letter from My Uncle  

  In June 2021 I visited Recherchebureau (Detective Agency) Leijs & Partners - hereinafter referred to as the agency - with the request to try to find 'Bob'. When I spoke about my father/begetter I always referred to 'Bob', that was because I had once heard someone say that all Canadian men are probably called Bob, I thought that was a nice idea, hence 'Bob'.

   The agency's investigation went well and in September I received a first report on what DNA matches I have in different databases. On December 29 I was called by Els Leijs with the announcement that they had found 'Bob': Robert Lloyd George Jackson, so his name was indeed Bob. I was very happy with this result and expected a report with address details and an invoice from the agency. Nothing. Called the agency on February 23, 2022 and spoke to Els, she thought she had sent me a message. Not so. Finally an email from Els yesterday in which your email address, the lack of information from the agency is the reason that I was not able to contact you earlier.

   On September 14, 1946, my natural mother Maria Geertruida van Loenen gave birth to me in the Wilhelminagasthuis (Wilhelmina Hospital) in Amsterdam. Two days later she handed me over to foster parents who raised me lovingly: Piet Swart and Ali Smit.

   Everyone knows who he or she resembles, I don't, that's why I decided to find out Maria Geertruida's address and wrote her in January 1992 with a number of questions about my origin. I received a very angry letter from her, she had had a terrible life, did not remember his name and did not want to contact me, but did send a number of photos of 'Bob'. Then I knew who I look like. In 1994 I contacted her again and it turned out that I had a half-brother – born in 1944, father unknown, possible incest.

   With the commemoration of the liberation in 1995 there were many Canadians in the Netherlands, after all, the veterans were getting older, in 1995 the liberation was fifty years ago and many were still alive, hence a large-scale commemoration. I then went on ‘hunt for Canadian’ in Nijmegen with my half-brother, hoping to learn a bit more about 'Bob' from the photos or maybe even find him. I then also spoke to Maria Geertruida, according to her his name was indeed Bob and he came from the province of Ontario. Our search in Nijmegen had no results, but I did find out that the photos were taken in Nijmegen, I also met other Canadians who were also on 'my' photos, but no one knew who 'Bob' was. In the years that followed, I also made some attempts to find 'Bob', but that was also unsuccessful.

   The reason I went looking again was because I really wanted to know what kind of man he was, I myself am fairly technically minded and I was curious if he was, was he a nice man, those kinds of questions and more, questions I can now ask your father or your aunt. I can come to you with my wife AnneMieke Sprenger to get to know you, although I look up to the flight with a mouth cap, but that has to be done. I am looking forward to our meeting, find it very exciting but it also makes me nervous.

 I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards

Families Unite in 2023

It's now early 2023 and two of the Jackson families and the Schwab families have been independently planning trips to Europe. It just so happened that we would all be in Amsterdam on the same day!

Bob, Andre's half brother, met with him on the 12th and they spent hours catching up. Andrew is on the left and my full uncle, also called Robert Jackson, is on the right.

The rest of the families met up on the 13th.

Very happy to have met my new family member. Our visit was a lot of fun and we had a genuine connection with Andre and his wife. They are already planning a trip to Canada in the spring to see where his father grew up in Prince George, BC.

Crazy!

Europe 2023 - Day 7 - Our Second Day in Amsterdam

We had booked tickets to the Anne Frank house and it was another 45 minute walk to get there so we left with enough time to get breakfast on the way. Booking the Anne Frank house was an ordeal. It comes available a week at a time and by the time we knew this it had already been booked up. Kerry checked the website daily for weeks hoping that tickets would free up. They had freed up for the day before when we couldn't go but eventually they came up for 9:30a on our full day. We found a nice breakfast place on the way with food I pronounced very badly. Too many syllables.

The Anne Frank house was obviously very moving. I hadn't realized they had actually been captured after D-Day and died just before the various camps were liberated. I also didn't realize how much space they had. I had expected just a tiny room but there were a few floors with multiple rooms. Still not much for 8 people. The tour was well paced with personal speakers you held up to your ear. I've never been to a museum where I read every single placard. They finished the museum off with a warning about how the Nazi's came to be in the first place that was too similar to today's politics.

Kerry had wanted to do a canal cruise and there just happened to be one right outside the Anne Frank house. At first we tried to figure out how to download the app and buy tickets but they came up to us and said we just had to get on and they would take care of everything. Five minutes later and we were on our way. The tour was narrated automatically in languages based on who was on board and was about 75 minutes. We went through some smaller canals and then into some of the larger ones. The family may have napped for a portion of the journey. As Callie indicated we had an $18 Euro nap. 

After our expensive nap we checked off the Amsterdam McDonalds. We were going to get hash browns in the morning but apparently they don't have them here and we settled for a drink instead. We were back now for some chicken nuggets since Carter felt the drink didn't count. We were headed out to meet my long lost Uncle Andre and were going to take the train but we couldn't quite figure out how to pay so we decided we would walk instead. The first part of the trip was interesting but the second part was more modern with more cars. 

I won't provide too many details on my long lost uncle in this post but it involves a Canadian man, a Dutch woman, an interaction during the second world war and then we pick the story up again with a "23 and Me" test in 2022. I'll dedicate an entire post to the story as I attempt to piece together the details. We met him and his wife at a café along with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin Jesse's family. Lunch was excellent and my new found Uncle and his wife were great people. They might come to Canada for a visit next spring where hopefully I'll be able to piece together more of the story. 

Our hotel was actually closer to the café then the trip we did to get there so we walked back again. n time we got a better look at the windmill that's near our hotel. I'm not entirely sure what it's story is but it's a very large authentic looking windmill. I know they used to be used to move water around but that's been replaced by electric pumps so I think it's more of a historic site now. We got back to our hotel and Kerry did another load of laundry to get us through to the end of our trip. Washing was good but drying not so much. Clothes everywhere around our room drying. 

Europe 2023 - Day 6 - Travel to Amsterdam

Our train was scheduled to leave at 9:52a and we wanted to have breakfast at the train station so we were out the door by 7:30a. We attempted to check out but the front desk wasn't opened and the window had a security screen over it. Not sure I would want to stay here if this was my first view. We had briefly thought about a cab but we hadn't even seen a car on our street and with no one at the front desk there wasn't really an easy way to understand how we would do it. The weather was nice and our bag wheels held up well. Not sure what I would do if I had to lug the 55lb big suitcase with a broken wheel. 

We got to the station and had a quick breakfast and were ready to check in 90 minutes before our departure time like good travelers. Turns out we were really just in the way. Our train departure and assigned platform weren't even on the board yet so we didn't know where to go. We asked security and they just pointed 'go that way'. We waited for 20 minutes to figure out what platform and then tried to decipher whether we needed to go to 4A or 4B. We then started up an escalator expecting to hit security. Turns out there is no security in Brussels and we could have showed up two minutes before departure. 

Figuring out our train was a bit confusing because there were actually two trains stuck together running on the same route. We had to make sure to get on the right carriage of the right train. There were signs on the door that were easy to decipher. Once we were on the train they didn't even check our tickets until about an hour in. To be honest, taking the train this way was no more complicated than catching the bus. As long as you know which platform to go to and the time, you are good to go. We learned we had to check our tickets to get out at Amsterdam though so we know there are turnstiles for our next trip. No x-ray though.

We walked to our hotel again. It was a bit longer at 3.0 km but the sidewalk was a lot smoother and easier on the luggage wheels. Our hotel room has a loft again. I think both buildings were warehouses with 12 foot ceilings so to maximize space they have a lower area with a shorter ceiling and then a loft area with additional sleeping. This one was better than the last one because the stairs were less steep witha lot more headroom. There are 5 beds plus a couch bed so you could sleep 7. It's not quite downtown Amsterdam but it's been an easy walk to everything we want to see. 
 

After we checked in to our hotel we went for groceries. The front desk said the red store was cheaper than the blue store so we went to the red store. Prices in London were expensive plus the Pound exchange was not very favorable. The Euro however is a better exchange rate and the prices so far have been good. We've also only found smaller grocery stores which is nice. I liked that their dairy area was enclosed (At least for the one we went to) I'm really not sure why we still allow stores to have open freezers and fridges. Not very energy efficient. 

We had booked tickets for the Van Gogh museum for the afternoon. There was a minor hiccup in that kids are free so we didn't have to pay, however we were still supposed to have booked the free tickets. The ticket agent was nice and let us all in anyways. There are a few of his good paintings but Starry Night is in New York. The thing that struck me was I had no idea how many paintings he had done. I guess in his last year he was doing a painting a day and since he wasn't famous yet most of it was still with his family. I'm not really an art buff but I think my favorite of the old artists is Van Gogh. 

We walked back toward our hotel and managed to not get hit by a bike. Bikes are everywhere. In the streets, on the sidewalks, in front of doors, in the canal, on the balconies and I'm sure if I could see them, on the roofs too. Most of the streets appear to have been designed for bikes, then people, then if there is room, cars. They are also a menace. I will have nightmares about the free wheel of a bike spinning and bike bells. I think part of the issue is that many of them are single speed so people don't want to lose their momentum. Look both ways, twice, and then again. 

We ended the day with dinner on the street. It was a nice Italian place. Don't get up from your seat too quickly because you might get hit by a bike driving by. Many of the places here don't automatically include water with your meal and when you ask for water they ask if you want 'still' water. I prefer to call that just water and water with bubbles is spicy water. The water came in a very nice bottle that said 'Still' so I guess they know what they are talking about. 

Europe 2023 - Day 5 - Second Day In Brussels

Our hotel offered us a coupon to the breakfast place down the street if we opted out of housekeeping. We're only staying two nights so we took them up on their offer. The restaurant specializes in Belgian waffles which I'm learning there are two main types. There is a desert version that has a high sugar content and a breakfast one that still has lots of sugar but is big and fluffy like what you would expect from a Belgian waffle. The family had various versions of Nutella, strawberries and bananas. Freshly made and very tasty.

Brussels has a very different approach to trash compared to London. In London there are very few garbage cans and no garbage to be seen. I think you're expected to swallow it. In Brussels, there are still very few garbage cans but over the course of the day trash ends up everywhere. Early in the morning a cleaning crew comes by with one guy sweeping out the corners into the street and another in a machine vacuuming everything up. There doesn't appear to be much of a recycling program because he was even sweeping glass bottles into the street to be cleaned up.

Another unique item we found was the one way street protectors. The column in the middle of the street stays up until you drive up to it from the proper direction, at which point it disappears into the street and you can drive through. This way people can't go down the street the wrong way. It's not easy to see the thing when you do drive up to it though, so you either have to stay back or be very confident in the lights that indicate it's moved down. I'm pretty sure at some point I would drive right into one.

We had already explored the area around our hotel so we headed up town into an area that included some office space and some more churches. We found what turns out to be the head quarters of the European Union. The architecture changes very quickly from old world buildings to modern office buildings. Nothing too special about the building itself however we did notice quite a bit of security in the area. I don't think anything big was happening but we have noticed a lot of support at construction sites for Ukraine. Blue and yellow is the theme for all construction fences.

We found another old church. I wonder if any of the religions build like this anymore. This one was flying a German flag and unlike some of the others we've seen appeared to be more active. Some of the churches looked like they were mainly tourist sites where this one clearly had everything it needed to have regular services. There were numerous rooms off the main hall for prayers and confessions and they had several paintings on display. Unlike in London, entry to these churches is free to enter.

We eventually made our way to the National Art History Museum which had a small charge of $10 Euros for adults and free for kids. The museum itself was just as well done as the British Museum with the major difference being that there was almost no one there. It was a bit of a hike to get there and it wasn't free but if you want to see well presented artifacts throughout history it has plenty to look at. The spookiest item was the graves containing skeletons as they were found. Six feet under and visible through glass. 

Carter knocked off the second McDonalds on his list. He's trying to go to one in every country we visit. McDonald's are pretty standard everywhere you go. Ordering was the same and they didn't get mad at you if you said you wanted take out and ate in instead. I had the McChicken which was essentially the same except they shaped the patty as if it was a real piece of chicken and it had a Miracle Whip like mayonnaise that I did not like. The fries tasted the same.

We had noticed the number of waffle houses when we came in but with our latest wandering we discovered just how many chocolate shops there were. I think there were at least 50 that were either full on chocolate or had a substantial chocolate offering. The chocolate is also much better that what we end up having at places like Purdy's in Canada. It's smoother and they have a lot of options with a smooth truffle like interior which is my favorite. Our only problem was that it was too warm in our hotel room to store it. Hopefully what we bought makes it.

Carter had an interesting experience on our way back to our hotel room. Just as he and I were walking away to get him some food, a rather loud possibly homeless French speaking woman was having an argument with her companion. We're not sure if she physically spit or was just saying French words in a spitting fashion since as Carter states, "French is a very spitty language." We cleaned him up as best we could and then went back to the hotel to shower. He may have then been peed on by a pigeon. Either way he showered immediately and texted his friends about his Europe experience.

 

Europe 2023 - Day 4 - Travel to Brussels

Our tourism time in London was done and it was time to head to the train station. We hadn't taken a London cab yet so we decided it was the slightly easier way to get there though we technically could have taken the Underground and it would have been faster. London cabs are awesome. They have a low floor and seating for up to six and everyone plus your luggage piles into the same area. They are even handicap friendly as you can fit a wheel chair in through the door. Our cab driver was Malcom and there was a clear screen between him and us so unnecessary chit chat. Paying was easy too. Just say yes to the $2 tip and tap your card and you are done.

We had given ourselves the full 90 minutes to get checked in for the train but we could have probably pushed it to about 45 minutes. Our station was St. Pancreas and our cab dropped us off just down the street from the entrance. As soon as we got inside we were able get through security. The only thing that went wrong was that it would have been easier if each of us had our own ticket on our own phone. You scan your phone as you go through the turnstiles so we had to have Kerry hand her phone back to us as we went through. Security was similar to airport security but not quite as picky. You can take on liquids in a sealed container and even though I had the big bag with dozens of lotions and potions in it, it got a quick second look and then they let me through. Once we were through security we went to a holding area where we waited for them to tell us which platform we were leaving from. It opened up for us about 20 minutes before our departure time and our plane left at 8:16, perfectly on time.

Once we were on the train, we put the big bag in a holding area at the front of our car and went to our seats. There was room above and under our seats for our bags and suitcases and we had seats that faced each other with a table in between. No USB but there was WIFI, though it was a bit spotty. The train itself was clean and very smooth. It got up to 225 KM an hour and at one point 75 meters below the English channel. It's  a shame Canada hasn't figured out high speed rail. We could get to Prince George in about 4 hours at those speeds. We arrived right on time in Brussels.

We knew we didn't have a real plan on getting from the train station to our hotel room but we also knew it wasn't that far. About a 20 minute walk which was only mildly complicated by rough cobble streets and the heat of the day. We've been contemplating how to get back there for our trip to Amsterdam and we've decided it's easiest to just walk again. I'm not even sure how close a cab could get to our hotel. Hopefully the wheels on the big suitcase survive the trip back. I have to lug the 50lb bag around.

We checked into our hotel right away and were lucky that our room was ready. The hotel is in the heart of old Brussels and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site but was still quite modern inside. The check in person insisted on having someone carry our big bag to the third floor and he didn't even stick around long enough to get a tip. Just dropped our bag and left. The room has a spacious lower layer and a loft area with two more beds. Carter and I got the loft while the girls got the lower area. No air conditioning but they've got three stand up fans for us to use. Our window looks out into a central square with lots of activity.

It was lunch time so our first stop was for some Belgium fries. They are quite crispy but I think it's the sauces that our their specialty. We had something that had the appearance of mayo-chup but with a bit of spice. We also learned the local rules on getting takeout. The prices for sit down are different so when we briefly sat to get our bearings they quickly ushered us a way. We then had desert at a waffle place that had the sugary waffles covered in toppings like caramel, chocolate, whipped cream and more. Very tasty.

We wandered around and accidentally came across the famous peeing baby statue. I think I was expecting it to be bigger but it was pretty much life sized. Callie and I had watched a video by John green that highlighted European artists and whether they had ever actually seen a baby. I'm not convinced the artist here had seen a baby. A little too muscular and really just looked like a tiny adult. It was peeing though, which is all that really matters.

We went back to our hotel in the afternoon and then did a bit more exploring around our hotel. We found a big church, a mural with the Smurfs which were apparently created by a Belgian and an open square with a stage set up. I'm assuming it was for summer concerts or something though it would have been nice to see the square without the stage in the way. The buildings near this square have gold covered accents and lovely statues. It would take weeks to check out all the details on all of the buildings.

We had dinner around 8:00p which was technically 7:00 from where we were yesterday. The pizza was quite delicious. We also stopped in at a local market where they had a machine that made you fresh squeezed orange juice. I think the whole orange went through it but it had a good filter so no pulp. We went back to our hotel and got all the fans going. It is about 27 degrees here so our room gets hot during the day.