D. S. Friberg Blog

April, Part 4: Volcano week

We flew from Barcelona back to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Thursday afternoon, April 15th.  The plan was to take the TGV directly from the airport to Brussels.  When we arrived, we found the train station in a state of chaos.  Flights were beginning to be canceled due to the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, and a lot of people were trying to get trains back to the UK, where airports had already been closed.  To make matters worse, there was an ongoing French rail strike, meaning that most trains weren’t even running.  Worried that our scheduled Brussels train would be canceled, we got on the first one available.  The train was so packed that Dave and I stood in the aisle with the bags as far as Lille, and the conductors couldn’t even move through the cars to check tickets.  Amazingly, we made it to Brussels, and Dave and Cindy checked into their hotel.  That night, after dinner at Chi-Chi’s, we learned that the Brussels airport was closed indefinitely due to the ash cloud fiasco, and that Dave and Cindy’s Friday flight back to the U.S. was therefore canceled.  They rebooked for a Monday flight, notified their employers back home, and extended their Brussels hotel reservation.  An extra weekend together sounded fun, and we decided to make the most of it. The ticket guy in the metro claimed that 55,000 people were stranded in Brussels.

Friday, April 16th, Dave and Cindy came to Ghent.  We looked through our pictures from the previous two weeks and had dinner at our excellent Italian/Indian place, Pizza Bella Italia.  On Saturday, Katie, the kids, and I went to Brussels, and we all took the metro to Mini-Europe, a park near the Atomium with elaborate scale models of 100 of the most famous buildings from the countries of the EU.  Mini-Europe is not on most people’s short list of Brussels attractions, but we found it interesting.  Wes was very worried about the Leaning Tower of Pisa – he kept telling us to “Push it up!”  He also spent 20 minutes making Pompeii explode over and over.

Sunday, Katie and her folks went to Ghent’s huge flower show, the Gentse Floralien, while I stayed home to do some work.  The Floralien is held just once every five years and claims to be the world’s largest indoor flower show.  It really is huge, packed with exhibits ranging from topiaries to water gardens to table settings.

The airport remained closed Monday, so Dave and Cindy rebooked their flight again, this time for Friday, April 23rd.  We spent Monday in Brussels, staying over night there to take advantage of the hotel pool and the breakfast buffet.  Tuesday, Katie wasn’t feeling well, so she rested while Dave, Cindy, Wes, and I looked around Brussels a bit and then took an afternoon train to Mechelen, an old Flemish city about midway between Brussels and Antwerp.  Among other things, Mechelen is known for its carillon academy and as a terminus of the first railway in continental Europe (Brussels-Mechelen).  We climbed the 520+ stairs of the absolutely massive belfort, which is attached to St. Rumbold’s Cathedral, and had lunch at a nice cafe.

Wednesday, Dave and Cindy moved to a new bed and breakfast because the Novotel had jacked up their rates. Then, they made one last trip to Ghent and went to De wereld van Kina museum in Sint-Pietersplein with Katie, Wes, and Vera.  I had to do some school-related stuff, so I couldn’t go.  As you may recall, Katie and I went to the Kina garden in March, but hadn’t yet made it to the main museum.

Thursday, April 22nd, we went to the Antwerp Zoo.  We had beautiful weather and the gardens were in bloom.  Then, ending a lovely bonus week seeing both new and familiar parts of Belgium, we parted ways for the last time at the Antwerp Central Station.  The ash cloud having dispersed, Dave and Cindy flew out Friday morning.

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