Westminster in London: A Belgian Weekend & a Visit from Mary

Westminster Abbey at 5 pm

The view of London from the Eye

Mary & Chuck in the Eye

On last Thursday, Mary came to visit us in London and suffered a week sleeping on our couch. We were excited to see her - our first and only sleep-in visitor. Ray & Chris were our other visitors, but they were smart enough to stay in a hotel room!

Thursday evening we went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey which is song by the choir and was wonderful. Then it was on to the London Eye. Our first weekend in London rode the Eye in the daytime and now we rode it at night. It was an awe-inspiring sight with the city lit up and a full moon in the sky. The 30 minute ride seemed to go by in 30 seconds!

Friday was a very, very early start, especially for Mary - we needed to be at the Belgium tour pickup location near Victoria Station at 6 am. This meant we left the flat at 4:30 am (remember Mary is still on Pgh. time - 5 hours earlier). The bus took us to a ferry in Dover where we crossed the English Channel and saw the white cliffs of Dover.

White Cliffs of Dover

Our first stop is Bruges - a fairy tale town with crooked streets, hundreds of cobble stones and lots and lots of chocolate shops (and those who know me will realize why I liked Bruges so much). Jamie, Mary, Chuck & I wandered the streets, ate frites (fantastic fries), sampled chocolate and the local mulled wine (Gluhwein). I'd love to return.

Bruges

Both nights we stayed at Oostende on the North Sea. Our hotel room was large and quiet - quite a change from our flat in London.

Saturday it was on to Brussels, where we again saw the Christmas markets, sampled chocolates and gluhwein, and enjoyed the scenic town. The city hall in the Grote Markt was lit up with constantly changing lights set to music. Wow. We also saw a famous statue of a boy pissing (dressed up like St Nicolas) and the Atomium - a huge structure composed of the atoms of a molecule created for the 1958 World's Fair.

Brussels City Hall

Pissing boy statue dressed up as St Nicolas

Atomium in Brussels

Sunday, St Nicolas Day, we saw St Nicolas in the local Oostende bakery giving treats to the children (I got a kiss) and then it was on to Antwerp. No Christmas markets there yet, but we saw brightly dressed men with horns marching into church, Rubens in the local cathedral, more chocolate shops and ate waffels for lunch. After a long bus ride, ferry crossing and more bus riding we ended up back in London and back in the flat. In my next blog entry, I'll report how Mary wore us out on Monday and Tuesday in London!