Report #108 Monday April 17, 2023 Zeebrugge, Belgium 8am-4:30pm Docked Starboard Side To Pier Overcast, Windy And Cool Sun Late Afternoon 42-52 Degrees
Belgium is loaded with medieval towns of castles, belfries, war memorials, museums, and hip cafes canals, and step-gabled houses. They are a country of 11.4 million folks that speak Dutch, French, or German, depending on what part of the border you are located. They are known for waffles, chocolate, frites (fries) mussels and frothy beer. And did we say chocolate? It's big here. Brussels is the capital and has the largest medieval Grand Palace and square with gabled guild houses, and a 15th century Town Hall. The cobblestones of this plaza were laid in the 12th century and provided the area for a marketplace.
Bruges, close to Zeebrugge, is the ultimate picture-perfect tourist city. Other attractions are the city of Antwerp and Flanders Fields with WW I graveyards. And not to be missed is the Carnival in Binche, where at Mardi Gras time, locals dress in barrel costumes with bells, wear spooky masks, and feathered hats. At the height of the festival, they throw oranges at passer-by folks. Whatever floats their boat…..Can't be much different than the celebration of the tomato harvest in Italy, where they throw ripe tomatoes at everyone.
Some of the tours offered out of Zeebrugge were Bruges on your own for $80 for 7 hours. Romantic Bruges was $130 for 4 ¾ hours, while Bruges horse-drawn carriage ride tour was $200 for 4 ½ hours. Bruges and Belgium chocolates was $120 for 5 hours, and Ypres and Flanders Fields was $120 for 5 hours. A Ghent Canal cruise was $100 for 5 hours.
The Zuiderdam arrived in the early morning hour of 7am, and was docked by 8am. Shortly after that, the Sky Princess docked right behind us. It's one of the newest ships in the fleet, launched in 2019. A large resort ship of 142,229 gross tons, this ship holds up to 3560 guests with a crew of 1346. The Zuiderdam is only 82,305 gross tons, and she must look small next to that ship. Another smaller cruise ship was also in the harbor, but too far to identify.
It was disappointing to see so much heavy fog which was colder with the constant north wind. Sure reminded us of San Francisco in the summertime. The fog may lift by 4pm, but the temperature would stay cold. Going outside after breakfast, we saw the big crane that was going to lift some equipment into the opened magrodome over the Lido pool area. Actually it said it would be various decorative and entertainment supplies. We cannot imagine what they are going to build for a stage in that space. And here we were under the impression they have no money to do extra things…… Go figure….. In the meantime the deck in that area will be closed during those preparations. But there will be access to the Dive In Grill.
It was really nice to hear that our morning waiters and some of their buddies had taken a mini van tour to London yesterday. Even though there was only enough time to do "drive-by" site-seeing, they were thrilled to be there. They had planned on a similar drive to Paris from Le Havre, France, but when it got cancelled, they organized this one.
We stuck around until 11am, then went off bundled up wearing our arctic down jackets. We never took them off except during lunch. It was that cold out today. Once on the bus, we found there were maps of Blankenberge, the nearest resort area from the pier. The bus filled up and we left by 11:30pm, studying the map all the way. We were here in 2019, but we still needed to get our bearings. It took less than 20 minutes to reach this beachside town. By the way, there was a shuttle that would have taken folks to the pier gate, then they could hire taxis to go anywhere else.
The drop-off was at St. Anthony's Church directly across from the railway station. The majority of people were taking this train to Bruges, which saved them a lot of money doing independently. Heo and Greg were doing this and they said the train tickets cost less than 10 euro and could be purchased at the station. They just needed to watch the time, since all aboard was at 4:30pm today. We toured the church, then went off across the tram tracks to the pedestrian shopping area. There is a grid of streets here that are full of old colonial buildings and churches as well as modern day stores. The most popular stores were bakeries and chocolate shops. Like we said, chocolate is sacred here. It is said that in the early 1900's the most prized Belgium chocolates were created by filling a chocolate shell with creamy flavored centers….thus the praline was discovered. Expensive? Yes, but none other can compare with the 100% cocoa butter delights where the vendors fill customized boxes for their customers. We know because we bought some of the sweets to take back to the ship and savor one at a time.
We located the tourist information center, but entered just as they were closing for lunchtime. We still were able to pick up some brochures in the open lobby outside the main building. Speaking of closed, today is Monday, and many restaurants and some shops were closed. Weekends are big here, so they take off Mondays and sometimes Tuesday as well. There was a stairway that went up to the oceanside flanked with two large lion sculptures. That came out in the middle of a long beach, where a series of cafes and restaurants lined the sandy beach below. Every restaurant had a section of the beach that was fenced off with their tables and chairs for outdoor dining. Only a few were opened today since the season will not begin until the weather warms up.
We checked out some the Italian cafes, but most of them were also closed. Before we left, we did do some research and found a pretty good spot near the marina. Hopefully we could locate it. We made it all the way to the lighthouse and the marina, where tucked way in the back were sailboats and small craft vessels. Few were actually sailing in the waters today. Making our way to Leopoldpark, a large area with a kids playground, golf putting, a restaurant, and a dog walking area, we took the time to study the map we were given. It appeared the street we were looking for was near this park. By sheer luck, we crossed the street with the tram tracks, and found the restaurant about across the street. The name was Al Piccolo Mondo, and they were open. We went inside where it was nice and warm, and found a table for two at the window. We ordered Duval beers and a Hawaiian pizza. Sure was good. Then we added one dessert to share which was chocolate ice cream with a chocolate fondant topped with a generous serving of whipped cream. Don't know how one person could eat all of it. Once again , we found the price of 31 euro to be quite reasonable.
Soon it was time to head back by the same way more or less than we had come here. Locating the main pedestrian street, we were back to the bus stop by 3pm. This time there were two coaches – one for us and the other for the Princess folks. It appeared some tour buses had stopped here as well. The ride was fairly quick back to the pier, but that's when we recalled we had to switch buses at the gate. We figured we were OK to go straight to the ship when an official came onboard and checked all of our room keys. Nope. The bus made a turn, and we had to get off and go through a security building. We were not subject to the xray there, but our cards were checked again. All of us filed out the back door, then waited in the correct line for the HAL shuttle. Of course, there was a shop in this building, so if you had forgotten anything, like chocolate or souvenirs, this was your last chance to buy some.
We finally got on the shuttle, and were off for a 5 minute ride to the ship's gangway. But before we left, there was a lady who insisted on sitting in the handicap and wheelchair space reserved for only those folks. When she refused to move out of there with her 2 suitcases, an official fellow came and ordered her out saying he would assist with her luggage. Claiming she was also handicapped did her no good, because she probably was. But two guests in the big wheelchair and scooter needed this space. She moved finally, but was not a happy camper. They had a heck of a time getting those wheelchairs in the shuttle, but they did it. We finally got back to our room by 4pm.
Then there was an announcement reminding the guests to visit their muster stations, as this was the end of a long segment. We had from 3 to 5pm to do this and would have forgotten if it were not for the reminder. It took a few minutes, and it was done. Now we have to run the drill on the TV and we will be set. Then later this evening, we all got the itinerary stickers for this segment to add to the little booklet for the world cruise.
The ship left the harbor very slowly after 5pm, and now we are on the way to Amsterdam. Captain Frank mentioned we will be getting to the lock around 4am, then enter the harbor and be docked by 8am. And they are expecting a nice day – no rain.
Dinnertime came soon, and we had the six of us present. Barb had kept Woody company on the ship today, because Susie is still in the hospital in Lisbon. We do hope she will be back tomorrow in Amsterdam. Time will tell. Heo and Greg had gone to Bruges on the train and had a fine time exploring, eating mussels and frites, and buying a ton of Belgium chocolates. Some of the appetizers and mains were Belgium-related, but we stuck to what we know best – prime rib and pork meatballs with risotto. After the sweet treat for lunch, we kept dessert light with a little vanilla ice cream and a lime sorbet.
Tomorrow will be a big day with HAL's 150th Anniversary Celebration and also a birthday for one of us. He will not be 150 though, ha-ha!
Bill & Mary Ann
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