Technology

I really like to blog when I travel. People can follow along if they want, and not if they don't. Much better than cramming inboxes with perhaps-unwanted pictures. And another beneift is, I can go back and look at my blogs years later! I still look at the one I did in New Zealand in 2009.

Travel has, of course, changed a lot. WiFi is much more available now, and faster. Tablets are so much lighter than laptops, much easier to take on the road. And battery life is much better. All good things for those of use who like to stay in touch electronically. 

On this trip I used an iPad Air with a Logitech keyboard/case, a little Canon Powershot Elph 100HS with SD card, BlogTouch Pro app for the iPad (for Blogger; there's one for WordPress too), and a really, really nifty USB/wifi drive called an AirStash. 

The AirStash is about half as big as a deck of cards and a lot lighter. It has a slot for SD cards (I think it will hold up to a 32gb card) and broadcasts what's on them via its own wifi network. There are AirStash apps for just about any piece of equipment you want to use. I have it for my Kindle Fire HDX and my iPad, and it works flawlessly on both of them. I've tried other wifi/SD card broadcasting things, and have gone back to the AirStash because it just works so much better than anything else I've found. Great design, great execution, which I originally read about several years ago from Walt Mossber's column in the Wall Street Journal. Put the SD card from the camera in the AirStash, turn it on, choose the AirStash network in the wireless settings on the tablet, open the AirStash app on the tablet, choose the pictures to import. It's small and does exactly what it's supposed to do. And also serves as a regular USB drive when necessary. 

I took the iPad with me even though it's heavier than the Kindle HDX because there isn't any really good blogging software for the HDX. BlogTouch Pro was seamless. Easy to figure out, good formatting tools, easy to insert pictures. Really nice little piece of software.

And I apologize--unless I can figure out a fix, the posts are going to sort according to publish date, not title. Drat.

12/26-27/14 train to Amsterdam, flight to Denver

We checked out of the Hotel Koffiebuntje and took a very harrowing cab ride to the train station. I was sitting in the front seat and was terrified that the grill was going to be littered with the remains of horses, people and bicycles. Ack. Fortunately, it was short. Both in distance, and in time because he was driving so fast. I think he thought he'd give the older American ladies a thrill, because he kept winking at me. He'd obviously done this before.

When we got to the station, it was packed. We found out that many trains had to be rerouted because of a suicide-by-train somewhere on the track toward Brussels. Made me sad for the train driver, I can't imagine having that happen. 

We'd gotten there early, thank goodness, so we stood in the long slow line with all the people who were trying to figure out how to get home on the day after Christmas. The very helpful woman at the ticketing booth told us the best route and found a really good price for our tickets. And the signage and the whole train system in both Belgium and the Netherlands are so good, it's amazingly easy to get around. And the people were so helpful too, including helping us lift our cases up to the racks above the seats. We hadn't had to do that before, but the day after Christmas was a really busy day, even without the extra stress on the system.

It was a long day of sitting, and chaning trains twice, but it worked out fine. One of the highlights of the train was a Middle Eastern man who lives in Rotterdam. He was coming back home after taking the train somewhere to pick up a pink bike for his young daughter, and he took it upon himself to teach us how to pronounce Dutch! It was an experience, what with his home accent, the Dutch on top of it, and the English on top of that. He was talking mainly to Nancy W, and I just sat there savoring it. 

We took three trains to get to Schipool (think "ski pole", if you slightly swallow the sk and soften the o) airport in Amsterdam, where we'd started our journey 9 days earlier. We took a shuttle to our hotel, which was very close to the airport. And it had a really good Italian restaurant in it. We were hungry, and dinner was fabulous. We ended the night by finishing off the cherry beer I'd bought in Bruges. And of course packing for the long air legs the next day. 

When we got ready to head back to Schipol, we were glad we were leaving rather than arriving--it was really gray and wet out there, and cold, not a pretty morning at all and unlikely to get better. It was another long day of travel: 3 hours Schipol to Keflavik (in Reykjavik), then 7.5 hours KEF to DEN. 

Nancy W was sitting by a window on the flight from Kevlavik to Denver, and took this picture from the window. Gorgeous, and COLD. I watched the flight info on my TV for a good part of the flight, and it was around -50C most of the time.

 

Coming through customs in Denver we got behind a group that had just gotten in from Mexico, so the lines were very long. There's a new system at DIA we hadn't seen before. There are a lot of machines before you even get to your luggage, where you scan your passport and answer customs declaration questions. Took forever for the machine I was on to scan my passport, and the picture the machine took of me should never, ever see the light of day. God. I looked completely exhausted, and very confused. Maybe drooling. Thank god it stayed with customs, and I hope they shred it. As soon as possible. 

Donna picked us up and we all got home in good order, very happy to see our beds. And Piseag, our cat, was very happy to see us. 

12/22/14.2 Ghent

Ghent had the biggest Christmas market we'd seen, stretched out over quite a ways. Several huge cathedrals and churches are clustered in this area, and the market sort of sprawls amongst all of them. There was everything from Peruvian hats, to sausage and cheese, to pannekochen--yummy big crepes made with chestnut flour that were cooked to order on a big cast iron flat pan. The market was fun to wander, even in the cold wet weather. 

An ice skating rink is part of the market. These cute penguins are used by the youngest kids to help them stay upright. 

We walked along the river to get back to the hotel. we wondered if the building furthest right is a residence--we saw a car come out of the big arch and drive off down the canal. 

This was a wonderful wander, and a good end to our Ghent visit. 

12/21/14 Brussels, Day 3

On our last morning in Brussels, we wandered through the town. 

Brussels has been a government center for centuries, because of its location, I believe. It is the headquarters of the European Union also. Those buildings are outside of town, about a 20-minute bus ride, but we didn't make that. Could have been interesting--the EU is such an interesting institution and idea. And it makes the easy train travel we've experienced possible, not to mention that having only one currency to deal with is far easier than when I first started traveling. 

This is the front of the Town Hall in the Grand Place/main plaza, which has been the main plaza of the city for 1000 years. It started as a market square just off the main road through town, as so many of these squares did. The buildings are mostly administrative. These figures all across the front of the Town Hall are wonderful in their detail. We chatted with a guide who said that they don't really have any religious or other significance or stories, they just represent various professions and such. But they are lovely. 

This is one of the columns of the Town Hall. I was entranced by the beautiful detail in the face of the bearded man. Isn't he lovely? He's so clear that you'd know him if you met him on the street. All of the figures were like that. 

This sign was in a chocolate shop. We liked the sentiment and have done our level best to follow it religiously. 

One of the main things Brussels is known for is the Mannekin Pis, a fountain of a little boy. What makes it famous is that he is pissing the water from the fountain. There are sculptures of him EVERYWHERE, also tapestries, postcards, you name it. There was a huge crowd around him. I elected not to try to get a picture of the statue, but of the people and buildings. 

We wandered along centuries-old cobblestone streets, between centuries-old buildings which are updated with modern shops. Chocolate, beer, tapestries, you name it. Kind of like Estes Park, actually, only a lot older. 

Our last night at Hotel Mozart. You can see the picture of Mozart against the background of Moroccan walls. 

Next morning we packed up and headed to the train station, a short walk uphill, and headed for Ghent. 

12/19/14.5 Brussels, Day 1, arrival

 The central station in Brussels is huge, but not as interesting as the one in Amsterdam. We finally figured out which exit was closest to our hotel, and started off down the street, only asking directions once (right, then right again). The Hotel Mozart ended up being easy to find, as the manager just happened to get to the top of the hill at the same time we did, and he directed us right to it. He was on his way home, off for the weekend, but correctly figured out that three American-looking women with luggage were probably the three in the hotel reservation book. 

The Hotel Mozart is ....almost indescribable. A great location, but a contradiction. Middle Eastern decoration all OVER. Carved plaster walls, tiles on the walls and floor. Mosaics and fabrics in some places. Middle Eastern decoration EVERYWHERE--and a picture of Mozart on the outside sign, and Renaissance art on the walls. It is very interesting. 

The owner of the Mozart, Ben, is originally from Tangiers, but has lived in San Francisco and various other places so speaks excellent English and other languages. He checked us in and then talked for at least half an hour about America and peace and the people he's met. Quite the character, especially when we were tired and our feet hurt. We finally broke away to go to our room. It's small and VERY colorful, done in various shades of orange, with tiles up half the wall and a painting of a Dutch woman on the wall. But it has three beds and free WiFi, so even with the juxtaposition of symbols and culture, it's great.

We threw our luggage in the room and headed out to the Grand Place, a very short walk. The Grand Place has been the main square of the town for around 1000 years. It was PACKED with people who were there for the light and music show. The square has a big Christmas tree, a nativity scene (with bars on the front), and a cool light show that turns all the buildings in the square different colors. It was very fun, not to mention loud. 

The big Christmas tree is lovely, especially when the decorations are swinging in the breeze. Besides the lights, it has decorations in the shape of the symbol of Brussels. 

The lights in the square change colors. This is the Town Hall in one color...

And this is the Town Hall in another mood.

King's House, directly across the square from the Town Hall It's an adminstrative center. 

After the show was over, we wandered a bit, looking for a place to have dinner. We started down a narrow street lined by restaurants on either side. It was a bit like running a gauntlet. We were stopped and importuned strongly by a fellow touting his restaurant. We acquiesced and went in. After a rocky start with our waiter, who first brought a dinner menu and then a lunch menu, after we said the prices on the one weren't what we'd been told outside. The food was pretty good--Nancy C and I had mussels, our first in Belgium. This was also the first place we had the Belgian beer, Leffe Brune. It's great, and we had it throughout the rest of our trip. The dessert was fantastic--waffles with dark chocolate, yum. They ended up being the best waffles we had on the trip, and Nancy W and I are hoping I can recreate them. 

We ended the night with our waiter hugging me and saying, more than once, "I love you, madame!" I have no idea why, but hey, I'll take it. 

We left, walked down the restaurant row where everyone else did the same as the first guy did; we have learned since that all restaurants here try to pull people in in the same way. We escaped with our lives and headed back to the hotel to sleep. 

And I started on updating the blog!

12/20/14.2 Brussels, Day 2

O.M.G. 

The Museum of Musical Instruments (MIM) is one of the most wonderful places I've ever been to. Five floors, thousands (8000?) of instruments in the regular collection, plus a special exhibit on the origin of the saxophone--which was invented by a Belgian. 

The building was originally the Old England department store. It sits amongs buildings that are much more industrial looking. We overheard one guide telling his group that the man who built it wanted something that looked more human, more organic. He achieved this, as the builing definitely stands out from the other museums and administrative buildings that surround it. There are 6 floors of musical instruments of all sorts and from all over the world. It is absolutely fabulous. Even the restaurant is good. It's on the 7th floor, and you can walk outside to see the city if the weather is decent. Which it wasn't when we were there, but it didn't matter because we were utterly entranced by the exhibits. We spent 5 hours there and could have easily spent a couple more. We shouldn't have taken time out for lunch. 

One of the panels on the front of the building. There are other panels that show music written other ways. I think one of them is shape-note singing, another is drumming notation, and one looks like what we saw inside that is music for a big music box. 

There is no way I can adequately describe this marvelous place. Part of the admission price is an audio tour. Whenever you go near an instrument with an audio symbol on the floor, the audio starts up with the sound of that instrument. There's everything from mouth harps to stringed harps from several countries. There are the enormously long Tibetan horns, the ones that are pitched so low that they shake the floor. There are big "music boxes" that sound by air running through metal disks. There is the beginnings of synthetic music, including a picture of the research team at RCA. There are South American pan pipes and drums, many different harpsichords, a player piano, a plethora of drums, and somewhere around 15 different kinds of bagpipes.

There are many stringed instruments, including lots of lutes and various kinds of mandolins. I was chatting with one of the employees when we were leaving, and he said that an instrument maker from Colorado had come there to learn how the older instruments had been made. This place truly is a treasure. 

This is a wooden slit drum, and I unfortunately can't remember where it's from--Indonesia, perhaps. It's about 3' tall. 

Gorgeous, complex uillean pipes. I loved listening to the recording of these. 

One of many different types of trumpets--and I never found out why it's curved. 

This is one of the "music boxes". The sound comes from the disk rotating. The inlaid wood makes the whole thing a work of art. 

Part of the exhibit on the saxophone, this saxhorn is as tall as I am. 

We hit the saxophone exhibit far later than we should have. It was marvelous, but I didn't take away enough detail from it.

The sax is such a part of American jazz music that I always just assumed it was developed in the U.S. But no, it was invented by a Belgian named Alophe Sax. There is a lot about him on Wikipedia (please donate to Wikipedia, such a wonderful resource), so I won't repeat all of it here. He was an instrument maker, clarinets, mostly, and thought about combining one with an oboe. Thus was born the "saxophone", which Sax patented in June of 1848. It didn't take off in Europe, but made it to the U.S. Its unique sound was perfectly suited to the jazz of the time, and its use spread quickly among small groups and in big bands. Those bands toured Europe and brought the sax back to its birthplace, with a whole lot more pizzazz and respectability than it had had when Sax developed it. "The prophet is without honor in his own land," indeed. . 

Sax held hundreds of patents for his inventions, but the saxophone and saxhorn, which is the precursor to the euphonium and other instruments, are his claim to fame. 

The exhibit has probably a couple hundred or more instruments, both the precursors of the sax and the many forms it eventually took. The audio tour plays examples of many of them. Some of the instruments are so big in diameter, such as the one above, that I can't imagine how someone could play them. Just amazing. 

We stayed until the very last minute. It was one of the best museums I've ever been to. If we'd had another day, we'd have gone back. It was just awe-inspiring, to see the many, many different kinds of instruments that humans have created over the centuries. If I go back to Brussels someday, this is where I'll head first. It's a place I'll never forget. 

Downhill from the MIM was this wonderful clock and carillon. I loved the figures on it, and the whimsey. 

This is the top figure in the clock--loved him, in his sports gear and drinking what looks to me like whisky!

12/22/14.1 Ghent

This is the view from St. Michael's bridge, which we found after getting thoroughly lost. 

Ghent is one of those cities where people just co-exist with ancient buildings and don't even think about it. The city was never bombed in the world wars, so the architecture and art go back a long ways. This is the Christmas market, a tradition that's been around for a long time and has changedfrom peasants selling their wares (as part of the rise of the middle class, I suspect) to modern ferris wheels. The tall building in the background is the bell tower. 

After getting ourselves situated in the hotel, we wandered out in the mist, headed toward the Christmas Market, and the Ghent Altarpiece. We got well and truly lost. And hungry. Finally saw a restaurant that looked friendly and local--our style--and wandered in for beer and food. Ended up sitting next to a lovely couple who didn't know much English (and we know zip Flemish), but we managed to communicate just fine. They got us situated on the map. We were way off from where we thought we were going. It's so interesting, trying to find your way around these old cities with short streets that change names in the middle. Everything looks further away than it is. 

Anyway, we wanted to see the Ghent Altarpiece (Adoration of the Lamb) in St. Baafskathedraal. I'd studied it in Art History class in college, and had been reminded of it when I saw the movie "Monuments Men". But due to our having gotten so lost, we arrived about 25 minutes too late to get in to see it. However, the info guy took pity on us and took us to see four huge  candlesticks that had had a history with both Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell. They ended up in this cathedral in Ghent because Cromwell sold them to help finance his war. One of the candlesticks is below, center left. The tomb with the white marble columns and the reclining man is that of the bishop who bought the candlesticks from Cromwell. (BTW, the area where these candlesticks are was so cold we could see our breath!)

War is brought up fairly often over here, pretty casually, as a part of their history. I've noticed it before, starting with the first time I went to Italy. The bombings of WWII did great damage to the great art of Europe. And the Nazis looted art in every city they conquered, some of which has never been returned. It makes me sad, these stories of armies destroying priceless pieces of human history. Not to mention the cost in human lives and cultures. What would we be, if we were not constantly at war. 

Much more cheerful were these figures on top of a building. So whimsical! I'd love to know who all they were, but if there was an explantion, we didn't see it.

There was a piper, so of course I got a closeup of him. There are quite a few pipers in Belgium. The Flemish artists such as the Breugels painted everyday scenes of peasants at markets, fairs, planing crops, drinking beer, etc. Often there's a piper in the background. 

We wandered through the Christmas market and walked along the river on our way back to the hotel. Got up late the next morning and went back to see the Altarpiece. Good heavens, it's gorgeous in person. The gold leaf makes the piece shine. I love the decorative quality of it, the gold bands on the clothing, the jewels in the crowns and on the clothes.The serene faces, the sheer abundance of detail. The fabric draping, the rich colors. Each panel has religious story and significance, but I simply love to look it as a piece of great beauty. It was a thrill to see, since I'd only seen pictures until now. I wanted to photograph it, but there were signs saying no photographs. This is a postcard I took a picture of.

After occupying Belgium, the Nazis made off with the altarpiece. As depicted in the movie "Monuments Men", it was recovered and restored to its original place. Interestingly, the bottom left panel is a copy made in 1932, as that panel was stolen in the early 1930's and never recovered. Somewhere in the world, it's up on someone's wall, or stored away where no one sees it. Grrr. Great art should be shared, as it is a part of history of the human race.

We wandered down into the crypt of St. Bavos (the short name for Baafskathedraal), which was lovely. A much earlier style than the Gothic cathedral above. An older style of arch, much more primitive paintings. But simple and lovely. 

There were also old illustrated Bibles, in dim alcoves. Fortunately, my little Canon Elph will take pretty good pictures without flash. I would not want my flash to contribute toward the deterioration of these priceless bits of history. 

Having wandered into just about everywhere in St. Bavos, we went back out into the cold and wet, got some bread and a raclette sandwich (yummy melted cheese) at the Christmas market, then headed back to the hotel, retrieved our luggage, took a taxi to the train station and headed to Bruges for three days, our final stop in Belgium.