We decided to head south along the coast to Dunkirk so see what there was to see of the famous 1940 evacuation of Allied troops (Operation Dynamo). It was only about an one hour drive from Bruges, crossing into France just a short time before reaching Dunkirk. We found the beach where the evacuations took place and visited the museum. The beach was...a beach. I was pleasantly surprised that it had not been turned into a tourist destination...yet. The weather was cool, probably in the mid 60's, with intermittent rain.
Upon leaving the battlefield site, we briefly discussed whether or not we should continue south to Calais. It was just another 30 minute drive, but we decided not to go. So we headed back north targeting Ghent, Belgium as our next stop. .
We arrived in Ghent around 3:00 pm. It was raining, the traffic was heavy and we kept losing our Google Maps connection. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time lost. We finally found a McDonald's were we had a late lunch and were able to study where to go. We decided to try to find the Gravensteen, a medieval castle, built circa 1180 by Count Philip of Alsace., It was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. After that, it served in several capacities including a court, prison, mint and even a cotton factory.
We did find the castle after much time being lost. We did not stop as time was getting late and we were both very tired. Not having GPS much of the time, we were not even sure we were supposed to be driving where we were. There was no where to park! We were surrounded by pedestrians and bicyclists, but no other motor vehicles. Several times, I felt we were driving on the sidewalks. No one seemed upset with us, but it was reassuring when we finally got to areas where there were other cars on the road. I got a photo of a church we passed and Stephen got a shot of the castle itself.
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| Gravensteen Castle |
Finally, we broke free and headed for Brussels. We arrived at our hotel, the Crowne Plaza Brussels Airport about 5:30 pm. We checked into the hotel with our luggage. I then drove the car over to the airport to check it back in. The hotel receptionist gave me a map showing me how to get to the airport and pointed out a service station along the way where I could gas up the rental car. I would return to the hotel using the hotel shuttle.
I had no problem with the directions and stopped at the service station for gas. Unfortunately, it was a completely self-serve and it rejected all of my credit cards and would not accept cash. I finally gave up and continued on to the rental car return lot. There, I told the Hertz people that I had tried to gas up the car but they would not accept my credit cards. The Hertz people said they understood since that gas station ONLY accepts local credit cards. They said they never understood why someone would locate a gas station right next to an airport and then only accept local credit cards. They did not charge me any extra fees for returning the car without a full tank. They did charge me for 10 gallons at the going rate of $6.00/gallon.
I caught the shuttle back to the hotel. Stephen was waiting for me in the bar. As I walked to the bar, I noticed a stack of copper mugs behind the bar. I asked the bartender if they served Moscow Mules made with ginger beer. He said Of Course! Shortly thereafter, he brought me my drink. I didn't say anything at the time, but I was very disappointed that he service it in a tall high ball glass.
It was good, but when I was ready for a second round, I requested the next one to be served in a copper mug. The bartender's face instantly developed a expression of horror. He apologized profusely and insisted the second round would be on him.
It was a long day and they were obviously understaffed at the bar, so we decided to go to the room and order a club sandwich via Room Service.
It was very good.
Tomorrow we have a free day to explore Brussels. There is a welcoming reception and dinner tomorrow night at 6:00 pm in the hotel.
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