Thursday, September 26, 2019: Antwerp, Bruges

We got up this morning in Antwerp and had a hardy breakfast at the hotel. Then we struck out to wander aimlessly around Old Town Antwerp. It was a chilly morning with light rain off and on.

We decided to first head for the Central Train Station. Normally, an impressive building. Using Google Maps, we made only a few wrong turns. I have been impressed with Google Maps for navigation and have decided to drop my Verizon Navigator subscription.

Lots of construction taking place around the city.

Five Guys Burger joint in Antwerp

We made it to the Central Station and, as expected, it was very impressive.

Camel Statue on top of the Institute of Zoology

China Town, Antwerp

On the way to the Central Station, there was the "diamond" street. Shop after shop after shop of jewelers. Very sparkly.

Stephen made friends with a street violinist. Probably because he gave him money!

Our next stop of the Ruben House.

Self Portrait of Ruben

We headed back to the Hilton to check out and start our drive to Bruges.

Hilton Old Town Antwerp, where we stayed

I lost the parking garage ticket so we had to pay an additional fine to get out.

It was a 90 minute drive from Antwerp to Bruges. Actually, it took 120 minutes because I took a couple of wrong turns.

Our hotel in Bruges

Very small room. Large enough for a bed and desk

We set off to the Bruges central plaza which was only about 100 meters from the hotel. The hotel receptionist warned us not to eat or drink in the plaza because it was far too expensive,

We took the advice of the hotel receptionist and wandered away from the plaza in search of food and drink. Stephen found the Ellis Gourmet Burger joint. It name was derived from Ellis Island, NY.

Stephen decided he wanted to climb to the top of the Belfort and he was willing to pay to do it! I opted to wait for him a ground level. 366 steps up and 366 steps down. He made it and lived to regret it.

Once back at the hotel, it was 3:30 pm and the bar was open. We spent the next several hours relaxing. I noticed a beautiful "old fashion" glass on the shelf behind the bar. There was only one and I asked the bartender if I could buy it. He was very hesitant, but when I offered him 20 Euros, he agreed. It is a very heavy (leaded) crystal glass.

Once it got dark, we decided to go back to the plaza to see how it looked. Nothing spectacular, but interesting.

Tomorrow, we leave Bruges and head back over to Brussels by a route yet to be determined. We will stay the night at the Crown Plaza Brussels Airport hotel, where the tour will begin on Saturday.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019: Flight to Brussels, Mechelen, Antwerp

I finished my Romanian trip yesterday and flew from Bucharest to Brussels this morning. I needed to fill the rental, return it and get to the airport for a 7:40 am flight on Tarom Airlines, the Romanian airline. I found a service station and after driving around and around for awhile, I found the Hertz car return lot. I hiked about a half mile from the lot to the terminal. Could have been much worse.

I checked my bag and went through security without too much trouble. The biggest issue was they asked me to remove my belt. Having lost so much weight, I had problems holding up my pants while humbling with my carry-on luggage.

At the Bucharest airport, I realized I had not gotten a souvenir of the Romanian trip. So, I bought a coffee mug.

The flight was uneventful. I arrived a little late due to a delayed departure for some security issue. Stephen's transAtlantic flight arrived about 30 minutes early, so he had been waiting a couple of hours for me to arrive.

We checked out our car, and headed north toward Antwerp. The plan was to stop in Mechelen to look around and have a late lunch at the Mechelen McDonald's.

After a couple of hours in Mechelen, we continued north toward Antwerp, arriving after about a hour's drive. We checked into the Hilton Old Town Antwerp hotel and quickly found the Hard Rock Cafe. I got tee shirts for all of Laura's family.

Monday, September 9, 2019: Final Documents

Today, Maxine forwarded to us the final trip documents from Ambrose. They include the final itinerary, a list of the hotels we will be using, the guest list and a link to the Vamoos app which you can download and access all the information on-line.

To summarize the trip:

• We will fly into Brussels on September 25. I will fly in from Bucharest and Stephen will fly in from Dulles.
• My flight arrives at 9:30 am on Tarom-Romanian Air Transport 371
• Stephen's flight arrives at 7:45 am on United UA999
• We will check out a rental car at the airport and start a drive toward Antwerp
• We will spend a night at the Hilton Antwerp Old Town
• Hilton Antwerp Old Town
• We will then drive over to Bruges on September 26 and stay the night Hotel Navarra Brugge
• Hotel Navarra Brugge
• We will then drive through Ghent on the way back to Brussels on September 27, checking in to the Crown Plaza Brussels Airport, the same hotel being used by the tour
• Crown Plaza Brussels Airport
• There will be a welcoming reception and dinner the night of September 28 at the hotel.

During the course of the tour, we will be staying at the following hotels.

• Brussels: Sept 28 - Sept 29: Crowne Plaza Brussels Airport
• Crown Plaza Brussels Airport
• Ypres: Sept 29 - Oct 1: Hotel Ariane
• Hotel Ariane
• Arras: Oct 1 - Oct 3: Mercure Arras
• Mercure Arras
• Amiens: Oct 3 - Oct 4: Mercure Amiens
• Mercure Amiens
• Chamouille: Oct 4 - Oct 5: Hotel du Golf de l’Ailette
• Hotel du Golf de l’Ailette
• Reims; Oct 5 - Oct 7: Mercure Reims Centre Cathedrale
• Mercure Reims Centre Cathedrale
• Vienne le Chateau: Oct 7 - Oct 10: Hotel Le Tulipier
• Hotel Le Tulipier
• Roissy CDG Cedex: Oct 10 - Oct 11: Mercure Paris CDG Airport & Convention
• Mercure Paris CDG Airport

At the end of the tour, we will check into the Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon (Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon) on October 11 and check out on the morning of October 14 when we fly home. The Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon is a small hotel with only 17 rooms. It is centrally located within walking distance of most of the Paris highlights.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019: Flight Seats

Today, I went on to the United web site and selected our seats. We are flying in Polaris Business Class. Outbound is on a Boeing 787-10 and the return is on a Boeing 777-200.

I have not yet completed the Reservations Details Form. I will do that and submit it as soon as I get a photo of Stephen's passport.

Tuesday, January 16, 2019; Developing Plans and Flights

Last week I chatted with Maxine about starting to work out details of the September Ambrose tour. The main issue to be determined before we could move ahead was how long Stephen could spend on the trip. I challenged him to let me know and he said he would be able to talk with his boss and give me the answer yesterday.

The bottom line was he could take off as much time as he wanted. He also informed me that he and Sarah would be in NYC on September 21/23 to celebrate Fred's birthday and that he might prefer to fly out of Newark and fly back to Dulles after the tour.

I talked with Maxine yesterday and told her that, with the tour commencing on September 28 (they claim the 27th but they count that day as the first travel day with arrival in Brussels on the 28th and a welcome reception that evening), I wanted to explore the idea of arriving on either the 25th or 26th. This would give us three or four days to, not only explore Brussels, but also the surrounding area including possibly Bruges, Dunkirk and Calais. The tour ends the morning of October 11. I suggested we might want to stay until Monday, October 14. This would give us three days in Paris.

Maxine said she thought it would be more efficient, if I were inclined to use my mile points for the airline tickets, for me to visit the United site and explore the options available. I agreed.

At that time, I had about 501k points in my Sapphire account and 78k points in my United account. My desire was to fly non-stop both ways in Business Class.

On the United site, I explored flying myself with departures from STL, IAH or EWR with returns to IAD, IAH or STL. For Stephen, I restricted his departure to EWR and return to IAD. The last constraint was that we would both be on the same flight between EWR and BRU and between CDG and IAD.

I concluded on the following flights:

EWR to BRU non-stop in Business Class departing at 6:30 pm September 24 and arriving at 7:45 am on September 25.

CDG to IAD non-stop in Business Class departing at 12:25 pm and arriving at 2:50 pm on October 14.

Booking these flights through the United site would require 502k points plus $261.26. I then went to my Sapphire account and found the exact same flights which, if booked through the Sapphire account, would require 412,305 points with no additional cash. I booked the flights through the Sapphire site saving ~90k points and $261.26.

I have booked my flights from STL to EWR on September 24 and from IAD to STL on October 14. Both flights are on Delta, are First Class and involve one stop. I booked directly through Delta instead of through Sapphire since the cost was the same, but I charged it to my Sapphire card so I will get both Delta miles and Sapphire points. I did notice that the number of points/miles required by Delta was less than those required if I booked through Sapphire. Unfortunately, Delta is not in the Sapphire Travel Program, so I could not transfer points from Sapphire to Delta. My return flight to STL from IAD leaves IAD 2 hours 40 minutes after the arrival of our flight from CDG. Maxine said the "required connection time" is 90 minutes (which includes getting through Customs and Immigration), so I should have an hour to spare.