Belgium- Day 10: Going Home - July 14, 2018

Going home. Yes, I think I'm ready for that. I've done a fair amount of sightseeing during this trip and other than maybe a few more things in Den Haag (The Hague), I don't think I've missed much.
So, at 6:55 we got up. Our breakfast consisted of yogurt we bought last night and granola bars from home. It would be ridiculous to take the latter back. I hoped that my stretches would keep down the cramping from all of today's sitting.
We checked out and immediately got in the taxi that had been prearranged last night. At 8:16, we were off for the train station that we'd arrived at just yesterday. When we were let out across the street from the station at 8:25, where we'd found the taxis the day before, I was surprised that the fare was higher at 15 Euros, even though the trip was shorter in time duration. I wondered, whether it was because we'd booked it.
I decided that it might be a good idea to run up the stairs to the WC, after we passed through the checkpoint for tickets. It cost 0,70 Euros, but it gave me one of the SaniFair tickets, like they have at rest stops in Germany. I didn't take it into the shop there, because I didn't want to take the time, because I expected us to have to haul the luggage up the stairs to our track. However, happily, there was an escalator at that track. I stayed with the luggage, while my husband went into the shop there to spend the ticket, hopefully on a Milka bar with Oreos, that we'd seen on a television commercial last night. Unfortunately, that shop wouldn't accept the ticket. So, he bought nothing.
I noticed this cool building on the other side of the train station:

At 8:46, we boarded the train for Amsterdam Schipol Airport. There was a ticket check at 8:55, even though the ticket had been scanned just to get to the track. The trip wasn't long, arriving at 9:16.
We didn't know where check was in relation to where we were. In June, the driver had dropped us off at the Delta check-in area. Now, we were near where we'd exited the baggage claim area. As we went in search of a way up to the next level, we came upon a busy supermarket. My husband K insisted on going in to buy cheese. I knew that there was a special price for three up in the Amsterdam shop on the other side of security. I suspected the price here was the same or even better, but saw no reason to buy it now. I was quite surprised that he put his one cheese in his suitcase. I tried to dissuade him, saying that it would stay cooler in the main cabin, he didn't know how long it would sit on the tarmac, etc., but all to no avail. Sigh.
At 9:50, we were in the line for KLM to drop our baggage, because Delta doesn't actually have a desk here. They code share with KLM and KLM does their check in. When it was finally our turn, my suitcase went up on the scale first, because we remembered that it had been the heavier on the way over. The weight was fine. The clerk mixed up the passports, however, and my husband's name went on my bag. My bag disappeared behind a metal door before my husband's bag was even up on the scale. His bag got my name, of course. I stuck the baggage claim tickets in my purse and we were done there at 10. I was a little concerned about the time we were told to go to the Delta gate, which we knew was their actual security check in, but I was assured it was fine.
At 10:03, we entered the rather lengthy security line. It moved well, however. My bag got extra swabbing, but it was fine and we moved on at 10:16. Today, we were sent to the self-serve passport kiosk, which had not happened in June. We each were scanned and matched to our passport photos, before stepping up to passport control to have the passport stamped. We were all finished at 10:21.
Now knowing this area fairly well, we headed for the Amsterdam shop. I checked the prices against another shop, but they were the same. We got 6 packages of Dutch stroopwafel (waffle cookies with caramel in the middle) in different flavors for gifts, as well as the three cheeses. These cheeses were all Edam, but one was plain, one had herbs and one had garlic. We'd keep 2 of the 4 cheeses we'd bought today and give 2 to our daughters. I also bought a keychain that I could pull apart to use the pieces for my Dutch dollhouses.
We stopped at Amsterdam Bread Co., where we'd had a delicious meal in June, for K to buy a sandwich and Coke to take up to our gate. He got a ham sandwich for 6,20 Euros and a Coke Zero for 3,55 Euros. I will not miss overpaying for Coke.
At 11:10, we were in the Delta line at D1. It was far more crowded than in June and I became a little concerned about how slowly it was moving. Many of the desks were manned, and I was irritated to note that a clerk who was far from the head of the line took people near him out of the line to check them. That was not fair to the people who were ahead of them. Finally, it was our turn to answer the same old security questions about our luggage. They put a colored sticker on the back of each of our passports and sent us to our real gate, D49, at 11:25.
It was quite a hike to the gate and we really hustled, arriving at 11:33. That gave us a little time to eat, use the restroom and for me to take Dramamine.

 When it was time to board the plane, some people were pulled aside for extra screening. We managed to avoid that. At 12:20, we were seated in 37 J and H onboard DL 137 to Detroit, because it was a lot cheaper than the direct flight to Orlando that was leaving later. I had my usual baggy with napkins and hand sanitizer and we wiped down most of the surfaces, as usual.
Just after we pushed back from the gate at 1, I started watching Being George Clooney, a really good documentary about voice actors for foreign films, who dub for all sorts of actors, including Clooney. They really get paid rather poorly and receive little recognition for their work. However, Robert De Niro, I think it was, insisted on doing the dubbing for his film, when it was done in Italian. The audience refused to accept it, because they were used to the local voice actor's work. I remember a poster in German for one of the Ice Age movies that actually named the guy doing Sid's voice. I was well into the movie, when we took off at 1:30.
About 2:15, the cabin crew brought around wine and snacks. I started to watch My Cousin Vinny, but I couldn't stand what I was seeing. So, I switched to An American in Paris, which I've never seen before. Oh, I've seen the dance, but not the whole movie. It does not hold up. There is no way it would receive an Academy Award today. There are too many plot holes; Gene Kelly is unconvincing as a struggling artist. I hated the way his character treated the woman, who tried to help his career. But, at least I've seen it.
By the time they got to our row with food at 3:10, they were running out of things. K and I both wanted pasta, but they were down to just one of those. He kindly took chicken, since I'd had it on the way over. Both meals weren't bad.

 About 5:45 CEST (Central European Summer Time), we were given a snack pack. K did not like the bruschetta spread, so I ate his.

Around that time, I was watching the animated movie Early Man. I thought it was pretty good. When that was over, I watched Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat. It was really funny.
At 7:20, they gave us a sort of dinner. Once again, they ran out of choices by the time they got to us. It was a rather unimpressive warm sandwich, but also a Dove ice cream bar, which I love.

We landed in Detroit at 3:24 EDT. Gaining back 6 hours is a shock to the system as much as losing them is. Twenty-one minutes later, we were in the Immigration Line. It was a rather long line. I suppose more Americans come home to Detroit than to Orlando. But, at 4:05, we were through the line.
Most of the luggage was already on the carousel. We found K's, but mine was nowhere in sight. This was crazy-mine went through before his. We were told we'd have to talk to Delta. When we got to their desk area just after the last Border Patrol guard, there were rope lines and as we went to get in one, we were asked why we going there by a Delta agent. We explained and she said to go up to report it. We were then stopped by a male Delta agent, who's about to tell us the same thing, when my husband tried to tell him that we knew that. "If you'll let me finish, sir,..." he said not at all kindly. K had not been rude, but this guy was.
Finally at the desk, the woman behind the desk started searching in the computer for the bag. All she could find was that it had not come off the plane. (Evidently, the luggage tags are scanned, when they come off.) It wasn't on the plane, but she didn't know where it was. I was getting more and more upset and closer to tears. My expensive orthotics were in that bag! She really had no idea, where the bag was, but said we couldn't file a claim until our final destination. She was truly puzzled and had even called over another agent. This did not make me feel better.
It was 4:40 now and we had to get into the security line to go out to go to our next flight. This made me even more upset, because we did not have our TSA Pre clearance for this leg. So, I was going to have to take out my CPAP machine, which they even announced to everyone, and take off my shoes. Walking without shoes is a no-no for me and not comfortable after sitting for so long.
When I got up to the machine, I asked just how much of the CPAP they wanted out. Just the air handling part, which struck me as dumb; the electronics are in the cord and its adapter box. Then, they decided they had to swab every single chocolate bar, cookie box and cheese. I mentioned that this had been done in Amsterdam, although, I didn't say that it was a more general swabbing. When I said something about my feet, one TSA agent was quite kind and she told me to tell them next time and they'd just swab my shoes. Seriously more pleasant people than Delta.
Out on the main concourse, we took a moment to enjoy their playful fountain and to note the tram high overhead.

We went to our gate, where I collapsed and K wandered off for a bit.
I texted the daughters about the luggage and put it on Facebook. My older daughter immediately replied, asking if I'd tweeted at Delta. Evidently a friend of hers did and got quick results. It couldn't hurt, so I did, complaining about the missing bag. Within moments, I got a tweet expressing sorrow over this and asking me to private message them my luggage tag number. Luckily, a link to private message was provided, because I didn't have a clue how to do so. Within minutes, she-even though there were only initials, I decided it was a she- sent me a message back, saying the bag had been put on the bag after ours, the direct flight to Orlando, and I might be able to pick it up, when I got there!
I thanked her most heartily and gave her a glowing review, when Delta send me a message later to check on how I was taken care of. I also told them about the less-than helpful desk agent and the rude male agent. I reported the happy news to the daughters and, when I put it on Facebook, I gave my older daughter full credit for playing a millennial and teaching an older person a social media thing.
My husband came back, having found the dean of his college, who used to be the head of his department. He was going to be on our same flight on his way home from a conference. We chatted a bit and he recommended food places further back on the concourse.
We wound up at one of these, Bigalora, at 6:55. We ordered a wood roasted vegetable pizza for $13.79 and 2 Coke Zeros. It was a tasty pizza. Then, my husband felt I needed cheering up and ordered me a scoop of chocolate gelato. It took an incredibly long time to arrive; we almost cancelled it. It was good, but more on the order of ice cream than gelato. We hurried out after paying at 7:38.

At 8:03, we were seated in 36 B and C on DL 1405 to Orlando. (His boss, as we guessed, was in first class.). I was so rattled by everything, including the fact that my body thought it was after 2 a.m., that I failed to pull out the cleaning stuff for this flight. We took off at 8:33 and the flight was incredibly overly warm. It never cooled down. I also never slept.
We landed at OIA at 10:33. When we were coming down the escalator to baggage claim, I could see my suitcase sitting in front of the Delta unclaimed baggage office. Hurrah! Someone was in there on the phone, but the bag was just sitting there unsecured. I asked a Delta guy, who was there at baggage claim, if I could just take it. He didn't even check my claim ticket. I then saw that the lock was gone. I have had that TSA-approved lock for years and years. Delta opened just two years ago. The guy said, I should write and complain and demand back some of the Delta miles I spent to get this trip. I never did, because I just felt it was a losing battle. When I got home, I found a card inside from TSA saying they'd directed Delta to open it, because it was unaccompanied. Of course it was! Those idiots didn't put it on my plane. This is all because Delta doesn't do its own check-ins in Amsterdam. I also found the cut lock in the front pocket. Just plain disgusted.
Our younger daughter picked us up at the curb outside of baggage claim, rather than parking. We had a good chat on the way home, arriving by 11:30. I gave her her cheese, before she went back home.
It really was a good trip. It was just the last hours of it that were "challenging".

Belgium- Day 9: To Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands - July 13, 2018

When we were planning this trip, we knew that we would have to have an extra day at the end. Since we had flown into Amsterdam, we'd be flying out of there, too. And while getting to Oostende by train the day we arrived was fine, we knew we could not be assured of getting to Schiphol Airport on time from there. So, an extra day was necessary. We debated, where that day should be spent. Logically, it had to be in the Netherlands. We felt we'd done a pretty good job on Amsterdam before and after the Baltic cruise earlier this summer. Since my husband K kept asking, I narrowed it down to Rotterdam and The Hague. Rotterdam is a huge seaport with great architecture. The Hague is the seat of Dutch government and home of the monarchy and seeing both capitals in one year sounded great. We'd seen one palace in Amsterdam and we could see another here. But, the deciding factor turned out to be a piece of art, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. We'd seen so many Vermeers in Amsterdam and I read somewhere that this painting was the Mona Lisa of the North. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see her. (No, I didn't see the movie.) So, Den Haag it was.
My husband had already gotten our train tickets and had a printout of our connections, but we still had to get up early. I was up and stretching at 6:15; he got up 15 minutes later. He went down to breakfast at 7:10 and stopped by the desk to confirm the taxi he'd ordered the night before. I joined him for our last fabulous buffet at 7:20.

 We dropped the keys at the desk at 8:06 and, since the taxi was already there, we were off at 8:07. He got us to the street in front of the station that heads up to the promenade in just 5 minutes. He wasn't allowed to pull up any closer. So, after paying him 7,60 Euros, we hauled our luggage up and into the station.
The train to Gent-St. Pieters was soon there and we boarded at 8:23 for our 8:42 departure.There were few people in the car, since the train started from here. At 9, just past Brugge (Bruges), the conductor checked our tickets. Good thing he came through then, because 16 minutes later, we were getting off in Gent(Ghent). We quickly headed for another track and were seated in our next train at 9:25 and left shortly thereafter. Our tickets were checked again at 9:45.
We were heading for Antwerpen (Antwerp) and, for the life of me, I just couldn't figure out why we couldn't have taken one of the trains that I knew went directly there. K assured me it was all in the interest of making the train to Den Haag, without getting up at an ungodly hour.
We arrived on good old Track 1 in Antwerpen Centraal at 10:23. Checking the signs, we managed to correctly get on the right elevator to Track 22 for the train to Breda. What we did not do was check the sign on the track, when we saw a train there. K figured that it was ours and I didn't check, so we got on an empty car and it left at 10:42. That surprised us, because it was actually a few minutes early.
Soon a conductor came through and asked where we were going. We told him and he told us to get off at the next station and take the 10:57 train, because this was the wrong train! No wonder it was so empty! At Antwerpen-Luchtbal, we got off, as did a couple of other people. I decided that the train was going out of service.
We were now standing in the hot sun at a rather desolate elevated station.  There were some people standing on the other side of the track and I thought they looked like the ones who just got off ours. I really began to be suspicious about all of this and sent K down the stairs-no elevator, of course- to find a train schedule. When he finally came back, he said that the schedule never mentioned Breda. We realized that our best bet was to go back one stop to Centraal and get a train from there. In the meantime, of course, our train had gone by without stopping.
Going down the steps with our luggage was not fun. K got the large cases down and up the next set of stairs. In spite of the difficulty, I insisted on dealing with my carry on to save him from it. We managed to get over there in time to get the train that left at 11:04. We were back in Centraal in 3 minutes. We found a place for me to sit with the luggage on the level that had the tourist center and the chocolate waffle stand. I insisted that my husband had to go through to the ticket sellers to get info from an actual human being on how to deal with missing the train to Breda.
I watched a couple taking photos of each other and offered to do it for them. We got to talking and I found out that they were Dutch living in Berlin, where he did tours. We had a really nice chat about Berlin and things to do in Antwerpen.
When K returned, he brought a peace offering of a delicious waffle with hot chocolate sauce (6 Euros), because he figured he owed me. He probably did and I won't say no to a chocolate covered waffle. He also got a Coke Zero for 2 Euros. We went back down to Track 22.

 At 11:45, we boarded a direct train to Den Haag. Many others boarded, too. One minute later, we departed. We did get seats and got the luggage up above us. At 12:39, I took photos of the river just past Breda, where we were supposed to have changed trains on the earlier plan. It's really good that the tickets are just from Point A to Point B, without listing the specific trains in between, or this error would have cost us money.
At 1:07, we could see the Rotterdam canal and soon we noticed a sign for roadside McDonald's.

 13 minutes later, we were getting off in Den Haag. The station was truly lovely, but from this platform, there were only stairs down, which I thought odd for a Centraal station. A really kind man helped me by carrying my bag down the stairs. How nice!!
K went right to the ticket counter to get tomorrow's tickets, while I admired the lobby with the luggage. When we stepped outside, it was mostly sunny, but cool in the shade.

 It was a tad tricky figuring out where the taxi stand was. My husband left me with the luggage, while he looked a ways to the right and then the left. It seems to be a thing to not let taxis pull up right in front of the station. Finally, we could see beyond the passing buses to see that taxis were across the street on a street perpendicular to the one we were on. We got in one at 1:39.

The drive to the Hilton seemed a bit longer than we would have expected. Then, we passed another train station. So, perhaps, that was the Centraal we'd been looking for. Ah, well, we already have the tickets for tomorrow, so we have to go back to the other one.
The Hilton was on a corner with a canal on one side. K had chosen it to get points and we could walk from there to what we wanted to see. We arrived at 1:53 and the fare was 12,77 Euros, but we paid 13. The lobby was far fancier than what we'd had for the past week. Upstairs, we had to go around 3 sides of an open area to reach the room. As we wended our way around, we saw something I have never seen in a hotel in Europe - an ice machine!

 

 

 And, what a room! So modern, so cold! We actually turned the temperature up. The bathroom was amazing with a huge tub and separate shower. I knew it would be a pain in the neck to get into and out of, but I knew I had to take a bath in that tub tonight.

 We scoped out the map to get our bearings. We would be walking right by the palace to reach the Mauritshuis art museum. I didn't need to go in a palace; I just wanted a photo.  We took advantage of the Wi-Fi to find confirm that the museum did not close until 6. We got to town later than intended, but it would not ruin things.
We left at 2:40. On a corner, I saw a store with beautiful bowls called Aan Tafel Met. I asked my husband to give me a moment, knowing for sure it would be closed when we came back. I chose a lovely small bowl for 10 Euros and tucked it in my purse after the man wrapped it up. Along the way, I photographed whatever interested me.

They were doing major street work near the palace, but we were still able to photograph it and the statue in front of it.

 

We cut down a small street coming out into a broad square with restaurants.

 Across the street, we could see a broad grassy area next to a cemented in pond next to what we determined to be the Binnenhof, the oldest House of Parliament in the world still in use.We took photos before crossing and again when we got across, this time with the lovely flowers.

 We saw a small villa at the end of the complex and decided that was our destination. We walked to the end of the pond, along the street and then to the front.

 Signage was a little lacking, but K found out from a guard that we had to go underground to the entrance. Luckily, there was a glass elevator. Inside, he checked his backpack and we paid 15,50 Euros each in admission fee at 3:15.

 Rather than climb the stairs up to the first exhibit floor, we used the elevator, which my knees appreciated. The map of the museum told us where the major pieces were located. So, even though we looked at every painting, we made sure we looked for those. Most of those major works were by Dutch painters, but there was a Hans Holbein II in that list and I rather like his work.

Portrait of Quintijn Symons- Van Dyck

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man-Rubens and Brueghel

Old Woman and Boy with Candles-Rubens

Portrait of Jane Seymour-Holbein II

 The museum had free Wi-Fi, so I could post some of the wonderful things we were seeing. There was the room in which the wall sconces were arms with hands holding the candles. Unsettling!

 There was a beautiful painting of St. Barbara and I posted it with my cousin's name. She wrote back that her father used to threaten to put her in the tower just like St. Barbara's father did. That explained the tower in the background.
On the other side of a huge canvas was what was obviously a companion piece to St. Barbara and I recognized it as my patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous. I was sure she'd never worn anything so magnificent in life.

We climbed the stairs to the second exhibit floor and found the ceiling to look really modern in comparison to the art we'd been seeing.

 

On this floor, we found several Rembrandts in the first couple of rooms we visited.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp- Rembrandt

We were amazed by The Bull by Paulus Potter. First, it is huge. Second, he put in so much detail. Take a look at the flies around the animal's back!

Finally, in room 15, we found her. There was a semi-circular railing about 2-3 feet in front of her to keep you from getting as close as you could to the other photos. There was a couple there taking so many photos, including selfies. Finally, they left and we could get close to her. She is truly lovely, prettier than the Mona Lisa, for sure. What really got me was how perfect her cheek was. Unlike other paintings, Vermeer did not put a room behind her. Instead, she is surrounded by black. Did he paint that first or her first? How did he keep the black off of her? Under the blue turban on her head, you can actually see that her hair is braided or tied up under there. The pearl reflects perfectly. She was so worth seeing!

 We went back down the stairs on the other side to see the pictures there. We did not want to waste time waiting for the elevator, so I made the knees go down to the lowest floor again to go to the shop.
The shop was quite nice, but did not have a pin. I did get a lot of postcards at 1 Euro each, because that way I was assured of a decent shot. I'll also admit that I got a cloth to clean glasses and a glass nail file with the Girl on them.
We left at 5:58 and, since it was right there, walked into the courtyard of the Binnenhof. We couldn't go in any of the buildings, but we took lots of photos of the architecture, particularly of the Ritterzaal (Knight's Hall) and the beautiful Neo-Gothic fountain.

 When we crossed back over the street to the side with the square with restaurants, we looked at the southern square first in our hunt for dinner. So much of what we found was Italian or nouvelle cuisine, when what we wanted was Dutch food. I did continue to take pictures of architecture and flowers that interested me.

We headed back for the street with the palace. Seeing a side street called Molenstraat that seemed to have several restaurants, K went to check it out, saving me the steps.

 He came back and took me to Humphrey's, which we later decided was part of a chain. We looked at the menu outside and I figured that I could eat something on it. The front looked like a typical local restaurant, but they led us through to what had probably been another building at one time. Here, the look was decidedly modern. I liked it.

 I ordered a Hoegaarden Rosée, a fruity beer, for 3,85 Euros. My husband's Leffe bruin cost the same. The waitress brought us a board with bread and garlic butter and herb butter. Delicious! I ordered the Mixed Grill: skewer of steak, Black Angus Burger, pork tenderloin, bacon and free range chicken fillet-and had the fun of deciding which was which-mushrooms, bell peppers, onion and aioli for 17,95. Absolutely delicious! K enjoyed his Lamb stew with green vegetables, mushrooms and onions on a jacket potato for the same price. We also were given a nice chunky applesauce, slaw and fries in family style bowls.

For dessert, I had to choose chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and raspberry compote. Oh. My. Gosh.

 After paying 47,70 Euros, we left at 8 pm. I had not yet gotten postcards of the city, so I was on the lookout. I got lucky, when we saw a Spar supermarket with a display of them. I picked out 5 at a pricey 1,25 Euros each, but we also got breakfast food, because we were unwilling to pay over 25 Euros each for the buffet at the Hilton. We got yogurt and fruit and headed onward at 8:16.
I'd liked the look of this building, when we passed it earlier.

We were in our room at 8:30 and decompressed a bit before heading down to the bar at 9:30. We'd been given a coupon for a free drink for each of us at Spark by the front desk upon checking in. We were led to a table with a round seating bank. K ordered a Kompaan Bondgenoot, a beer made in Den Haag. I chose Prospetti Pinot Grigio. There was a DJ playing loud music we did not recognize, but it was nice to sit and enjoy the drinks.

 When we got back to the room at 10:15, I did indeed get into that tub. I read some of my Smithsonian and just loved it. Getting out on my own was impossible, even with the side handlebar. But, K was nearby and ready to help me out.
That bed was so comfortable to get into after a day of ups and downs! We were really glad we'd chosen to come here.