Europe Road Trip

Sept 14-28, 2018

This morning I arise and look outside our hotel bedroom window. We are on the 8th floor and our window looks down over the city of Antwerp. My eyes sweep over the building roof tops and take in the pretty scene capped by the cathedral with the tall steeple.

I step into the elevator for the ride down to the breakfast room. Two other hotel guests also step in with me and here we are closed into the small moving space we call an elevator. I glance at the other two occupants and they avoid my glance. They stare at the walls of the elevator and act as though I am nonexistent. I understand it is fear and distrust of each other in such a closed space. No one wants to cause any trouble. I make a light comment and we all smile. The ice is broken. It just takes a smile of assurance; the magic of a smile is inestimable.

We find that hotel breakfast buffets have a large variety of all kinds of foods. With so many choices it is difficult to make a choice. So you make a few choices and eat more than you normally do! You can count on finding a large platter of fresh dark breads, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a cheese platter offering the most delicious looking bricks of cheeses, sliced ham, a variety of fresh fruits, granola cereal, yogurt and jams. Amazing.

After breakfast Al and I step out of the hotel onto the sidewalk in front when whiz! Something shot by. What was that?! A bicycle rider! Wait…here come some more in a hurry. I step back to keep from being run over. In Antwerp we find the city sidewalks are sectioned off into white painted bicycle paths. You want to cross over the sidewalk to the street to get into your car? You better look right and left first to be sure you cross over without being run down by a bicycle rider! They are not just tooling around. The city bike riders are on their way to work or shopping or schools. Mothers are carrying their small children in open baskets attached to the bicycle. You have a dog? Put him in the basket and pedal him. That’s the European way. I am lucky enough to make it across the sidewalk to our car. Phew. I will go through this process in every city we visit on this trip.

There is no hotel parking garage or spaces. Al is forced to cruise the city streets when we first arrive yesterday hunting for a parking space. Finally he finds one blocks away from our hotel. Before we go to bed that night Al moves our car into a space newly available in front of our hotel. He is not in a good mood when he comes to bed.

This morning Al and I browse a local convenience store and then walk around the block admiring the old buildings. Today my cousin Martina invites us to her apartment to have a meal with her and her family at 1:00 p.m. in Duerne. Al and I have no trouble deciding what to do this Sunday morning. We take our time and drive through two delightful little Belgium towns on the way to Martina’s apartment. As we drive along the back road we come to a sign announcing “Albert Kanaal” in the town of Massenhaven. We find a parking area and pull over next to the canal. I take a nice walk along the canal path but when I turn and start my walk back I freeze. I am rapidly being approached by a pack of bicycle riders. These riders are helmeted and faces down intent on their bike ride. No one seems to see me coming along the path so I take a quick jump to the side just in time to see them whiz by. That was too close for comfort.

Al and I drive on coming to the delightful little village of “Broechem.” The town is dominated by the tall steepled cathedral. The church service is just ended and a small group of church goers stand outside the main door chatting with each other while another group of church goers sit congenially at a couple of tables at an outside café down the street. The church door is unlocked and Al and I enter the church and take a look around. The priest greets us and tells us we are at the “Our Lady of the Nativity” church. The organist is introduced to us and we chat with him a while. Then walking up and down the church aisles we admire the darkened wood and carved wood pulpit and staircase leading up to the pulpit. Everywhere are elaborate wood carvings of the pews with closed doors at the end of the rows and baptismal font that is always a work of art.

We cannot stay long as the priest is jangling his keys and we know we must leave. After the priest locks the cathedral door, he and his wife climb onto their bicycles and ride through the village street towards their home.

Driving further down the road we come to another little village called “Ranst”. Once again the quaint old houses lining the side streets and the little main street call to us, “Stop! You must stop and see us.” We obediently park our car in the main square and walk around the block. A passerby speaks to us and when he finds out we are tourists he asks, “Why would you want to stop in such a little village as this?!” He is incredulous that we would be interested in such a local town. “We are here because we want to see the local life of a town.” He seems to understand this and is at peace.

Driving on with our GPS guide “Sarah” telling us where to go, we arrive on the block in Duerne where Martina lives. Her son Hans Peter spots us looking for a parking space and waving his arms shows us just where to park. Thank you, Hans Peter! We know my cousin Martina since she visited us just a few years ago in Uncasville, but this is this the first time we are meeting her children and grandchildren. We are very excited to greet Hans Peter and…who is that waving and smiling to us in the doorway? It turns out to be Martina’s daughter Christina. We hug each other as if we were the closest of friends. And we are. We are family visiting from America. Such excitement. I climb the 32 stairs slowly up to Martina’s apartment where she greets us at the door.

Inside more hugging and kissing and we are introduced to Martina’s daughter in law Myrium the her two young children Lina and Lars. We also meet Christina’s daughter Noella, a delightful teenager. We gather around the dining room table for another great meal! Martina serves us pumpkin soup, a chicken, gravy and rice casserole, garden salad and apple cake for dessert. It all tastes so good! After the meal Marc Gyselink arrives with photos of the Gylsen family to show us. Marc is the cousin of Martina’s mother. He is a dentist by trade but spends 2 hours a day researching family lines for friends. He has a particular interest in the Gylsen Danish family line. I fit in there somewhere through my father. The hours speed by and before you know it the sun is setting and we say our sad good-byes. I know we will see each other again. The ties that bind are very strong.

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