Geo: 51.2094, 3.22523Finally! I slept pretty much all through the night. I did wake up a little early, but at least it was already 6:45. Now if I can just keep that going …We left the hotel at 8:45 and walked back up the hill to meet our coach and the driver, Paul. This Heidebloem coach is newer than the one that Rene drove, but I don't think the footrests are as good.We drove by the royal palace where Prince Philippe and his wife live; the king and queen live in another palace on the same grounds. We also made a quick photo stop outside the Atomium, a much better symbol for Brussels than a little boy who needs potty training. It was built for a world's fair in 1958 (I think) and was renovated just ... read more

Geo: 50.8371, 4.36761My hopes that night three wouldn't be so bad were dashed around 2:45 a.m. I woke up and could not get back to sleep. Really, the traffic noise was unbelievable. I even had two windows: the one that probably is original to the building and then a storm-type window on the inside, both of which were closed. I tried breathing deeply, which just makes me too conscious of my breathing, and I tried counting slowly backward from 100, which I guess only works if there's an anesthesiologist nearby. It's awful to wake up feeling exhausted.I decided to forgo the egg this morning. But I was entertained by a woman trying to eat a soft-boiled egg. Her egg cup kept tipping over.I left the hotel (where I will likely never stay again, even though it ... read more

Geo: 51.5002, -0.1262... and that's why I have to write so much. Twice in the 90s I stayed in a hotel just down the block from where I am now, and one other time John and I stayed in a hotel another couple of blocks away on the same road. One thing I had forgotten is: Bayswater Road is noisy! I'm pretty sure there was traffic all night long, consisting mostly of trucks. Plus, there's some sort of plate in the road that makes a kachunk noise every time a car goes over it. I woke up several times because of it, but I did manage to get a pretty decent eight hours of sleep.Something else I forgot: Leading up to this trip, I kept having dreams that I'd forgotten my camera. Well, I remembered the ... read more

Geo: 47.6353, -122.302... this is the end. The hotel worked out pretty well. We didn't hear a bit of noise during the night, and we were able to go down an elevator and an escalator to get breakfast at Starbucks. We checked out around 10:00 and then walked over to the airport to check in for our Lufthansa flight.Frankfurt airport doesn't have half the duty-free shops that Heathrow does, so I wasn't tempted to buy a bunch of last-minute stuff. Probably a good thing. We had to take a bus from the gate to our plane, which was a full flight. Lufthansa's pretty good. They see that we're well-hydrated and fed, and they also hand out hot towels two times during the flight. The flight crew were pleasant too.I'd never been on a plane where the ... read more

Geo: 48.22, 16.37It was much colder today than it has been, with a brisk wind as well. Our walking tour with Gerhard started in Stephansplatz by the cathedral. Unfortunately, nearly the entire thing is under scaffolding for restoration of the limestone walls, so I couldn't really get a good photo of it. The roof, however, was mostly visible, and it's really lovely. All colored tiles depicting a double-headed eagle, the family symbol of the Habsburgs; it reminds me of the roofs in Beaune.I can't remember the order in which we saw stuff, but here's what we saw. The plague column was put up by one or other of the Habsburg emperors after he begged God to save the city from the bubonic plague in the late 17th century. The "plague" itself is depicted as a hideously ... read more