Yeah, I know how Ray feels.
I've been so moody lately. Is it the crowds? Is it the homesickness? Is it the hotel that really annoys me?
Well, yesterday I endeavoured to find a post office to send some heavy stuff home. Both blokes at the hotel said the "Post Offices are closed, Madam!" and it is the weekend "Madam!" on the 30th December "Madam!".
This city has more tourists than residents, I don't think so!
I walked and walked and walked and after following Google maps to a "Poste" I discovered I had walked out of town to a store that sells stamps and coins for collectors.
The weather was quite warm 12 C so I went back to the hotel to leave my coat and ask again if they could at least post on my behalf, or if I could get a courier. "no, no no, what if they come in the middle of the night?!"
Seriously?
So I go back into the Markt (tourist-central) and just waft about till I see a nice quiet store that sells tapestries and lace. I bought a couple of tapestries - for those of you have enjoyed visiting my home, you will remember my bathroom door is glass - so I thought "Hmm... tapestries would give some privacy and some class.
Anyway, since my hand was in my pocket, I figured I'd ask about a Post Office. The shop keeper said "There is a Post Office across the street!" He took me outside and said "That is what BPS stands for!"
And sure enough... the souvenir store full of snow globes and fridge magnets was a fully operational post office open all day every day till 6 pm!!!
By this stage I had walked all over the city - to the city limits - wasted my whole morning!! So went home packaged everything up and sent myself all my trinkets to open up when I get home.
That made me cranky.
That, and the fact that there are so many crowds. It's hard to enjoy looking at the architecture when there is some huge bloke walking backwards into you so he can take another photo. Or just elbowing me as I walk along. I do everything I can to avoid human contact - you know that! Bruges is becoming hell on earth for me.
I was thinking of making it a quest to flip the bird in the background of people's photos. But I was concerned I might get arrested. I saw a man in costume (Top hat, big coat) pulling a wagon with puppet-type things getting photographed by a police officer and getting a "talking to". So figured the finger might be a bit brash for Bruges.
This Hotel: Ter Duinan Hotel is... well, its a let down after the others. There is a constant "wind" sound blowing through the vents. It's quite loud. I feel like I'm sleeping in a wind-swept arctic tundra. The door rattles all the time and everything outside the door is clearly audible inside the room. When I arrived to check-in there was laundry all over the hallway in the entrance and laundry baskets fill the hallways and staircase at all times of the day and night. (Mentioned the fact the hotel managers don't know anything about post offices in their own city). "Making up the room" seems to mean something different here (God! I sound like a posh git, now! But I did pay $$$ and I have a few things to compare it to including cheap hotels in Bali), They empty the bins and re-spread the doona. That's it. They don't vacuum, replace used toiletries, replace bedding... so...
TODAY: the last day of 2017 - I will spend in my hotel room napping and painting and will head out to the throngs of tourists later in the day to take some photos. Might try to get to see the Madona and Child at the Church of Our Lady if I can find where they sell the tickets. Groeningemuseum is a destination I will try for, if I can cope with the lines of people.
** Just got walked in on by hotel cleaning staff... opened my door and found me writing a scathing review of their hotel. Mmmm... revenge served cold.**
Here are some photos:
I call these three photos the "Breakfast Triptych" .
OK. Just had a shower... did I not mention the lack of hot water?! No. Well, the water is just off cold. Not warm, not freezing, not shower temperature either. Sigh.
Here's a nice quiet street in Bruges
Outside a lace shop:
I know exactly how she feels.
I have been working at a boys school this year, primarily made up of male employees. What I have discovered is that all questions have a correct answer and a helpful answer.
Let me explain with the use of this old joke:
Two men in a hot air balloon is taken off course by a gust of wind among the buildings of city and he is lost. They see a man in the window of a sky scraper and hold up a sign "Where are we?". The man in the building holds a reply "You're in a hot air balloon!". One man turns to the other "I know exactly where we are n manages to land the balloon in a local park.
"How did you work out where we are from that sign?" said one man to the other.
"Well", he replied, "That had to be a Microsoft building. His answer was technically correct, but completely unhelpful!"
I was reminded of this joke many times this year and most recently when I ordered lunch yesterday. I ordered spaghetti and a green salad. It would have taken 2 seconds to tell me that the size of the salad was sufficient to feed the African savanna section of a zoo. Instead, I had two enormous plates of food served to me I couldn't finish. One was called:
Green salad, mix of crudness.... how could I resist?!
** The hotel cleaners are still outside my room talking and banging about... ahhh the serenity. Had another knock on the door, this time they want towels. Fine have the towels. - Sure, I spent money to stay in this room and to be comfortable, but yes, the towels, we must have the towels. Bloody Hell! This never happened at Hotel Chambigues Elysees - I was left alone - if I wanted to stay in throughout the day, they let me!**
Alright, alright... I'll go out into the cold wind and rain. Thanks for your hospitality.
I've been so moody lately. Is it the crowds? Is it the homesickness? Is it the hotel that really annoys me?
Well, yesterday I endeavoured to find a post office to send some heavy stuff home. Both blokes at the hotel said the "Post Offices are closed, Madam!" and it is the weekend "Madam!" on the 30th December "Madam!".
This city has more tourists than residents, I don't think so!
I walked and walked and walked and after following Google maps to a "Poste" I discovered I had walked out of town to a store that sells stamps and coins for collectors.
The weather was quite warm 12 C so I went back to the hotel to leave my coat and ask again if they could at least post on my behalf, or if I could get a courier. "no, no no, what if they come in the middle of the night?!"
Seriously?
So I go back into the Markt (tourist-central) and just waft about till I see a nice quiet store that sells tapestries and lace. I bought a couple of tapestries - for those of you have enjoyed visiting my home, you will remember my bathroom door is glass - so I thought "Hmm... tapestries would give some privacy and some class.
Anyway, since my hand was in my pocket, I figured I'd ask about a Post Office. The shop keeper said "There is a Post Office across the street!" He took me outside and said "That is what BPS stands for!"
And sure enough... the souvenir store full of snow globes and fridge magnets was a fully operational post office open all day every day till 6 pm!!!
By this stage I had walked all over the city - to the city limits - wasted my whole morning!! So went home packaged everything up and sent myself all my trinkets to open up when I get home.
That made me cranky.
That, and the fact that there are so many crowds. It's hard to enjoy looking at the architecture when there is some huge bloke walking backwards into you so he can take another photo. Or just elbowing me as I walk along. I do everything I can to avoid human contact - you know that! Bruges is becoming hell on earth for me.
I was thinking of making it a quest to flip the bird in the background of people's photos. But I was concerned I might get arrested. I saw a man in costume (Top hat, big coat) pulling a wagon with puppet-type things getting photographed by a police officer and getting a "talking to". So figured the finger might be a bit brash for Bruges.
This Hotel: Ter Duinan Hotel is... well, its a let down after the others. There is a constant "wind" sound blowing through the vents. It's quite loud. I feel like I'm sleeping in a wind-swept arctic tundra. The door rattles all the time and everything outside the door is clearly audible inside the room. When I arrived to check-in there was laundry all over the hallway in the entrance and laundry baskets fill the hallways and staircase at all times of the day and night. (Mentioned the fact the hotel managers don't know anything about post offices in their own city). "Making up the room" seems to mean something different here (God! I sound like a posh git, now! But I did pay $$$ and I have a few things to compare it to including cheap hotels in Bali), They empty the bins and re-spread the doona. That's it. They don't vacuum, replace used toiletries, replace bedding... so...
TODAY: the last day of 2017 - I will spend in my hotel room napping and painting and will head out to the throngs of tourists later in the day to take some photos. Might try to get to see the Madona and Child at the Church of Our Lady if I can find where they sell the tickets. Groeningemuseum is a destination I will try for, if I can cope with the lines of people.
** Just got walked in on by hotel cleaning staff... opened my door and found me writing a scathing review of their hotel. Mmmm... revenge served cold.**
Here are some photos:
I call these three photos the "Breakfast Triptych" .
OK. Just had a shower... did I not mention the lack of hot water?! No. Well, the water is just off cold. Not warm, not freezing, not shower temperature either. Sigh.
Here's a nice quiet street in Bruges
Outside a lace shop:
2017: Year of the Microsoft Help Response
I have been working at a boys school this year, primarily made up of male employees. What I have discovered is that all questions have a correct answer and a helpful answer.
Let me explain with the use of this old joke:
Two men in a hot air balloon is taken off course by a gust of wind among the buildings of city and he is lost. They see a man in the window of a sky scraper and hold up a sign "Where are we?". The man in the building holds a reply "You're in a hot air balloon!". One man turns to the other "I know exactly where we are n manages to land the balloon in a local park.
"How did you work out where we are from that sign?" said one man to the other.
"Well", he replied, "That had to be a Microsoft building. His answer was technically correct, but completely unhelpful!"
I was reminded of this joke many times this year and most recently when I ordered lunch yesterday. I ordered spaghetti and a green salad. It would have taken 2 seconds to tell me that the size of the salad was sufficient to feed the African savanna section of a zoo. Instead, I had two enormous plates of food served to me I couldn't finish. One was called:
Green salad, mix of crudness.... how could I resist?!
** The hotel cleaners are still outside my room talking and banging about... ahhh the serenity. Had another knock on the door, this time they want towels. Fine have the towels. - Sure, I spent money to stay in this room and to be comfortable, but yes, the towels, we must have the towels. Bloody Hell! This never happened at Hotel Chambigues Elysees - I was left alone - if I wanted to stay in throughout the day, they let me!**
Alright, alright... I'll go out into the cold wind and rain. Thanks for your hospitality.
I'd be happy to go out if there was a chance I'd befriend a cocaine-fuelled racist dwarf.
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