Last week of June.

Saturday 28 June. We were up early at 4 am to get packed and off to catch the eurostar to Brussels, Belgium for a weekend getaway break. We arrived in Brussels at 10am and we straight away decided to get a local train to Bruges for the day. Our euro ticket entitled us to one local train trip out and back to any destination in Belgium - so we chose Bruges near the coast.

Bruges is a perfect example of a medieval city It was the main commercial and financial center in the middle ages. But Antwerp competed and soon Bruges declined, until the 19th century when it was restored for tourists and now it is a heritage site. It is easy to walk about and there is a large square called "The Grand - Place" which has a definate grandeur about it consisting of buildings of different styles spread out over 6 centuries.

In Brussels and Bruges they speak Flemish but in other areas, the Belgiums speak French and a tiny area speak German.
The canals, bridges and quays are an intergral part of the Romantic Scenes that make up the Bruges landscape. The boat ride of 1/2hr provides a chance to see the city from the water with its houses listing over the water which was picturesque.

Lace is very important here. The lace center is in Bruges. Former houses of God were given to the needy people and in exchange they were required to work, making lace.
Chocolate is also important in Belgium. Chocolate shops dot the cities and are handcrafted and very beautiful looking. We sampled a couple of them!

We bumped into a bunch of Aussies here and had an icecream with them. We had a chat and naturally rugby was mentioned.

We headed back to Brussels at 6. 30 pm to find our hotel - Hotel Hilton Brussels.

Sunday 29 June. We slept in till 7.30 am and up and breakfasted. Wow!! What a selection of foods was avalible. We had a good tuck in to hopefully last us for a while.
We wandered about Brussels exploring the city. We visited the "Grand Place" - town square with fabulous Town Hall, built in the 15th century in the Gothic style, with a Belfry and Spire.
Whilst wandering here we met a lovely couple Chris and Joell Dunlap from San Francisco. It was great to have a chat and hear about their travels.

We decided to catch the underground metro at Gare Centrale station and go out to Heysel. We visited Bruparck - Brussels newest leisure center and the Mini Europe attraction. "Do Europe in just a few hours". There is 350 miniatures to see and the history of the European Union and its place in the world.

We also visited the Atomium - an iron and crystal atom structure magnified 165 billion times. It opened in 1958 as a Universal Exhibition. You go up a ultra - fast lift for a wonderful view of Brussels.

We caught the metro back to De Brouckere and wandered back to our Hotel to pick up our bag. We had a couple of cups of tea and a rest before we again got the metro to Gare du Midi station to catch our eurotrain back to London. We had a great weekend and found the Belgium people friendly and helpful ( when they could understand English )

Monday 3o June. Last day of June and the year is flying by. Kevin was working at Bellerbys and I got called in to a Termination of Pregnancy Clinic. I worked along side a doctor assisting with examinations, doing their obs, assisting while she scanned them etc.. It was very interesting and different.( reminded me of my doctor/nurse surgery days in Gisborne and Nelson).

I had a very eventful day getting to this job. I was doing the laundry when I got the text for work. ( laundry takes a while to complete here) But I got it dried and put away. I walked off to the train station with not much time to spare.

A road bridge was opening up to allow a couple of boats to pass through. It took a while - so I tried to wait patiently. Then once it closed up I headed off again. I got to the station and found the swipe terminal was out of order and had to go up the escalator again and swipe it at the top one.

Then I found I had insufficient money on my card. I raced around to the shop and got £10 put on it and going back down the escalators again to find the train was not arriving for 14minutes - Blow!!

I got on the train and you won't believe this, it only went one stop! We all had to change to another train, again another wait of 5 minutes this time. Back on the train and off at Canary Wharf to change to the Stratford train. On my way again hoping not to be too late. I got off at Bow Church and then caught the District line to Stepney Green.

Out of that train and a quick 10 minute walk to the hospital. Asked where Sylvia Pankhurst Ward was and zoomed round the corridor to find the stairs were 'Not in use' due to new flooring being put down - so had to use the lift and it was slow as !

It eventually arrived and up I went to the 3rd floor and found heaps of young women waiting outside so I squeezed my way through and walked in only 4 minutes late ! Whew ! I'd made it ! I guess life in London has its pluses and minuses, when it comes to getting about the place. Its just something you have to accept over here.

Tuesday 1 July. We both worked today. Was the hottest day so far 28 degrees. Kevin continues with his swimming exercise after work and yes it was a rather hot day.

Wednesday 2 July. Kevin off to register with a couple of other teaching agencies as he had no work today. I had my first night duty. They work from 8.45 pm - 7.45 am so quite long shifts. It was very good and not a problem. It was funny arriving home at 9.00 am thinking of going to bed !

We've had another exciting and interesting week, so cheers for now.