Oct 12 – Today we visited the Grote Markt, to look at more beautiful buildings. This is the main square.

Inside the cathedral is a modern sculpture by Jan Fabre called “The Man Who Bears the Cross”. Unlike depictions of others weighed down by, or dragging a cross, this modern, bespectacled man is taking up and balancing the cross on one hand. How does he do it? Food for thought.

The sculpture in the middle of the street outside the cathedral depicts Nello and Patrache from A Dog of Flanders. An orphaned boy and abandoned dog befriend one another, until, homeless, they die together of hypothermia in the cathedral. This ain’t no Disney movie. Here they lie under a blanket of cobblestones.

Oct 13 – Today we planned to stroll out our door right over to the train station and jump on the first train to Bruges. Easy peasy, except….

There was a bomb scare at 7am, the station was evacuated, and no trains were running! It was the top story on the news!

The helpful station attendant could not tell us when the next train would be leaving, or when there would be a seat available due to all the stranded passengers. I asked if there was a bus to Bruges, and she looked up the bus schedule on her phone. There was a bus leaving in 20 minutes!

She programmed my phone to show us the bus station and told us to hurry, as we were supposed to pre-purchase tickets online. We high tailed it down the street and saw the bus marked Brugge, with a queue of passengers loading their luggage beneath. I accosted the driver and asked if we could buy tickets for this bus. He said yes, but only for cash. Did Jim have cash? Yes he did! We got the last two seats! How much excitement can two old folks stand?