As I mentioned before, Terneuzen wasn't much to write home about. Since I made my arrangements so late, there were no rooms available at the place people typically stay: the Golden Tulip. Instead I was in the Hampshire Inn City Terneuzen. It was fine, but not up to the highest of standards. It did have a week of wi-fi access for about 23 euros. At the Crowne Plaza in Antwerp, they wanted 30 euros for one day of access...wi-fi robbery! Friday evening I road with my colleague Tom to Ghent, Belgium. It was raining, but we walked around the city center a bit. We had dinner at a fondue restaurant called Lucifer. I stayed in a hotel downtown. The next morning I walked around a bit more and then took a taxi to the train station (Sint-Pieters railway station, which is outside Ghent). In the photos below from Ghent, the Lys is the river. In the famous view from St. Michael's bridge, the three towers are the Belfry, St. Nicholas' church, and St. Bavo's Cathedral. The taxi driver who drove me to the train station was an out-of-work industrial engineer. He searched every nook and cranny of his coat two or three times trying to find his business card in case I could help him get a job. He was wearing a different coat and couldn't find any of his cards.

The high density of bicycles I noticed around the Ghent train station would come in handy later that day when I was trying to find my way back to the central train station in Brussels at dusk...when I glimpsed a bunch of bikes, I knew that must be the train station. The other interesting thing about bikes in Belgium and the Netherlands is that people are riding them around these cities (often in traffic), but no one is wearing a helmet. In the US these days, it seems that any safety-minded person wears a helmet. Not so with the culture over there. It can be rationalized partly by the fact that they have many more bike paths and drivers have more experience coexisting with cyclists...but still I would buck culture and wear a helmet if I was biking over there. I took a train from Ghent to Brussels. I checked in at the Sheraton at the airport in Brussels, where I stayed because I had a flight early the next morning. I then took a train to downtown Brussels and spent the afternoon walking about.

Here's a bit of video from the main shopping street in the city center of Brussels late on Saturday afternoon. It gives you a feel for how many people were there in the rain, but I don't think it does it justice.

On the flight back to the States I watched The Queen and Grand Canyon. I've already told you about the adoption story...a good end to the trip.

Last night Lisa and I watched the documentary SHADYA from PBS' Independent Lens series. From its website:

Seventeen-year-old Shadya Zoabi is a world champion in karate, but in her traditional Muslim village in northern Israel, succeeding on her own terms is no easy feat. SHADYA is the coming-of-age story of a young Israeli-Arab woman struggling to balance her dreams with tradition and cultural expectations.

It was good. The interaction between Shadya, her sister, her brother, her husband. I give it 4 out of 5.

Last night I finished watching Munich (2005,R) (ScreenIt! Review). From the Wikipedia entry:

The movie is set after the 1972 Munich massacre. A squad of assassins, led by former Mossad agent "Avner" (Eric Bana), is ordered to track down and kill a list of Black September members thought to be responsible for the 11 Israeli athletes' murders...

It was OK, I guess, but I wasn't engaged at all. I give it 3 out of 5.

The other movie I watched on the flight back from Amsterdam was The Queen (2006,PG-13) (ScreenIt! Review). From the Wikipedia entry:

An intimate, behind-the-scenes glimpse at the interaction between Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, to reach a compromise between treating her death as a private tragedy for the Royal Family and appeasing the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

I enjoyed it..the interaction between Blair and the queen. The queen driving a hummer. That's something I hadn't imagined.

One of the films I watched on the flight home from Amsterdam was Grand Canyon (1991,R). From the Wikipedia entry:

Grand Canyon is an ensemble drama directed and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan. It was advertised as "the Big Chill for the 90s", in reference to one of Kasdan's earlier successes....The film chronicles how [the] characters – as well as various acquaintances, co-workers, and relatives – are affected by their interactions in light of...life-changing events.

I'd seen this one before too, and it was good. I give it 5 out of 5.