Mitchell's Revenge and What's Special About Belgium?

For those of you who don’t know, prior to Peter Mitchell’s death last year, a group of us were regular Canasta players. Nola, Peter and Anne were known as the NAPs. The other team are of no consequence so don’t get a mention. Now Peter and I loved each other dearly and, along with Nola, we were invincible at Canasta. However, there was one thing that Peter and I could never come to terms with and that was that he hated Collingwood and I hated Essendon. At times this proved a hurdle too difficult even for us, especially on Anzac Day. Last year when I went to see Pete following the Anzac Day game, which by the way Collingwood won, I was aware that he had been too sick to get up to watch the game however he was well aware who had won. As I walked into the room I was met with the comment, “I’m not talking about the #*#*ing footy, alright!” Here I made a fatal mistake and respected a dying man’s wish. We went onto discuss many things and this would be the last time that Pete and I talked.

If you have been reading the blog you would know that last week I gave the Essendon supporters a basting about their pathetic side, which of course is within the bounds of the football code of ethics, kick a team when they are down. Now I am sure you are wondering where I am going with all this.

On Tuesday night 29 April, the anniversary of Pete’s death, Stephen and I were walking the streets of Stuttgart looking for somewhere to eat and reminiscing about Pete. Suddenly I was hit on the head. I immediately thought someone had thrown something at me and I was bleeding from the head. “Stephen, Stephen, I have been hit!” Stephen investigates. “Eeeeuuuuu, its bird poop, lots of it!” Now the most disturbing part about this story is that I was walking under a verandah that had absolutely nowhere for a bird to be. Now I know one should never speak ill of the dead and maybe no-one else will think this, but I am absolutely 100% bloody sure that this is Mitchell’s revenge from the grave. Let’s face it, when it came to Collingwood, Peter was just plain nasty and if I could have my time over again, this time last year I should have laid the boots in. Consequently we had to return to the hotel to wash my hair, believe me, it was that bad.


Enough about that, last Thursday Stephen and I collected our hire car for the four day weekend and headed to Ostend, Belgium to visit our friend Luc. Once again the Michael Schumacher in Stephen came out as soon as he sat in the Audi A6. This was one seriously nice and very fast automobile. I hate to think how many speeding tickets are coming Stephen's way when he gets back to Melbourne's 100 kph limits. It was a 6 hour drive and we were glad to finally arrive at Luc's flat. Ostend is situated on the coast of Belgium and is a holiday destination for most Belgians, and believe me everyone of them was there for the long weekend. We walked along the promenade and had a beer in the sun before going back and having a quiet evening catching up with Luc.





Friday we spent the morning walking around Ostend and tantalising our tastebuds, you may see a theme with our photos this week. We bought some provisions for dinner as we were finally going to get the chance to cook on Friday and Saturday nights. After many weeks in a hotel, trust me, this is something we were really looking forward to.


We headed for Ieper where many Australian and New Zealand troops took part in WW1 and unfortunately many lost their lives. The Menin Gate is in Ieper and is covered with the names of ANZACS who died in the area. We then took a very sobering trip to Tyne Cot Cemetery where close to 12,000 graves are located. It was a very moving experience. The museum in Ieper had a fascinating exposition on the Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the war. We were surprised by many of the facts about the various countries and their troops of which we had not been aware, a history lesson we certainly won't forget in a hurry.

On Saturday we headed for our favourite city in Europe, Brugge. For those of you who have been, I need not explain its beauty and charm, but for the heathens who have not, this is a town you must see when you have the chance. Stephen and I had been to Brugge on a number of occasions, and each time it had been grey and rainy, but still beautiful, however this time it was a magnificent 21 degrees and the sun, the city and its canals were shinning in all their glory. We ate our very favourite Belgian meal of Waterzootsje for lunch, yummmm, which of course was accompanied by beer for Stephen and Luc and water for me - yeah right! Our trip back to Ostend was via Damme, a lovely little village with a very good beer garden, and other pretty little villages along the way.





Sunday morning we paid a quick visit to Luc's father, thanked Luc for his very generous hospitality and then headed back to the race track, ooopps, autobahn. We had a wonderful weekend. We were home in time to discover that Collingwood had their bums spanked, Melbourne had beaten Freo and that Essendon had been pooed on by Port! So take that Mitchell.

Enjoy the photos because that is about as close to these tantalising beauties as you are going to get. I, on the other hand, am drooling chocolate today. God I love Belgium.





Congratulations this week to the Maruff's on the arrival of Clementine, the Rogers on the arrival of another beautiful grandaughter, Lucy (well done Alison and Mike) and a special congratulations to Rachael and Vince who were married last Saturday. Also a big thanks to Luc for showing us around his home town and being a most generous host.