znod

Hi Friends:

Two days in a row? Just coincidence? Well, we got to Brussels yesterday. The city seems very nice; the hotel (Hotel Metropole) and its employees are wonderful; we really enjoyed seeing the Grand Place; and our dinner last night was excellent. That's the good news.

The bad news is that we have been crime victims both days we have been here. The effects are not serious at all--no physical harm. As, I intimated earlier these sorts of things can happen anywhere, and we probably just had a run of bad luck. We have never had any problems at all in many trips to Europe before. We have no hard feelings toward Belgium. Criminals live everywhere.

But, I might as well report the results. Our hotel is in a very nice part of town. Around the corner from the hotel is a street with many very fashionable shops. The resturant we ate at last night was just a short distance beyond the "shopping" street. We had a wonderful and not overly expensive dinner. On the way back to the hotel, as we stepped into the "shopping" street intersection, some young men appeared to be horsing around on the street near us. But, they approached us and grabbed both of our arms. One of them put on a pitiful display of being a police officer while talking into his "Radio Shack" 2-way radio. He was the most aggressive and tried to pull me his direction several times with no luck. They quickly left my wife alone. I think that they were afraid of her. I'm just kidding, but one day she got into an altercation with a young muscle guy about the use of a gym machine. She told him in no uncertain, or quiet, terms that the last thing he wanted to do was "to mess with a menopausal woman in a bad mood." He sort of slinked away with the rest of the gym watching. But, anyway, our accousters had no luck with whatever it was they hoped to accomplish so eventually they went away. I can't say why they went away except that things did not seem to be going their way.

But, worse, today my slimmed-down billfold with 4 credit cards, my driver's license, my medical insurance card, and about 300 euros was pickpocketed. The scam was clever, but surprise was its strength. We had just gotten into a subway car when two nice-ish looking young guys approached the car. About the time they got to the door of the car one of them dropped his lighter into the car and bent down to get it. About that time, he started acting like I was standing on it, or something else I had dropped, and moving my leg. Well, that's all the distraction that was needed to fish my wallet out of my front pocket. I almost had him, but by the time I figured out that something was not right with the picture, the door had closed, and I could not get out. They timed everything very well including knowing just how long they would have before the door closed. I have learned, contrary to what I thought before, that a billfold in a front pocket is not enough protection against skilled scammers. I am thinking of insulating myself and keeping a primed-to-go-off taser in my front pocket in the future.

So, we had to go back to the hotel and deal with cancelling everything we had with us and figuring out how to get by from until returning to the states. All the new cards and my new driver's license should come close to beating us home. We have some options for getting cash, etc., and it will work out.

But, I have no car pics to show for my time in Belgium yet. To date, I have not seen one decent BMW. I have seen quite a few decent MB's. Tomorrow we travel to Bruges. I'm sure to get some good pics there.

Still having fun. No problem there. Just had a tad of inconvenience. And, we experienced some examples of what the first part of my sig is about. So, we are happy. But, heck, I'd still like to introduce my son to my newly acquired Brussels acquaintences. He is a mega several-martial-arts sort of guy--seriously into sparing and not just collecting designations, etc.

stream

Very sorry to hear about you misfortunes.

You will enjoy Bruges very much. Great beers (strong compared to american beer...so be careful... ), and the best place to buy hand made tapestries.

IMU

Sorry to hear about the troubles you had Znod - but you're right not to let these people affect your stay in a negative way

Am enjoying reading your E60.net travel-log, and look forward to more updates soon

Safe journey

znod

Hi URU:
I'll be updating whenever I have something interesting, including photos. Did you see the parade photos in the Loondon thread? And, remember, IMI, URU, IMU (not), and URI (not). I saw a big yellow exclamation point in London and thought of your avatar. What is he--a happy face exclamation point with a wiggly tail? Are you extremely happy? I always say that if I was any happier, then I'd be two people. But, that just might be my split personality's view.

OliverB

I am very disappointed & shoked to learn what happened to you in my country !
Criminality is a reality in all big cities on earth, that's a fact. But I'm sorry it happened here in Brussels.

I'm glad you are able to consider that like a simple fact ... Very "Zen" attitude !

I hope you enjoy your stay in Belgium. Sorry to be a little curious, but what's the name of the restaurant where you had this nice dinner yesterday night ??

In Brugge, the very best restaurant is "de Karmeliet". I went there 2 months ago, fantastic ! Great place !
About cars, you've to go to the seaside in Knokke-le-Zoute to see luxury or sporty cars. It's only 20 kms far from Brugge. You sit down on the terrasse of a caf? on "Place Albert", and you'll see great cars overthere...

You should also vist south of Belgium. For instance, Durbuy (the smallest town in Europe) is great (only 10kms from home).

If i can help for something, don't hesitate to contact me.

znod

Thank you very much Oliver. We won't need to take you up on your offer of help if everything goes as expected. But, thank you very much again. I know how you feel about something "bad" happening to someone in your country. The funny thing though is that I would feel badly about, but would not be at all shocked to hear that, someone from another country, or the US, was taken advantage of in the US.

We are having fun despite having a new experience. The resturant was Belga Queen. We had a very informative and fun waiter. Thinking of people who have been helpful, everyone in the hotel was very helpful. As far as I know, the hotel paid for all of the calls we needed to make to straighten things out.

The morning after our first encounter I ask one of the hotel employees if happenings like ours are common. He said no, but that one night upon leaving work, a "bad guy" had tried to take his cell phone. My wife mentioned later that, on her trip to Bulgaria, her group had been warned about those that pose as the police, ask to see passports, and then steal them. We wondered later if our first accousters where just bad criminals in training.

We will check out your resturant recommendation. But, I doubt we'll be able to get to the seashore, etc. Maybe another time.

Best regards, Znod

cobradav

Sorry you got hit by a few bad representatives of Belgium. You have the right attitude, however, as you probably found many more good and kind people there. I love travel and the people and letting the local goodness show through in whatever manifestations it takes. Whatever bad has happened to me or my family is soon forgotten and only the good memories remain. This holiday season we had calls to and from several countries all between new found friends that wanted to share and express joy in meeting and getting to know one another. I know at some point this episode will become slightly humorous in its retelling and become part of the charm you found in Belgium.

About that taser, not me my friend, too close to vital parts

Keep a stiff upper lip and all that and continue to enjoy the trip. Let us know if you need anything, maybe we can round up a rescue party

znod

Thanks cd. I think we have it all worked out with no real problem. Yes, we love to travel too--especially in Europe. We have had very few bad experiences. Except for our recent experiences, the worst that has every happened is a few attempts, and some successes, at making bad change. The Euro helps a lot in this regard.

The stories aready are humorous. One set of criminals was so inept. And, the other set was so good, but what was he doing with my leg? But, charming? Probably not. People putting their hands on others in unacceptable ways is not very charming, me thinks. Indeed, pushed to the logical conclusion someone often gets hurt when hands are laid on inappropriately.

Best to you cd. And, thanks again--expecially for offering the organization of a rescue posse.

buihh

Metropole is a nice hotel but the surrounding is terrible at night. As Belgian living in Brussels, I rarely go after 6pm.

I'm quite surprise that you said that you haven't found any decent BMW. you might be in the wrong area . You should have been to avenue Louise or Sablon.

I hope that you will enjoy Brugge, it will certainly give you a better image of Belgium.

Belga Queen is a nice place but I think it is a little bit too noisy IMHO.
Are you going back to Brussels? I might give some other adresses where you can have and enjoy your stay! eg. Place du chatelain has nice restaurants...or Sablon ,...you can have everything you want but it depends on what you are looking for.

Cheers

evh5150

sorry to hear about your troubles Don. Watch your back it's a bad world out there sometimes!!