Antwerp, Belgium.

Antwerp

Last night Paul's sister and mum came to visit us on the ship and stayed for dinner.  Although we had only left them 2 days ago, it was still good to see them again.  Paul gave them a tour of the ship before they headed back home across the border. 

Today I decided not to go out and just rested.  I am tired - possibly the slight rocking motion of the ship as we sail.  I also wanted to 'catch up with myself' a bit and have a bit of 'me time'.  It sounds selfish, perhaps, but sometimes I think it is good to have a bit of time to ones self.

The Belgian pilots are on strike so we didn't know if we would  be able to sail towards Rouen, France.  Eventually there was a slight change in plans and we sailed up the river, anchored near Vlissingen and picked up a Dutch pilot to take us out to sea.  So we are underway with the next stop - Rouen, France.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Antwerp

Vlissingen, Netherlands, and then Antwerp, Belgium.

Vlissingen

We were in Vlissingen until lunch time today and then sailed on to Antwerp for an overnight stay then leave tomorrow lunch time. I've been resting and trying to get my bearings a bit.

The Prinsendam is an old ship but she floats! Internal staff passages are a nightmare and seem like a rabbit warren.

Paul has been down to the tailors shop to get a work uniform made as well as coveralls made -  his clothes, except for one pair of uniform trousers and shirt, are all in a trunk which is still on the Maasdam.  And we may not see the trunk for quite a while.  Paul also had to be measured for a formal evening suit but needs to find a formal shirt as there are none on board.  A bow tie has been found for him, fortunately.  He also needs a black tie - which I will try to get at the shops as and when we dock and if I have time to go shopping.

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Vlissingen

An expo in Antwerp and a bit of sightseeing.

We went back to Antwerp today and went to an expo,"Erotica", at a convention centre.  It had all sorts of stalls that tantalised or boggled the mind; there was a bondage demonstration and a few strip side shows.  There was even a pop-up swingers club.  It wasn't really our cuppa tea, so to speak. We didn't see the strip shows nor even stick in an eyeball at the pop up swingers club.  At least we went to the expo out of curiosity and with an open mind. 

Afterwards we had a wander around Antwerp city centre and stopped for a hot home-made waffle with ice cream before heading out back to Rijsbergen.  Yum.

Tomorrow Paul will be going on a week long course at CSMART Academy in Almere (east of Amsterdam).  I will stay with his mum, Betty, and have made arrangements to meet up his sister mid-week and go to Elysium Wellness Centre/spa together.  I will miss Paul though, during the week.  He will be staying at the Csmart Hotel right next to the training centre rather than driving to Almere and back again every day.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Antwerp

 

 

 

All sorts.

This past week we have been chugging along, watching a bit of the Olympic winter games on TV and also been doing a bit of clearing out of Paul's stuff and his mum's, taking it to the recycling centre or second hand shop.  There is still lots to sort out but all in good time.

On the news we learnt that the South African President resigned.  Zuma's government was corrupt as hell and hopefully the next chap will bring more stability to the country.

We ended up putting in an offer on a 2nd hand campervan but the guy would only accept cash-in-hand.  Paul wasn't happy about a cash payment and the bank refused to release the cash, advising it was safer to do a bank transfer.  Eventually the seller was ok with the bank transfer.  Before doing the bank transfer though, Paul wanted him to sign a basic AA of contact of sale (the template of which can be found on the internet).  It  basically covers the buyer in case things went wrong.  The seller initially agreed to sign it and then refused.  So we backed out of the deal altogether on the basis that something 'dodgy' was going on. 

The T@B 400, similar to what we looked at.  (Photograph off the internet
to give you an idea of what we saw.)

Yesterday we looked at tear-drop shaped small caravans (also known as T@B or TAB) and then headed to Antwerp to pick up some plastic boxes for storage.  They are more durable than cardboard boxes and eventually, as and when we can buy or rent a house, we can move and empty the plastic boxes and perhaps sell or pass them on to people who might need them. 

It was getting a bit late to do anything else so we had a meal in Antwerp and went to watch a film, "Murder on the Orient", based on one of Agatha Christie's books.  It was fun and nice to go out for a change.