The Longest Tram Line in the World: Belgium

This is still the "last trick" of 2014, going backwards in time from our 4-day trip to Belgium at the end of November.  In the last post I showed our stop in Veere, NL, on our way home, December 1.

Today's post is what we did Sunday, November 30, celebrating our 7th year of meeting on the internet, via our Shutterchance photography blog.  Has it really been 7 years?!

One of Astrid's co-workers told her about the tram line the full length of Belgium's coastline.  And since we were staying in Ostend, around midway on the coast, we both got very excited about spending a day on the tram, getting on and off wherever we wished.

The Coastal Tram, as it's called, is 42 miles long with 70 stops, making it the longest in the world.

Since we started in Ostend, we first went south to De Panne, near the French border,

and then back all the way north to Knokke-Heist, near the Dutch border,

then back south to Ostend, making the full trip up-n-down in one day.
(image from Wiki)

And it cost only €5 each for that entire day!

We started at the Marie-Joséplein tram stop in Ostend around 10:15 a.m. that Sunday,

just a 5-minute walk from our hotel, on a very foggy day.

Disclaimer:  some of the following images may be hampered because of the fog or moving tram!

I knew we'd see the North Sea, of course, but had no clue about anything else.

The architecture was just astounding along the entire coast, and still building.

Astrid says the English and the Germans in particular come to vacation here.

I grabbed whatever churches I could get along the way...

...as well as these 5 water towers.

The Dutch aren't the only ones who build these magnificent water structures!

We figured we'd have a hot-chocolate break in De Panne at the southern-most stop,
which we did, right on the coast.  That's a Belgium waffle, yes.  We're not dumb.

Little did we know that at that exact time, the 19th Panne Beach Endurance international bike race
was happening!  Talk about serendipity!  It was our biggest surprise of the day.

So, both before and after lunch, we were spectators of the 1000 plus participants,

at the starting line of their 52 km endurance ride.

A real beach race over one distance, a struggle against nature and against yourself.

Are you ready for the race of your life?  We were all waiting.

Finally, they started coming, gaining speed to climb the ramp...

...over which they would then hit the quagmire of loose sand before riding the beach.

While many sailed through with flying colors, many others didn't.

Once they saw the water, I bet they thought they were home free, almost before they started!

But of course, they still had miles to go!

Here's where I was standing most of the time, seeing mishaps and all.
You can actually see Astrid at the end on the right, crouched down in the crowd (red coat).

 Back in the tram again, heading north to Knokke, we enjoyed the Ostend sights as we passed by.
We had already seen many of them on foot the previous two days (a later post).

It would have been fun to get off at many of the tram stops, of course.
But the purpose of the day was to get off at the "bottom" and the "top" only,
and just look at everything else while passing by.

Speaking of which, we did see all kinds of fun things (besides sand dunes, of course).

You could spend much longer than a day on this tram to see everything.
And yes, that's a windmill (bottom-left) and my one weathervane of the day (upper-right)!

All along the way we had looked to see where we might stop for our anniversary dinner.
At the end of the line in Knokke, we switched trams and started back down the coast.

We had picked the Blankenberge Pier once we passed it going north!

The present Blankenberge Pier was built in 1933, crossing 350 meters into the North Sea.
(The original pier built in 1894 was destroyed by the Germans during WWI.)
The pier is now a leisure complex with several catering businesses, an auditorium and exhibition space.

And that's where we chose to eat our anniversary meal.  How exotic!

Besides choosing the local Blankenberge beer,
we noticed they had spaghetti carbonara on the menu.
Have you ever seen it served with a raw egg like that?
Hands down, it was the best carbonara either one of us had ever eaten.
And the pork dish suited it well (we always share, remember).

By then the daylight was "setting," with the fog ever-present as we left.

What a way to end the day, get back on the tram and go home.
Look at Astrid's sheepish grin.  We had the time of our lives.

It really doesn't get much better than this, Folks.

Our 2013 American Trip: The NYC High Line

Guess what, Folks.  We're at the end of our October trip to America, leaving you with the High Line of New York City as we wave good-bye to a fabulous vacation.  Just in time for the holidays!

It so happens this was at the end of our Columbia University day and the visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (last post).  So, as you'd guess, this was late afternoon - early evening on our last full day in NYC.

Because it was approximately 8km south from the cathedral to the High Line,

we took the subway.  How convenient!
(Astrid took the bottom-center pic of the lady in purple!)

And now we're talking about a one-mile walk along the former elevated 

New York Central Railroad spur, where two of three phases are completed.

Talk about someone with vision for a run-down section of the city!

Talk about transformation! People from all over the world come to see it and walk it!

It's like a park in the sky....

...full of art and leisure and rest against new architectural wonders springing up everywhere.

It's breathing new investment-life into the city.

Look what you get to see while you take your walk!

 

On all sides, you look below or across to what's there,

some almost at arm's reach.

 Wouldn't you be inspired to paint there?

And once back down on terra firma, world-famous icons are everywhere.

How can you not love New York City!

Many thanks to Robin who made all this possible for us.

We'd go back in a New-York minute!

Our 2013 American Trip: Columbia University, NYC

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my American friends.  I can't think of anything that makes me happier than being thankful.  I'm thankful for you who stop by to read and comment.

May your cup runneth over with Joy, Love and Laughter.

(image from our Brooklyn Bridge day in NYC, last post)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The very next day (October 8), after blustery, misty weather on the Brooklyn Bridge, we awakened to glorious sunshine.  This was the day earmarked for our walk to Columbia University from Robin's apartment at 72nd and Riverside Streets...to 116th Street.  On a beautiful day, you can walk forever!

It's called the Upper West Side.

We didn't walk along the river but you get the gist.

And we took our good ol' lazy time.

You know me and architecture!  

See what I mean about a glorious day?

As we say, it's all in the details.

(I always try to get the forest and the trees...one or the other of which I sometimes miss.)

The brownstones.  The brownstones.  It wasn't hard to spot them.

But it was the water towers I feasted on that morning walk.

Did I hear there is talk now to start covering them? 

PLEASE SAY THIS IS NOT SO!

The low-down on NYC's 10-15,000 wooden water towers is here.

Do you like to people watch?  You've come to the right place.

No matter where you go, there you are...in friendly NYC!

How friendly is that!  See what I mean?

And suddenly we were outside the gates of Columbia University from 1754.

It's NY's oldest institution of higher education, and the nation's 5th oldest.

On Amsterdam Avenue...of all places!

And why there, you ask?

Because my mom got her Master's there in 1939, that's why!  

I wanted to see what she saw.

Almost immediately, after passing through the gates, you see Low Memorial Library.

It's the administrative center of the university, built in 1895.

Inside was where I got directions to the university archives, to find my mom.  

That was my goal for the day:  Find Mom's name in print!

And that would be directly across the campus in the Butler Library, from 1934.

You get a great point of view on it from the steps of the Low Memorial Library.

And there...EUREKA!  I found it, finally, with the help of this nice lady.

It took some doing.  I even called sister Ruth at Michigan State.  HELP.

Barbara Nelson Bennett

She graduated in 1939 with a Masters in Music Education from the Teacher's College.

She had graduated from Smith College in 1937 with a History degree.

She was always a woman ahead of her time.

As we walked around campus that morning, I had tears in my eyes, thinking of her.

(center image is from Astrid)

1939 seems like forever ago but I 'spect some of this was there for Mom to see.

The Scholar's Lion statue was presented to the school in 2004 by alumus and sculptor Greg Wyatt.
I bet Mom would have loved it...since the school's mascot is Roaree the Lion.

And did she ever step foot in this St. Paul's Chapel, dedicated in 1907?

So many questions I'd love to ask her now that I've been there!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

On that note, we walked down Amsterdam Ave. from Columbia University to the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine from 1892..and first found a café across the street where we ate lunch.

After lunch, we first stopped at the Peace Fountain next to the cathedral.
The sculptor is the same Greg Wyatt who made the Scholar's Lion above, at Columbia!

The sunken plaza of the fountain was its own outdoor cathedral, basking in the sun.

We could have stayed there for hours...but we had miles to go....

The entrance to the cathedral reminded me of the grand cathedrals of Europe.

Right there in NYC!

No wonder Robin knew we'd want to see it!

And as if to plant a seal of approval on the day thus far,

this wife-n-wife wedding party greeted us as we left the cathedral...

...and made our way to the High Line (to be continued).