It took us some time to walk in the middle of the car free boulevard, and not using the sidewalk ! We wandered around, had a Durum in a Turkish restaurant and Claudie got stuck in a Belgian Chocolate shop ! She tasted some samples before she bought chocolate for her family.
I also showed her the renovated Hougoumont farm. We didn't go inside, because they asked me a Waterloo resident and volunteer for the tourist office to pay the entrance fee ! I told him that I had seen this farm before he was even born, and that I had worked as a tourist guide and just wanted to show the farm to my friend, but the young man followed the rules and nothing else. I decided not to insist and rather speak to the responsible of the tourist sites ! I can't pay for me each time I want to show a tourist site in the city where I live for about 40 years ! So she took pictures from outside and decided to come back when the visits are more organized.
My friends Ilona and Nicole came over for a coffee in the afternoon, we we had a nice chat under the watchful eyes of Dog Charlie. When Nicole wanted to leave, he refused to go home and sat on the sidewalk and didn't move. She pulled and pulled on his leash, nothing to do. I had to walk him to her car ! He loves to come to our house. Mr. G joined us for coffee and cake but then escaped behind his computer !
On Sunday a thunderstorm was announced, but we were lucky ! We went to a beer festival in a nearby village, as Claudie wants to try out all Belgian beers.
She had a lot of fun, but was very reasonable, because she only had two !
We sat there and listened to the music, watched the people and wandered around very surprised by all the different sorts of beer we saw. There was beer out of honey, ginger, peaches and many others.
This "monk" faked to be completely boozed, came tottering towards me and then sat on my lap ! We laughed and laughed and really enjoyed this festival.
We just had time to return to the car before it started pouring !
It was her last day, so she had to pack her suitcase and we had our last meal together.
This morning I drove her to the station, our nice holidays were over. Apparently she took the warm summerweather home again, because it rained and it was rather cool. Now the house seems so empty !
Hi Gattina - you always make the most of life .. love the photos - and so great your friends join you so often ... yes it's bucketing here too!!
ReplyDeleteTake care and have a good week - looks like a wet one ... cheers Hilary
It's always the best to spend time with dear friends...and we both are lucky to have many of them!
ReplyDeleteI think someone, you or Mr G, has been feeding Charlie snacks. Volunteers for the farm event should have life passes, surely. You should push a bit for this. Otherwise, what a terrific time you seem to have had.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like a fun festival especially that monk. Were there many others dressed up?
ReplyDeleteSaturday was so hot I needed to be beside a pool somewhere but today the rain has been so bad that many roads are flooded.
What a fun visit! You be careful around those drunken monks though
ReplyDeleteThat beer festival sounds very good. But making beer out of honey?
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