FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. Monday afternoon my friend Chantal came for a visit. Since the New Year Eve she had spent with us I hadn't seen her anymore. After the funerals of her husband her son had returned to Dubai and now she was finally completely alone and she told me that she is so exhausted that she only sleeps ! Now of course there is a lot of administration and insurance papers to be filled in, when a husband or a wife dies it is very complicated in Belgium. She doesn't even have access to her own bank account. It's all blocked the bank had to advance the money she needed. We spent a nice afternoon together while outside as usual it rained.

2. To put a little sunshine at least in our hearts Nicole and I went to the travel agency to book a week in Tunisia at the isle of Djerba. We had got a gift check of 500 € ( $) and of course wanted to spend this money ! The check was valid from April to October. We booked a very nice 4* hotel for May and had only to pay 65 € (70 $) ! A very good bargain !

3. I was busy to prepare a post about the Waterloo Lion site (see post here ) and that took me quite some time to find the old pictures ! I had put the link on Facebook and got a lot of comments from Waterloo inhabitants who hadn't seen the site in this state yet and wrote that a graveyard is more fun !

4. I went shopping our fridge was empty, I just loaded the car and hurried home, it was really disgusting outside ! Far better to stay inside in the warmth.

5. We wanted to celebrate the New Year with some girls of my painting class in the Asiatic restaurant which is so nice in everything, quality, price and decoration.



So we were 6 vintage girls gathered around a round table and had a lot of fun. I think we were quite noisy too, because the other guests wondered why we laughed so much and turned their heads towards our table. Maybe they were just jealous !

more participants at here

and Linking to What happens in your surroundings this week

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A RAINY DAY

The weather is so bad that I only go out if I absolutely have too. It's windy and it's wet. On TV there is nothing except terrorist attacks and other violence. Why is there never something else then negative things ? Heart warming stories would be very welcome !

So what I do is besides some household scores, I read blogs and surf the internet a bit, and then together in the evening we watch TV but not the news !



It's warm and cozy and I think that I am very lucky.

relating to Warm heart Wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Harley Davidson meeting on Brussels Christmas market

THE CHANGE OF THE WATERLOO LION SITE

The Waterloo Lion was built in 1820 as a memorial to the battle of Waterloo.


This was the view on the Lion and the buildings around before the renovation for the bicentenary in 2015



and so it looks today




Before the renovations started, it was a friendly place with nice restaurants and cafés. That's what you saw when you arrived.





and in January 2016 it looks like this. No comment.



Until the end of the 60th there was even a tram running from Brussels to the Lion, which was a very much appreciated excursion for the Brussels inhabitants. Today there is a bus taking you near the Lion but most of the way you have to walk.

Even the little tourist train which took the tourists from Waterloo center to the Lion doesn't exist anymore. Now you have an old stinky bus who takes tourists from the Lion to the Hougoumont farm.








The Wellington café which was just under the lion had been demolished now in January. It was a very much loved place, where each afternoon at 3 pm people could meet and dance.




There was a hotel and even a casino. It was a place of joy and pleasure.



The hotel had been demolished before and for years this new built was the tourist center of the Waterloo Lion.


The other hotel on the opposite side was used as a souvenir shop and wax museum for years.



On the corner was a very cure restaurant where people met on Sundays, for drinks or even lunch.





The most beautiful restaurant was "Le Bivouac" where even the Prince and later King of Belgium gave his parties.



Today all this is replaced by this "white house" which contains a restaurant  which makes me think of a factory canteen.

The excuse for all these renovations is that the site should look like as it had been during the battle (except the killed soldiers) and become a big worldwide tourist attraction.

more participants here

WEEKEND REVIEW - January 11

January is a dull month. There is nothing going on and if you don't want to run around in Boutiques or more intellectually going into a museum, there is nothing interesting left. Fortunately I have my blogging. Sometimes we just need to get out of the house and that's what Nicole needed too.

So we went to the Carrefour's Lunch Garden together with Charlie. When Charlie is with us everybody talks to us and that's quite entertaining.



We had brought our tablets and were reading our emails and then looking for holiday propositions. Charlie lay bravely on the ground and waggled with his tail when people smiled at him. And while outside it rained and there was a lot of wind we first enjoyed our meal and then later coffee with a piece of delicious cake. Chatting with people brought us suddenly to 4 pm and Nicole almost missed an appointment. A group of young men admired first Charlie and then us, because they found it so nice that vintage ladies handled tablets and they complained that their grandmothers refused all "modern" stuff. We had a real nice conversation.

Sunday late afternoon I went with Nicole to the cinema. Last week we had missed the film we wanted to see because it was sold out. This time we bought the tickets immediately after our arrival and then wanted to eat a sandwich. As it was Sunday everything was closed in the Gallery even the cafés, restaurants and snacks ! I had never been in the gallery on a Sunday evening. It's just dead ! Usually it's full of people there are many boutiques and restaurant and other shops, but besides people like us there were only those who also went for the cinema. Finally outside we found a Sandwich in a café.

The film with the nice title "Le grand partage" (the big share) could have been real nice. The story was that the French government requisitioned big apartments in Paris and asked the inhabitants to share their home with the homeless as the winter was extremely cold. Of course this gave hilarious situations, but there was something missing. It was just a film where you laughed from time to time but it was close to ridiculous. The fine, tender humor was completely missing although all the ingredients were there. We were very disappointed.

We finished the evening with the drink in "La pomme" (the apple)



Last week I hadn't noticed these funny Christmas trees with real apples !