a royal visitation

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The Kings (of Palmyra) honoured us with their presence for a week on our return from France, and following their 2 week ski season in La Tania. Jock and Ali flew down from Glasgow to join the fray for a few days. Unfortunately Jock took ill the first night with a tummy bug... or was it a tummy bug? Ali suspected the cause may have been that night's cheeses plus the previous evenings 3 course meal, beers and 8 of these little numbers: He was out for the count Sunday, and missed a tasty meal at the Italian place on the Lake. But recovered enough to join us on Monday. It's often the case that the presence of visitors means you see a bit more of the town/city/country you are living in than you would otherwise. No exceptions in this case. Being the international types that we all are, we had to make a visit to the special spot, only an hour or 2 from home, where you can leap between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in seconds - or even straddle the 3 at once. We had stopped into Aubel for lunch, and Jock bravely remounted the eating horse by eating horse in a Croque Cheval (pas pour moi s.v.p!). Whether due to extreme fear of getting what Jock had, fumes, or a contagion, Ali succumbed to tummy troubles on the way home and had her first ever power spew (gooooo ali!). Sadly, Jock relapsed and Ali was still fragile on Tuesday, so they were left watching House dvds while we went off to Ypres. The first stop was the Commonwealth Cemetary, Tyne Cot. Very impressive and saddening/maddening place. Hard to not be moved. Was a freezing cold day, which also brought home how bloody horrible it must have been. At least we had clean, dry socks. We checked out a bit of Ypres and for a change of pace went to Decathlon so the Kings could get some biking gear (and I am very sorry I didn't get a snap of Jamie parading his new Borat bathing suit around Bel Air). We then returned to Ypres for a meal at the Post Office pub/cafe. The others made some good beer choices, and we received good attention from our hosts, being the only people there. We finished up just in time to get to the Menin Gate for the Last Post. They close the gate to traffic every night at 8pm for this. Again, very moving. Jock and Ali were well recovered by the time we returned home, unfortunately just in time to depart the next day. After dropping them at yonder Charleroi airport, we stopped in at the historic site where Napolean faced his Waterloo. My keenness to climb the mound would have been questionable even if I was being paid to do it - so having to pay a ridiculous sum for the pleasure ruled that one out. I was willing to wait in the car, but the others felt the same. Fortunately, they had set up an activity area outside the mound for kids with financial difficulties. Who needs physical exertion when you can have frozen puddles!

We had a hospital appointment Thursday, meant to be short, so dropped the Kings off nearby for a wander. Unfortunately they wanted to check on some things (all fine) so the quick appointment dragged in for a few hours. When that was finally dispensed with we headed to Leuven. By then we had the usual routine in play of trying to find somewhere open for a late lunch. Success in the end. As Jamie and I had to head to prenatal class, we popped in to the Tourist Office for some ideas & a map for Jamie and Mad who were staying there for a couple more hours. The young girl was very helpful and gave some good tips which the Kings followed up on (and which will no doubt be drawn on for future guests).

Friday was a day of rest for me, and the others set off for an exploration of Bruxelles. This included a visit to the Cantillon Brewery which got a thumbs up. Jamie got to relive his BMX days as they hired some bikes to get around on (including in an emptied water fountain). I met with them in the evening for dinner. Saturday, their last day, we took pretty easy. Went for a wander and shop in La Hulpe, and then returned to our Lakeside Italian restaurant for lunch. We managed to make a dint in our excessive cheese supplies with a deluxe fondue in the evening.

Was fantastic seeing the Kings, and getting to spend some quality time together, just like old times. But pretty sad to see them on their way back to Oz (via Paree) on the Sunday. With the crappy new airline regs, couldn't even pop a memento bottle of beer in their carry-on.