Flight QR105 is now ready for boarding at gate 113...

It was certainly an early start to today especially after such a restless night.  We could hear music throughout the night through to the wee hours of the morning.  I woke thinking it must be nearly time to get up and it was only 11:30pm.  I kept waking during the night as the occupants of the hotel room next door thought it fine to chat all night.  The last time I woke was near 3am when what I thought was a fire alarm went off.  I looked out to the pool area and to my surprise saw some locals coming out from what looked like an underground night club.  I thought it a waste of time going back to sleep as we had to wake again at 4am.

4am came and I got up to shower and pack our belongings in preparation for the hotel check out. 

I rung down to reception at 4:40am for a Porter boy to come and collect our luggage at which stage Ang and Meriana were preparing themselves for the day ahead.  We made a stop at the Taggs hotel room to collect their luggage and all made our way to the lobby.

After check out was completed, we had to wait a few minutes for our taxi as there was a slight mix up as to how many taxis we needed.  All in all we got to the airport in time, made our way through customs, decided to order a coffee and something to eat only to find out we had to board our flight in 5mins.

One could say that, that was the fastest downing of food and coffee on record and us being the seasoned travelers that we are knew we couldn't take our coffees on board the plane so I downed mine and Ang left hers behind, much to her disgust as there was a lady on the plane with her coffee she bought from Costas.

We left the UAE with a light shower of rain which I thought was such a lovely sentiment.

Our seasoned travelers and their trolley bags

The first leg of our flight was from Dubai to Qatar.  The seating configuration on the place was 3-3.  The t.v. screens were touch screens so I decided to play a game.  I was really getting into my game, so much so that I was pushing the screen a bit too hard and was asked by the passenger in front not to push so hard (oops, my bad).  The flight was only 40mins and we had an egg sandwich or tortilla with orange juice.  The flight duration was about 45min.

Qatar, barren desert

Our stop in Qatar was very short, so short that there was only enough time to go to the bathroom before we had to board our next flight. 

We caught a bus from the terminal to the plane and boarded ready for the next part of our trip.  

Can I just day at this point, if you ever get the chance to fly Qatar airways, I highly recommend it. The seats are spacious and the cabin crew are absolutely fantastic.  Ground staff on the other hand, told us we could use the kid’s car seats on board only to find out when we get to the plane we couldn’t but a minor glitch which needs no further expansion.

The seating configuration for the flight from Qatar to Brussels was 2-4-2.  The 4 seat configuration was lettered D, E, F, G.  When we booked, we booked D, F, G with the hope that no one would book seat E. Ian and Devika had also booked the same directly behind us.  We had a bit of a wait on the tarmac before we departed, so Meriana was able to watch part of the Princess and the Frog during which time the cabin crew gave her and Jazz two mesh type bags full of goodies.  All with a SpongeBob theme, they got a soft toy, a snakes and ladders board game,   colouring in pencils, pencil sharpeners, colouring in books, an activity book,  stickers, cards, puzzles and a watch.  Meriana was over the moon about getting a watch and had the biggest smile on her face which looked like it could cover the continent of Africa.

After about 20mins we finally started to ascend.  We were quite fortunate in the fact that the flight was not fully booked so we were able to use all 4 seats.  We raised the arm rests of the 2 centre seats and made a bed for Meriana with the pillows and blankets and she promptly fell asleep.

Personalised with her name

They started to serve the children’s breakfast which was also served in a big SpongeBob plastic lunch box. They had fresh fruit, a small kit kat, a packet of gourmet jellybeans , a packet of chips, an orange juice, a slice of cake, a roll with butter and a hot meal of sausages, baked beans, hash brown and eggs.

Then came our breakfast and boy was that a meal and a half.  You had the option of either Cinnamon Pancakes with Blueberries and Strawberries or a Frittata with Chicken Sausages.  I opted for the pancakes as I had an egg sandwich on the last flight.  Accompanying the main meal was a roll with butter and jam, fresh fruit salad with creamed cheese (which I used on my pancakes) a fruit yoghurt, coffee/ tea, water and orange juice and a small packet of “No Smint, no kiss” mints. 

Before they serve each meal they bring around steaming hot refresher towels, which are handed to you with white plastic tweasers, from a plastic white tray. It’s the small things they do which you appreciate on a long haul flight, although, it’s not as long as the flight from NZ to the UAE, but 6+ hours is still a long time with a two year old tow, two, two years olds in fact, who by the way have been superbly behaved on the flight, such seasoned travellers the pair of them.

Anyway, I digress, back to the food, because after all, it’s all about the food, hehehe.  For lunch they served the usual drinks, tea, coffee, water, juice, fizzys, wines and beers accompanied by a hot chicken sandwich (Tortilla) and chocolate covered cookies and the children got club sandwiches and cookies with juice.

The time difference between Brussels/Rome and the UAE is 2 hours, which means the time difference between Brussels/Rome and N.Z. is 11 hours (behind N.Z.).

We arrived at the Brussels National Airport at 3:00pm, 30mins later than anticipated, but all safe and well, until we exited the plane and had no heart beat because we couldn’t find our passports, but all was well, because the cabin crew located them under one of the seats, but that’s a whole other blog on its own.  Customs was a breeze, we collected out luggage and walked straight out of the airport where Devika’s sister met us from London.  The girls went off to the bathroom, Ian went to pick up our Mercedes and I went and got a sim card for my phone, so at least we can be contacted if need be.

So for all our fans out there you can send us a text or flick us a call on 0032 488 68 63 65.

We loaded up the van and headed out into the Brussels Township trying to find our way to Ypres.  So we said au revoir to Brussels National Airport for the next few days..........”hey there’s the airport” on our way to Ypres and we come across “hey, there’s the airport!” and for the third time “hey, there’s the airport!” hehehe so after almost 2 hours of driving around in circles and with all 3 lanes bumper tp bumper with traffic, we decide to find a place to eat, because remember it’s all about the food, we came across Pizza Hut, fed our faces, Ang, Meriana, Devika, Ian and Jazz went to find a bathroom (because they are few and far between) while Geeta and I tried to locate Ypres on the iPhone.  On their return, they managed to get directions (same ones Geeta found on Google Maps) from a local publican, where he allowed the girls to use the bathroom.

After filling our shrivelling stomachs (because they didn’t give us much to eat on the plane, hehehe) and feeling a bit more refreshed and stress free, we headed off again to Ypres or Ieper , where we will call home for the next 3 days. 

We arrived at our hotel, The Ariane at around 8:30pm and promptly made our way to our rooms to settle in for the night. I shot down stairs to take a few photos, as opportunities have been few and far between today, but there will definitely be more to come tomorrow.

If I had to describe Ieper, the township we’re staying in I would say it reminds me of old day Europe, with cobble roads, brick apartment’s row on row down narrow streets, it’s almost taking a step back in time.  See Facebook for more pics

But for now, it’s bonne nuit from Belgium.