dsm22

\/ Well, the day has arrived, and I am packed, and more than a little ready to get our adventure started.

I have one 22" suitcase to check, and my soft sided back pack to carry on the plane with my purse. I have checked and double checked that I have everything I need. So why am I so sure I must be forgetting something?!

My concert music is in there, I must have checked that 10 times. We will be going to:

Brussels
Ghent
Namur
Dinant
Bastogne
Amsterdam
Delft
Brugge
Kinderdijk

I have enjoyed so many trip reports about these places, and it is so exciting to finally get to go there to make my own memories. It will be so much fun to sing with the local choirs and bands, I can't wait.

Budman

Have fun!! Looks like you will be hitting some great places. Save room in your carry-on to bring back some lace & chocolates.

bill_boy

You left out one thing:

Antwerp.

stardust

Enjoy your trip!

It looks like it will be very pleasant summer weather for the next 10 days at least: mostly sunny, and 20 to 25°C.

Where and when will your concerts be? Perhaps I could come and listen

dsm22

Budman, I left plenty of room! I looove chocolate.

bill_boy, Antwerp will have to wait until next time. I hope to get another trip in 2008.

Stardust, I do not have the specific addresses, unfortunately. If you can figure anything out from this, I promise it we are singing some lovely music. It looks like from the itinerary that the first concert is in Izegem. (Traveling from Gent to Izegem) Apparently we will be singing during and following a mass in a church there. We have religious pieces for the mass, and then secular music afterward.

Second concert in Amsterdam where we have a concert with Fanfare Band.

Third says "arrive Den Haage.....dinner at Mercure Hotel Den Haag Central. Transfer to concert site Friendship Concert with choir."

The fourth and final, says "arrive Veldegem for another performance during and after Mass." That will be the day that we will explore the Grand Place.

Well, I guess that was a mini "pre-trip
report".

dsm22

Guess it doesn't help any when you don't put the dates down. We really need an edit your own post feature!!

Sorry I am excited to go, and cannot conintrate on anything.

Izegem June 25, Amtserdam June 28th, Den Haage June 29, and finally Veldegem July 2nd.

FainaAgain

Dsm, you must be new on this board, or you'd know better not to listen to Budman

The chocolates are much better transported in your tummy!

BTilke

Have a great time! While you're in Dinant, hope you get to sidetrack over to the Jardins d'Annevoie.

dsm22

I plan to eat chocolates for breakfast lunch and dinner. This may be the only time I will travel and NOT lose any weight.

I am not new, I just mostly lurk. But for real, chocolate will not be okay in my carry on? Fainia you are giving me chest pains.

BTilke

If you are flying out of Brussels, you can buy tons of Belgian chocolate there, very easy to carry that way. Chocolate goes fine in carryon, but not in checked, too many temp changes. Esp. in summer.
FYI, it's been a little cooler than expected in Brussels and kind of humid. Warming up (a lot) on Saturday, but still humid.

dsm22

BTilke, thank you, yes we will be flying out of Brussels to Zurich, then on to JFK. Cooler than expected sounds good to me. I am worried about a heatwave. I don't hold up well for those. I think as long as it's under 80, I should be okay. I don't mind layering up if I need to at 60 degrees, but you can only peel off so much. You know? And my concert attire is warm.

Planned on buying chocolates in both airports. Yummy!

FainaAgain

DSM, I was only joking!

I brought plenty of chocolates from Switzerland in checked-in luggage... I think only one box looked fragile, it had it with me in the carry-on.

I didn't eat any as Swiss ice-cream is to die for, even such a chocoholic as myself didn't care for candy!

FainaAgain

Oh, I see you'll be in Zuric? Get some francs for ice-cream!!!! You will thank me later

dsm22

Ice cream? MMMM. I will make mine chocolate ice cream. Must be great milk from great cows that make it taste so good. Brown Swiss Cows here in the US have a higher butter fat content. I wonder if that type of Jersey cow really came from Switzerland. My husband is a dairy farmer and I have made my own ice cream and cheese. I am hungry now.

I know that there is some creme brulee left in the fidge.......

Zydecoqueen

Have a fabulous trip! Whatever you may have forgotten (probably nothing) can be purchased. As my husband always says...cash packs light!

Budman

<"My husband is a dairy farmer and I have made my own ice cream and cheese.">

Oh, then you want to ask for chocolates with "cream fresh" -- chocolates with fresh cream filling.

LoveItaly

Have a beautiful trip dsm, and enjoy those chocolates!!! We can all suggest after you return home how you can lose that weight, lol!

stardust

dsm22: I could perhaps make it to Izegem, I don't live far from there (maybe a 20 min drive). However, there are 4 churches in Izegem that have masses on Sunday, so unless you can tell me an exact location or the name of the church it might still be difficult, as churches here don't usually have a website with their calendar and stuff...

dsm22

Thank you Budman and LoveItaly. We will see if I even gain weight. Usually I am good for a 5-8 pound loss when I travel. I figure with all the chocolate eating I may just come out even.


Stardust, I was going to call my choir director last night to see if she new the exact address for any of the concert sights. I could not muster the courage to do it. There are 38 of us singing and maybe 60 traveling all together. I am pretty sure the woman may be trying not to pull out all her hair already. She has a lot on her plate.

I tried to google around with the info I had and did not get very far, either. I guess I did not think that someone from Fodors would be interested in going, or I would have asked the gentleman that came from our tour company to give us the presentation for the adresses.

Will post a trip report when we return.
Guess I will get in the shower. The director wants us where we are meeting the tour bus early, so she can check that we all have passports, music, attire and Euros. Judging by what people forget for concerts, she is smart to check. Yeah, she has a lot on her plate.

stardust

Dsm22:

I got the address of your Izegem concert from somebody working at one of the Izegem parishes. So if anybody is interested:

The concert will be on Sunday 25th of June at 9.30 am in the church Sint-Pieter (Saint Peter), Emelgemseplein 3 in 8870 Emelgem-Izegem.

Dsm22: it will all depend on my Saturday night activities if I will make it to the church that early. But as you say you have an extra concert after the mass, perhaps I'll come an hour later