Tuesday morning, Bill and I woke at the crack of dawn, dressed, and made our way down to the breakfast room at the B&B Hotel Mons Centre. On that first morning, there were lots of people in the breakfast room. I got a kick out of checking out all of the uniforms. I saw folks from Norway, Germany, and Estonia (I think), as well as some Americans.

One thing I’ve noticed, having spent most of my life around military types, is that they all have a certain way of carrying themselves. I have sort of a love/hate relationship with the military. My father was a career Air Force officer, and I have many friends and relatives who have served. Bill was a career Army officer. I’ve been around these folks forever, and some of them are among the finest people I’ve ever met. But then, some are not so great. On that morning, I was feeling pride for the military– not just the US version, but for servicemembers from all countries. They all have a common thread, no matter where they come from.

As for the buffet breakfast– it cost 17 euros a person. Personally, I didn’t think it was worth that much, although they did at least offer fresh baguettes. The rest was pretty mediocre– watery orange juice, scrambled eggs that tasted reconstituted, canned baked beans, mushrooms (yeeech), and either sausages or bacon. They also had cold cuts, cheeses, fruit, yogurt, and a little machine that made pancakes. Yes, there was coffee, too… from a machine. I pretty much ate the same thing every day.

A bus took the conference participants to the work site, so once we were finished with breakfast, Bill caught the bus, and I went back to bed for a couple of hours. I would try to read, as I’ve been struggling to finish a book I’ve been working on for awhile. Invariably, I’d fall asleep. Then, later in the morning, I’d get up, get dressed again, and walk around Mons. Every day, I went to a different area.

Since Tuesday was our first full day in Mons, I kept things basic on the first day. I stopped at the Saint Elisabeth Church, a huge building on the main drag, on the first morning, and actually prayed. I don’t pray very often, but given what happened in the United States this month, I felt like it wouldn’t hurt to offer a word to God Almighty. As for the rest of it, you can see that Christmas decorations are already going up. My German friend tells me the carnival started on November 8 and will run until December 8. It’s pretty impressive.

Below you can see photos:

As the hour drew closer to noon, I walked around the Grand Place, trying to decide where I wanted to have lunch. It’s always awkward for me to eat lunch alone in a restaurant, especially when I’m in a country that isn’t my home and I don’t speak the language. I really should have studied French or German in school, instead of Spanish.

In any case, I ended up having lunch at La Pizzarella, a pizza restaurant in the Grand Place. I would link to it, but it looks like their Web site is down. This restaurant doesn’t get the best reviews on Trip Advisor, but I didn’t have a terrible experience. A lady invited me to sit down at a two top and I ordered tortellini stuffed with smoked salmon, and washed down with wonderful Chimay Blue beer. They played French pop on the sound system, and the only negative thing about it was the woman sitting near me who sang along with it, off key. I know that sounds snobby, but I am a singer with perfect pitch, so off key singing is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

By the time I was finished with my leisurely lunch repast, it was afternoon. I paid the waitress at the cash register, then walked outside to sunshine. After strolling around the Grand Place some more, I headed back toward the hotel, stopping once again in the church to get some sunnier photos. I love how so many churches in Europe are open for people to enjoy, even when it’s not Sunday.

A couple of hours later, Bill came back from his conference. We hung out in the hotel room for a little while, and then went looking for dinner. We ended up at a Lebanese place that we really enjoyed. However, a couple of nights later, one of Bill’s colleagues said that he found an even better Lebanese place. Maybe if we ever visit Mons again, we can visit it. There seemed to be a lot of Lebanese restaurants in that town…

I had grilled quail, while Bill had a lentil dish with hummus and a goat cheese salad. The waiter was very charming and spoke English quite well. Bill gave him a large (for Belgium) tip– 17 euros. The guy asked if he was sure, and Bill said he was… and the guy went “Thank YOU!!!!” It was pretty funny and worth the money to get that reaction.

After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel for night number two. I neglected to bring conditioner with me, and the hotel provided a shampoo/conditioner mix that irritated my scalp. So, on Wednesday, I made plans to visit a Belgian grocery store. More on that in the next post.