OUR FAMILY HOLIDAYS
9287 Ostend Holiday, 1975
Our second holiday was somewhat more
adventurou
s,
if it was equally cheap. We went just across the Channel to Ostend. Once more
we took a ferry across the channel – though this time the port at the other end
was Ostend itself. Fortunately the journey there was quite calm, though I had
booked a cabin just to be on the safe side.
Arriving at Ostend
In Ostend we stayed at a small hotel. The hotel was basic, but we had the room next to the children and were, once more, able to communicate with them across the airshaft. So, it was just about bearable, especially where we spent most of the time on tours to other places. It was mainly memorable because every meal seemed to consist of potatoes in one form or another. Having said that the soups and stews were quite delicious, so - although they must have been very cheap - they were filling and quite enjoyable.
We spent quite a
lot of time exploring Ostend itself. Surprisingly, where most British p
eople
just pass through and think it's a rather an dingy place, it is actually very
high-class. Indeed, it turned out to be a very stylish and sophisticated
resort. It had a beautiful beach, though it faced the North Sea and the water
was too cold for bathing, and behind it was a very stylish and well maintained
promenade; along which the children rode two person bikes.
The promenade, with the Kursaal (casino) in the background
In addition, Ostend had some beautiful, and expensive, shops and we spent quite a bit of time window shopping.
The main reason for choosing it as the base for our holiday, though, was that we were able to take a range of coach tours from there. The first of these was to Bruges. This is a lovely little town, which is surprisingly full of canals. Accordingly we did our tour there mainly on the water. It was very pleasant, very relaxing and the buildings were beautiful
A canal in Bruges
The second was to Brussels, which I have always found disappointing. Thus, apart from the central square – surrounded by mediaeval buildings – there is little else to see. There is, of course, the statue of little boy peeing into a pool, which everyone has to see - but it is scarcely a major work of art. Equally the atomium, left over from the world fair, is rather shabby and really doesn't amount to much; though there is a reasonable view from the top of it.
Brussel’s Grand Square
The next tour was
much longer, to Amsterdam. There we had most of the day to look around. Of
course, we took the obligatory boat trip around its canals, and did the tour of
Anne Frank’s house; which was very poignant – especially as t
he
film had been released not long before. We also went to the Rejksmuseum, to see
Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’, though I wasn’t much impressed by its size even
though I liked his other works. Maybe I would think differently now, since my
taste has matured, perhaps even improved -- although it's rather arrogant to
claim as much. At night we went to the red light district, the children were
fascinated by the ladies of the night sitting in the shop windows. I think we
probably exposed the children to the perverse sides of the world far too young
in their life.
One of Amsterdam’s canals
The final tour was longer still, to
Paris. Even though it was along the motorways it literally took the best part of
24 hours, starting very early in the morning and arriving back early the
following morning. Fortunately the children mana
ged
to sleep on the coach. As usual, I didn’t! But we did have the best part of a
day in Paris, and we took the children to see all the various sights including
the Eifel Tower and Montmartre. We even went on a bateau mouche. What we didn't
have time for was any of the art galleries. This is always problem of such a
long tours. You never have time to seek out the galleries and museums.
On the bateau mouche
But Paris, in a day, inevitably had to be a very brief introduction for the children.
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