Christmas Lights and Winter Magic

Christmas lights and decorations have always fascinated me, whether it be candles illuminating a wooden nativity scene or the latest LED lights on a Christmas tree. When I was in Spokane for a few days earlier this month, the Davenport Hotel's Christmas Tree Elegance displayed twelve exquisitely decorated trees with different themes; one featured old clocks while another had a Venetian theme with masks, while a third featured pieces of music intertwined with Christmas lights.  The lobby of the hotel was also covered with bows and was dominated by a huge tree. Other parts of downtown Spokane were decorated for Christmas, including the Macy's stain glass window. A huge Christmas tree in the Rivepark Square stood next to the long line of kids waiting to see Santa Clause.  Riverfront Park had a display of lights that depicted safari animals, trains, and other typical Christmas characters. I didn't see anything quite like the window display at the Crescent from when I was a child, but nonetheless there were plenty of decorations. Also, two giant brick smoke stacks of a now defunct steam plant built during the height of the industrial era shimmered with green and red light.

Cycling Along the Dender in Belgium

Old Stone Chapel near Geraardsbergen

One of my favorite activities is to ride a bicycle along the Dender River in Belgium, following a paved tow path. The Dender River flows through central Belgium, passing through parts of Hainaut, East Flanders, and Flemish Brabant before it joins the Scheldt at Dendermonde.  That much larger river then flows through Antwerp until it enters the North Sea in the Netherlands. The Dender River begins as two different forks in Hainaut; the Western Dender near Leuze-en-Hainaut and the Eastern Dender near the town of Jurbise. These rather small rivers converge at the town Ath, a historic cultural center known for its giants and its Gallo-Roman origins. From there the Dender flows north, passing under the high speed TGV and Eurostar line as it gently flows through the rolling plains and forests of Hainaut and East Flanders, passing through Lessines (Lessen), Geraardsbergen (Grammont), Ninove, and Aalst before it flows into the Scheldt at the town of Dendermonde.  The Dender River is navigable from Ath to Dendermonde, although much of the traffic above Aalst is largely recreational.

The Dover - Calais Ferry

In 2014 we drove from Flemish Brabant in Belgium to Canterbury in Great Britain, via Calais and the P&O Ferry service. The first couple hours of the trip were not so spectacular, just the normal heavy traffic and steady flow of trucks on the E40 as we crossed the plains of Flanders. Just north of Calais we found the massive ferry terminal with miles of check-in booths and lanes for boarding, most of which were occupied by hundreds of semi-trucks from all over Europe. The atmosphere was that of a truck stop combined with the international duty free character of an airport. Once we checked in and showed our passports, we were directed to Lane 220 for the next sailing, which was in an hour.

Trucks lining up for the Ferry to Dover, 2014