Katrina didn't sleep, and I only able to get a few minutes of fitful sleep before the interior plane lights came on and breakfast was being served. Opened the window shade just in time to watch Dover pass under the starboard wing, then the English Channel, then Calais, then we started descending into Brussels. Brussels Airport is old, "tired" as Kathy puts it, and when the plane unloads we join other passengers and create two long lines for the passport control kiosks - one for Europeans, one for Others. At the luggage carousel we picked up our red duffel bag, found the cardboard bike box, and headed out to Area E for the hotel shuttle.
Novotel Airport Hotel is a non-descript building right under the runway, nice staff, small rooms, and the toilet closet is a separate room from the large washroom. Kathy decides to get some sleep, but I walk 15 minutes into Zaventem to check out the village and get some Euros. Quiet little place, three Thai restaurants amongst other small shops and bars.Back to the hotel for an hour of sleep, we watch a bit of the Euro2016 England/Wales football match,, the shuttle back to the airport to catch a train into town. Heavily armed police police revent people from bypassing the new security tents into the airport, soldiers with assault rifles patrol the airport and railway station in pairs.
Round-trip train tickets cost E11.20 each, trains depart every 6 minutes for the 16 minute ride to Brussels Centraal, a great place to start a walk of the old city centre. Should have checked a city map ahead of time to see where things lay, but after lots of gawking, we finally find the hordes of tourists, follow them to the "Manikin Pis", the Grand Place (surrounded by guild houses), and the Centre de la Reine shopping mall. Back to the train station, the airport, and a Quick burger meal before taking the hotel shuttle back to the Novotel.
Watching the Euro2016 Deutschland/Poland football match while we unwind and get read for a better sleep.
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