💨 Week 270 - Windy

The boys had Friday off school before the half-term break, so we beat the holiday traffic to travel to Belgium. We were staying at Center Parcs De Haan again (again).

The journey to mainland Europe was a little hairy: Storm Austen was battering the UK, and we had chosen the ferry option for a change. The waves were fairly choppy, but thankfully no guts were spilled. We could hear car alarms blaring, but when we reached France, my car was thankfully where I had left it. We had opted for the premium lounge, and so had food, drink and comfy seating included, away from the chaos of coach-loads of kids running amok on the decks below. Much better than the tunnel IMO.

Our Center Parcs lodge was one of the larger lakeside ones, allowing for a bedroom each for the boys. I had my own sauna room, naturally. We spent plenty of time over the week with near-neighbours, Andy and family, at the Aqua Mondo pool and activities.

But first, it was H’s birthday. Unsurprisingly, the theme of his presents was football: football shirts, football books and FC 27. Together with Andy et al, we table-tennised, bowled and then had pizza in the Italian restaurant. I enjoyed it almost as much as H did.

And then on Sunday, I drove H, Andy and his son to nearby Bruges to see Club Brugge v Sint-Truiden at the Jan Breydelstadion. The storm was still blowing and we were seated high in the corner of a stand. Unnervingly, one of the flags above us blew away at some point. The home side won 3-2, including a hat-trick from much-fancied striker, Tresoldi.

More on the second-half of the holiday next time.