Farewell to Friendship Force of the Belgium Coast

Dancing with the Belgians at our Farewell Luncheon

We received quite a "send off" for our last day here in Oostende.  The day began with a tour of the city complete with views of the North Sea, sand castles and pretty boats.  Next was the almost 5-hour "good bye" luncheon at the Charles Lindberg Restaurant.  The meal had many courses - champagne, wine, 

1st Course - croquettes!

appetizers, croquettes, salads, steaks with choice of many sauces, ice cream sundaes, coffee.   We sang, danced (there was a keyboard player), and thanked our hosts for a great time.

Our wonderful host, Flo

Some observations about Belgium:

-They pay 52% of their wages for taxes with no complaints!  They are socialistic in their views and think that society should take care of the poor. 
• -They have great healthcare and the UK even sends some of its overflow here because of the excellent quality hospitals.
• -Like the rest of Europe  they have an efficient rail system which many use- it is very economical
• -They are not very religious.  Although they are Catholic, not many attend church except on major holydays e.g., Christmas or when their children receive Communion or Confirmation
• -They have many immigrants into the country
• -They have 2 dramatically different cultures - the Flemish in the North and the Wallanoons in the South (French) but they get along with 4 different government organizations - the French of Brussels, the Flemish, the Germans (miniscule) and the Wallanoons.

  

  The beautiful Belgian coast

-While they have monarchs (King Phillip and Queen Matilda), they are not as concerned about them as the UK.  Their government is a complicated democracy.  If you do not vote, a policeman comes to the door and you are fined. At one point they had no government for 22 months, but they just went on functioning.  They try to compromise.

-Their history is one of turmoil with invasions from the French, Germans, the Austrians, the Dutch and Spanish.  They became their own small country in the 1800s.

We enjoyed visiting with our hosts, Roger and Flo, and learning all about this interesting country!

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