Hamburg and Belgium day ten CrosiEurope Cruise

It was a little before nine when we set off heading to the Strépy Thieu Boat Lift about half a mile away . Moored below the lift were two  trip boats that take visitors for a ride up the lift, but it was too early in the day for them to start trading.

The right hand caisson was open ready for us to enter . Once in, the double guillotine gates closed behind us. The lifting cables that take the weight of the caisson are set out in banks down either side each with its own load gauge and adjustment.

It wasn’t long before the machinery started to sing and we were on our way up, the movement almost impossible to detect other than watching the world get bigger

When we reached the top the double guillotine gates ahead of us opened  and when the green light came on we were free to leave, out along the channel to join the canal some 240 feet higher than when we entered.

           Once we were back on the main canal we turned round, it was at this point that one of our large deck umbrellas decided it was a glider and flew off into the canal where it slowly sank out of sight below the surface. We re-entered the lift in the same caisson to descend back down to the lower level. The round trip took just on one and a quarter hours. 

Once out of the lift at the lower level passing under the very drippy gate  we returned to the spot where we had moored last night, there we turned round and entered the small lock to  rise up the the basin below the old lift . This lock is the size that Raymonde and the others in the fleet was designed to fit, so there was just millimetres of clearance each side and very little space at the end.

Our deck man had to climb the vertical ladder with the mooring line to reach the bollard and then continually adjust the tension as we came up to keep the boat in position. Smaller boats can use the bollards built into the ladders so they don’t need to climb up, but I doubt they would be man enough to hold us.Once clear of the lock we moored in the no mooring area, reserved for boats using the lift

This was the end of our time cruising and Raymond would remain on these moorings  until the next lot of passengers arrived, But our holiday was not complete. After lunch we had an afternoon trip to Brussels which included a visit to a chocolate making shop with a demonstration of chocolate making. The chocolatier was a very entertaining Chinese man  in black who picked one of us to “assist”, this was the chap in the white apron .

Brussels has some interesting architecture with its modern buildings in the midst of the old town.

       
Our guide lead us around the city including a visit to The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart where a wedding was taking place.  

		The wedding taking place during our visit

We also visited a building dedicated to strip cartoons

       Passing one of the better hotels the doorman  didn’t look real standing  stock still. There was a building with cycles hanging all over it and another where the external walls are in a steel splint           
I took a video from the centre of the square showing all these buildings surrounding it.        

We also saw many other fine buildings including the opera house    

In addition to this we walked many of the streets and arcades seeing not only the peeing boy but also the peeing girl and a shop where you could buy cannabis beer.

Again we are seeing this great love they have of murals with these three buildings.

We made our way back to Raymonde passing the Parc du Cinquantenaire of French design with French gardens. Back at the boat it was our last night so our gala dinner 

As its the end of the cruise I will add some photos of the food we had onboard. It was first class.