Return to Belgium 1989

Within a week of returning from my first visit to Belgium, I was talking to a film-making friend Anne, about my trip and how much I had enjoyed it, expressing I would go again as quickly as possible! “How about next weekend?” said Anne. We were both big fans of Imax/Omnimax, Anne had a long weekend free, I could too – so we booked tickets and off we went!

So, two weeks after returning from Belgium I was heading back! Train to London, another train to Dover, ferry to Oostende, then train to Brussels where we checked in for three nights. It was to be a short trip, Friday – Monday. Next day after breakfast we were off to Heysel/Heizel for the Atomium and the Cineplex there. Not only did it house an Imax theatre but was one of the very rare places (in the world!) one could see Douglas Trumble’s Showscan system. Wow!

Sunday was a quieter day and we did a bit of sightseeing, as I’d done this two weeks earlier I was able show Anne around, using my wealth of experience – not.

Monday was the big day – up early and to the railway station and took the train to The Hague, Netherlands for Omnimax, new to both of us. All went very well and in due course we arrived in the Hague. We had been advised that we could take a tram from right outside the station, I forget which number it was, but we caught it and off we went…. On and on. Eventually after quite some time, the tram came to a halt in the middle of semi-rural housing, only us sat there and the driver looking puzzled. After a few minutes of conversation, it turned out that we were indeed on the correct number tram, just going in the wrong direction! We crossed the street and retraced our steps. 45 minutes later or so, we passed the station again, and what seemed like just around the corner – was the Omnimax theatre. I’m sure we could have walked from the station in 10 minutes. Anyway – full of excitement we walked towards it, the door was closed. Apparently Omnimax does not open on a Monday!