Centraal is an underground hole, and the most dismal of the main Brussels stations. Shortly before our train arrived, an Oostende train pulled in at the next platform, and how I envied the people going on that train, the service we would have been catching to go to Brugge
After a short wait, the familiar yellow triangle of the front of the sh*tty thing came into view, and we managed to get in the carriage with the better seats and armrests. This ride was better than the one of two days before, as this time we could see more through the windows, and I managed a glimpse of my most beloved city landmark looking splendid in its new shiny coat. After leaving Zaventem, the train headed underground for the final run in to the airport.We checked in for flight SN2177, and were given seats 10A and 10C. Boarding would be gate B29, something I like about Brussels is the boarding gate number on the card so you have a better idea where to go. We headed upstairs to the eating area.
Close to the seating area, we saw an abandoned suitcase. This did not look good, so we avoided it, and told a passing policeman, who said that it would be long to one of the homeless people sleeping in the airport, and it was not a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How did he know that it did not contain something explosive??!!?? Very bad security, Brussels Airport loses points for that one
We had dinner in Brussels Cafe - sausages on bread for me (very good) and ham on bread for VC10. We had genuine Stella to drink.After dinner we went into the departure lounge. At this point, I was very pleased to see (and bag) my first-ever Etihad A330 on the stop over to Toronto from Abu Dhabi.
BA Airbus passing Etihad A330.
We had quite a bit of handluggage, including two bags of beer and a soft toy cat we bought in the shop in the departures area.
The toy cat in the BRU departure lounge.
Had they changed our airline at the last minute?
That's better!
Our flight was to be operated by our old friend (?) OO-DJG, a BAe 146. This was my third flight in this aircraft, my least favourite of the lot.
OO-DJG is just visible at gate B29.
At 14:42 we were called to board. By this time it was raining. We entered the aircraft and were greeted by an unpleasant aroma resembling the inside of a used sick bag. It was disgusting! I have never been on an aircraft which smelled so bad.
We settled into our seats. There were two stewardesses on board (why, SNBA, don't we have stewards on our flights any more?
) Again I had my favoured backe ngine view, and this time we were able to put our coats into the overhead bins.
The engines.
Inside the airborne stink bomb.
There were several spare seats on the plane, so VC10 moved across to seat 10F and I stayed in my own seat. The bag of beers ended up being placed in seat 10C and secured with the seat belt.
The beers in their own seat.
At 15:02 we were pushed back and taxied to 25R. We were told that the flight time was expected to be one hour and 10 minutes. Two aircraft were taking off in front of us.
At 15:10, we took off and climbed through thin cloud.
Just after take off.
We flew towards the Atomium, and had some good views as we climbed away.
Shortly, we climbed into thicker cloud and out of sight of land.
Clouds along the way.
The snack on board consisted of a cherry tart with a carton of water. The tart was one of the pleasantest snacks I have had on SNBA.
The nice snack, rounded off with two Neuhaus chocolates!
We encountered some slight turbulence higher up, but nothing too bad. One thing which was noticed was the lack of magazine distribution on the flight.
Eventually we sighted England and began our descent.
Unknown river.
Approaching MAN. It was clear and sunny at this point of the flight.
At 15:13, the gear lowered, and at 15:15 we landed in Manchester after a very pleasant flight.
Touchdown in MAN and a BA Airbus.
The Airbus again.
A Lufthansa Regional CRJ.
Also, we saw our old friend from our other Belgain trips of 2005 as it was about to depart somewhere!
Little Tartan Tail (officially G-EMBK) about to leave. This is my favourite BA aircraft of them all.
I was sad to see the end of our Belgian flights for 2005. See you again in 2006 SNBA!
The guy was smiling all the way to Istanbul 
which I can't do at Centraal. We only use that station when we are actually going to Brussels itself, when we need to change we use one of the others. I can easily imagine that is the busiest station in Belgium!