Brussels

After spending a lovely weekend in Brussels, I have become a bit of a fan of Belgium Beer or Ale, with Duchess de Bourgogne and Kwak (mostly due its very cool glass and name, rather than taste, although still very tasty tipple). I can also say that I am not a fan of what is perhaps Brussels most famour tourist attraction, the Mannekin Pis, a pathetically small bronze statue of a little boy relieving himself, who gets dressed in random, somewhat pointless, outfits. The Grand Place is quite exceptional, and contains some very beautiful architecture. I also recommend going to the King of Spain Bar, as you can get a 750 ml glass of Hoegaarden, delicious!

I went via the Eurostar, from a much changed St Pancras, where I met a lovely lady, who kindly bought me some drinks, and kept me entertained throughout the journey! Jez met me at the station and we escaped to his flat, which was an absolute mess, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he suggested going out for dinner! We fond a fantastic little vietnamese/thai restaurant, where I had a very tasy dish, which I sadly forgot the name of, but can tell you it contained beef (bit useless I know). After dinner, we hit the bars, which was fun, even with all the smoke and shivering, due to my wise choice of going out in October in just a shirt (and jeans).

The next day was the real touristy day, where we visited the Cathedral, which has some intense and very beautiful stained glass windows (will add some pikkies soon), before moving on to the Grand Place and the Cantillon Brewery. Sadly despite its claims it seemed the brewery was no longer in operation, which perhaps we should be thankful for, as the beer was truly disgusting. It did make a nice little diversion though, and I would recommend it, considering it was just 5 euros entrance. For dinner, we went to Jacques, where you can get a fantastic steak, rare, of course. After going past the church, which the council seemed to have made into a public toilet, we went to some local bars to sample the beers.

My final day in Brussels, was a sleepier affair, after the night before, but I still got to see Mannekin Pis and have a belgium waffle, plus bought some delcious truffles (all very cliche, but totally neccessary).

Well that was my little excursion to a Flemish getaway, I hope these are not too boring, and surely with more practice, I can only get better!!