Brussels

This is not a caravan or motorhome story but I put it here just in case anyone is interested in visiting this City on their travels. 

A year ago our eldest son invited us on a weekend trip to Brussels. Unfortunately events overtook us and we were unable to go. Undeterred Paul made the offer again this year which we were glad to be able to accept. First we had to get to London where Paul met us at Euston Station and a shortish walk along the Euston Road to St Pancras to catch our Eurostar train to Brussels and where we met up with the rest of our party. It’s hard to imagine that not that many years ago they wanted to pull this wonderful building down. Thank goodness common sense prevailed and it’s had a renascence as the Eurostar station. It is a beautiful building both inside and out.

 This was our first time on Eurostar and we were surprised how busy it was. As we don’t fly the airport style security was a bit of a shock but not a surprise. No fighting over seats as they are all pre-allocated on booking. All we had to do was to find coach four on what was a very long train. Once we had settled in the train departed and it was very interesting to note how quickly the progress was. It seemed like only minutes that we could see the Dartford crossing. As we continued our journey through Kent we initially thought there was a holdup on the M20, then we realised it was the speed of the train that made the lorries seem as if they were not moving!!!  Soon we were at the Tunnel and then out the other side into the daylight again. The train stopped at Lille Europe which is a major hub for French and other European train services and probably the reason why so many people got off here. We rolled into Brussels Midi Station just over two hours after leaving central London. Our journey was not yet over as we had to make our way to Brussels Central which was just one stop on the Metro, from here it was only a short walk to the hotel which was to be our home for the next three days. 

Our hotel is only a few minutes walk from the famous Grand Place with its wonderful City Hall to one side of the square. It was dark by now and everything is floodlit. The narrow roads of the old City fan out from the Square. No shortage of places to eat or to buy chocolate!!! We were getting a bit hungry by now so we started to look for somewhere to eat, but with so many where do you start? We eventually decided on an Italian restaurant where they served excellent seafood pasta.

 The next day which happened to be a Friday we decided that the food in the hotel was a bit on the expensive side so as we had spied a café opposite which seemed to cater for all tastes, it was called the Gaufres de Brussels and was to become our regular haunt during our stay. It was very busy but the service always amazingly quick. During the morning we continued our exploration of the old quarter and also walked up to the Cathedral before coming back to the old town and somehow ended up at the Delirium Bar. This is apparently, famous because it has a menu of about 250 different types on beer so perhaps the name is very apt!!  In the afternoon we all got a taxi to the European Parliament visitor centre as we thought it would be useful to Isabella and Avani who are studying politics for A levels. It was very interesting as it charted the road that led us to the European Union. On the way back we got a bit lost and ended up at the actual Parliament Building from where we got another taxi back to the hotel. That evening Paul’s friend Ian was joining us for a meal, he lives and works in Mons. It was certainly an interesting restaurant and obviously popular with the locals. How they shoe horned seven of us into a corner I have no idea. The waiter came and took what was quite a complex order but did not write a thing down. He did repeat the order back which I suspect is the key. Everything turned up as ordered and no mistakes, I couldn’t have done that!!! 

On Saturday Paul had booked an architectural bus trip round Brussels. As it had a duration of three hours I declined his kind offer to join him as I would have been crossed legged by the end!!! So Margaret, Marisa and I wandered around the old town. I say we wandered but it was more of a tour de force of all the chocolate shops!!!  When we met up with Paul after his trip we went off to find somewhere for lunch. Marisa was very keen to try moule et frites so we set off in search of a suitable restaurant. Moule et frites seems to be the national dish so no shortage of places to chose from but in the end we found somewhere a bit off the tourist track and enjoyed a very nice meal washed down with a very nice Cote de Provence.  We wanted to see the Royal Palace and Paul wanted to see the Music Instrument Museum which were close by. Now here is a surprising fact about central Brussels, it is very hilly. The Museum was apparently an old department store and had a central lift right out of Are you Being Served!! We made our way up to the roof garden as it was such a lovely day and had a cup of tea overlooking the roofs of Brussels. Paul never did get to see the Museum and by the time we got to the Royal Palace the light was fading so we made our way back to the hotel. Having had a meal at lunchtime we did not want another meal but Brussels is also famous for waffles and our favourite café had them to die for. We were joined by Isabella and Avani who being teenagers have a completely different time clock to the rest of us so they wanted food. Their turn to have Moule et Frites and did they tuck in. Margaret and I treated ourselves to a strawberry waffle each with cream and melted chocolate, heavenly. If you even need an excuse to return to Brussels this could be the reason. 

Sunday and time to make our way back home. Another busy train with lots of visitors heading for London. Margaret could not believe how busy Euston Station was but our Virgin train whisked us back to MK in half an hour. We very much enjoyed our visit to Brussels and certainly would not hesitate to recommend it to others. Not so sure about campsites nearby but the City has an efficient transport system so fairly easy to get in from further out.