28 Sept - London to Brussels - the other J

London to Brussels.

The first day of tour two was a bit hard. The 4:15 early call seemed to make a lot of people feel tired and irritable for the rest of the day. However, if you look past it, it was quite an interesting day. 

I slept through the green rolling English side, and woke up just in time to be aware that we were getting on the cross channel ferry (Dover to Calais). The last time I did this all those years ago, I encountered a French Customs Officer who treated me like a criminal (Perhaps because I looked like a hippy!), and spent most of the time on the lower decks rolling around on a heaving sea. This time, as you can see by the photo, I was on the upper deck, on a calm sea, eating a very enjoyable breakfast in a very pleasant cafe. (Sometimes it is hard being a tourist) 

The drive across Northern France was fairly uneventful. The land was flat, and not particularly interesting. But by now, you will now that my impression of life and the world has been very much influenced by films and T.V. and all the time we were driving across this land, I thought that this was the land in the T.V. show Combat. A programme which shows the battles of an American platoon of soldiers as they fight their way across France in World War Two, trying to recapture farms and small villages from the Nazis.

The medieval town of Bruges was fascinating and very rrfriendly. Very different from the sinister almost Satanic atmosphere that was portrayed in the movie "In Bruges" This was brilliantly done by focusing on the creepy looking gargoyles around the town, when the Police or rival gangsters were closing in on the two main criminals who were hit men on the run.

BRUSSELS.

Whereas a lot of other cities in Europe have a big reputation and aura about them, Brussels for me doesn't. The only impressions I have of the city are those that I got from the T.V. Show The Secret Army, which is about a Belgian resistance group based in Brussels, and a vague feeling that European Union buildings would be just like any other anonymous office blocks in any other city. I must admit, that when we entered Brussels, I was underwhelmed. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

The Main Market Place was magnificent. I didn't think the Belgians had it in them. 

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While we were walking around, we bumped into a group of people dressed in period  costume celebrating some national day or other. They all looked like extras from Les Mis! Naturally they were mobbed by camera waving tourists, myself included! 

There were lots of shops which specialised in products that Belgium is famous for: beer, chocolate, and waffles. 

The evening was spent in a nice little cafe in Brussels eating the local stew and waffles.