Belgium

As foreshadowed in the last post, we left London on Monday morning and flew to Brussels in Belgium. Although only a short 45 minute plane ride away, the difference in the pace between London and Brussels is dramatic.

The pace in London was frenetic with people everywhere all the time and shops, bars and cafes open until quite late. Here in Brussels, there does not appear to be much night life and despite long daylight hours (not dark until 11 pm), shops and cafes close very early - around 5-6 pm!!!

Being in Brussels has given the children their first real experience of a non-English speaking country (although lots of people in the service industry are quite fluent in English) and I have been slowly using some of my awkward French to ask for things/directions etc - good practice I think before we get to Paris.

In any event, our flight over from London was uneventful and we made it here in excellent time, picking up our brand new Renault Grand Scenic from the airport with little delay. Driving on the "wrong side" of the road again is a bit freakish and we have to keep reminding ourselves to do the opposite of whatever we instinctively want to do. It's funny. . .although driving in England was scary from the speeding point of view, it felt very normal to drive there. Not so here in Europe. . .though I'm sure we'll be experts by the time we get to Rome!

After catching-up on some much-need sleep yesterday, today we had a productive and interesting day around Brussels. We started our day in the Grand Place - with visits to famous chocolatiers, biscuit-makers and lace houses. The things Belgium seems most famous for are: chocolate (of course), beer (Steven has already sampled some) and hand-made lace. We also stopped to take a peek at one of Brussels' most unusual attractions - a figure of a little boy peeing or the "Mannekin Pis". It seems so famous that the figure is replicated in touristy souvenirs and chocolate figurines everywhere.

We could not walk long before we spotted authentic Belgian waffle stores with tourists lined up to sample the delicious dessert (at 11 in the morning). We couldn't say we'd been to Belgium and not tried one at least...so these were our lunch!

In the afternoon, we got into the car and headed out to Bruparck to see the famous "Atomium" and Mini-Europe. It's a sort of theme park in all, but the Atomium is a structure that looks like a giant atom which you can tour and take in panoramic views across Brussels. Take a look for yourself!

Tomorrow we plan to catch up on a little house-keeping before heading to Cologne in Germany (about 2 hours away).

As an aside, I mention that I had forgotten how prevalent begging was in Europe and today the children got their first glimpse of the art of begging as women with babies and young children walked the streets in the tourist centres approaching people with their hands extended begging for coins. . .