Belgium

We wanted to go away, we craved some sunshine, yet W didn't want to get on a plane. Fortunately, Eurostar came to the rescue and in 3 hours we were out of London and in Belgium. (For the record, Eurostar is fantastic - no long check ins, no 1 hour waits at passport control, no treks out to distant airports. Fantastic!)


We didn't have much of plan for Brussels. Well, that's not completely true, we did plan to stuff ourselves with mussels (despite it being out of season) and eat a waffle at every meal (didn't even come close), but it was a relaxing, rambling holiday.


It didn't take long to take in the Grand Palace (certainly very grand), Mannekin Pis (extremely disappointing) and other usual tourist sights, so we found ourselves spending a lot of time lounging around in parks. We broke this up by visiting the Museum of Musical Instruments, succumbing to a chocolate tasting, admiring the Atomium (see left) (admiring the fact they could turn a building from Expo 58 into a tourist destination) and enjoying al fresco dining.


This was also our first time couchsurfing. Our host was great, quite a character, and took us to dinner at her friend's (also quite a character). There we learnt about graphic novels, medieval role playing and how atrocious our didgeridoo skills are.


On our last day we took the train to Bruges. We had been warned by the trusty Lonely Planet that it was a charming place in a tacky way. So we tackled it by embarking on all the tacky, touristy activities. We had a set meal in a restaurant by the Burg, went on a river cruise (see top right), climbed the Belfry, but didn't see any dwarves. And we learnt useless little facts - did you that people boarded up their windows as they were taxed per window? (see left) A great way to finish a restful trip.