Home of Hercule Poirot
"I am not French, I am Belgian" AC managed to work into every one of her books. Old HP was very particular about not being taken for a frenchman, a bit like New Zillanders not liking to be called Aussies :-D I have to admit though - the culture was very different to Parisian - there were similarities, but Belgium definitely has an individual character in its own right.
Brussels is the home of chocolate, fine beer, mussels, waffles and antiques. All of which we managed to squeeze into our first half-day in the country ;-) We arrived late Friday night on Eurostar and spent Saturday exploring the city.
A collector would need a week - there are countless antique shops in Brussels and a fabulous daily flea-market - but it's not really our thing so we were happy just wandering past the shops and ducking into the occasional Biscuiterie.
We chose to go in December mainly for the Christmas markets. After much wandering about we did manage to find them but I was a little disappointed. They were not as good as I remembered them being in Germany, but that's perhaps just my faulty, nostalgic memory. We did buy a few things but found that a lot of the stalls had the same things we'd already seen elsewhere. Hot wine was FAR cheaper than they're flogging it for here in London though so we relieved the vendors of some!
On Sunday we took a day trip to Bruges - in the Flemish north. After becoming complacent about everything being dual language (French and Dutch) in Brussels it was a bit of a shock to find everything written only in Dutch. Luckily most people spoke English and I found that I could figure out menus etc based on my knowledge of German.
Bruges is a lovely medieval canal town and we wandered around for ages just looking at the beautiful buildings and testing the quality of the local chocolate. So far, we had been very lucky in the weather as you can see from the photos. It was cold (about 7-8) but not windy and very pleasant walking around.
On Monday we took a trip down to Waterloo which is now a suburb of Brussels, about 30mins by train. The weather was foul but we braved the rain and wind and climbed the Butte de Lion - a monument to the Prince of Orange built on the battlefield. 
The area was almost deserted but there were some interesting displays and a wax museum with very informative voice-over. In Waterloo itself we found the old inn which Wellington stayed in the night before the battle - it has been converted to a museum and has great displays, and once again very informative audio commentary.
The area was almost deserted but there were some interesting displays and a wax museum with very informative voice-over. In Waterloo itself we found the old inn which Wellington stayed in the night before the battle - it has been converted to a museum and has great displays, and once again very informative audio commentary.Three days was enough for Belgium for us, there wasn't a great deal more that we would have done if we'd had more time. Probably just eat far too many waffles :-) It's a perfect weekend destination though and we had a great time.
posted by dianemulholland @ 9:25 PM
8 Comments:
Great Photos! We are going to try really hard to come over next year. Where do you think we should go? I can't wait. You'll have to help me con shan into it :)
Love
Katherine
What did the Prince of Orange do to desrve such a monument? GH was not very complimentary about him.
Maybe she couldn't have another character taking the shine out of Lord Wellington.
I shall speak to Shan about his coming trip. tha one HE knows nothing about!!! I don't wish to waffle on about the chocolate just send me some, that will do. Everything seem so green. I have forgotten what green grass looks like. Have received a parcel I suppose for Christmas. Can I open it now? please, please, please, please!!!!! Love to you both DaD
You can open the parcel - but not the wrapping paper ;-)
Thanks for showing me a bit of Belgium - I believe I slept right through it as we drove from Amsterdam to Calais! ;)
P.S. Am I going to freeze when I visit next week? It's in the 30's here right now!
lovely photo's, i especially like the last one!! Looks like you two had a blast
Hi Dianne - just caught up on your blog after a few forgetful weeks, and I can't add comments from work. Looks like things are going really well - love the look of the flat, and I'm impressed with your stamina, to keep doing things each weekend - it sure keeps it interesting.
ANdrew said to send you this - It's the bottom line: no nappies, no mess
http://www.theage.com.au/news/parenting/its-the-bottom-line-no-nappies-no-mess/2006/12/07/1165685795044.html?page=2
Did you get it?
Natasha :)
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