Dominican Brussels

We arrived in Brussels and got ourselves to our hotel and dumped our bags so we could start our day in the city and see the 5th biggest Cathedral in the world! Haha. And whatever else Brussels had to offer us, not to mention the food, chips, chocolate, waffles and beer!! We had a great day walking about and being amazed with how much Belgium loved us. Haha. Then after our day was done, we headed back to the hotel, had a well deserved ...

... were connecting to a charter flight, we had to pick up our luggage then re-check it with the second airline. Eventually Jimmy's suitcase came out but where was mine??!! We were the last ones waiting. When the tarmac stopped moving we realized something was not right here. Where was my suitcase! We went to talk to the lost baggage folk and they were unable to find it anywhere in Montreal or Ottawa. I was freaking out at this point. They took my cellphone ...

... From there we moved onto a little Italian restaurant down the road for dinner. Very nice! The next day started with a couple of very fresh (and still warm from the oven) rolls and croissants. We caught the city tour bus and saw the majority of the city sights - the inland port, Royal Palace and the Atomium (a huge structure representing an atom magnified 150 billion times - quite impressive!). However, as we got about 2/3 ...

... to find, so we ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall place and mom and I tried some Strawberry and Peach beer, which was actually pretty good!  We decided to go and find some dinner and after that we went out into the square and watched the chistmas lights and noises show. It made the experience of being in Brussels even more special to be there at Christmas! We then did a little shopping and I found a hat...and some chocolate ...

... were the first to band together and unify 30 years ago as a sort of precursor to the EU. And like I said, they are very serious about their frites. They wave off the "French" fries and say that because Belgian fries are boiled then fried or double fried (I'm not sure which) that makes them superior. After having several batches of Belgian frites, I wouldn't want to argue that point. At the end of our walking tour, we stopped at another cafe for coffee, and Mr. A ...

... or a concertina on separate short tracks playing maybe a waltz or polka from england, then a reel from an irish musician, etc.... this of course in the folk instruments floor.... by far the most fascinating. The other floors were more 18th and 19th cen. instruments and music, and really lets be honest, after the third piano forte or its relatives, I've had enough. In fairness they also had cool things like player pianos but there wasnt any music to hear ...

... of the Thames and St. Paul's. What better way to say goodbye to London for a while? Thanks Caroline. I'm now sat on the Eurostar, and we've just come out of the tunnel and Brussels is an hour away. I'm staying with my friend Miriam tonight, and then its an early start tomorrow, as I head to Cologne for a day's sightseeing before getting on the night-train that will see me cross four countries, and (hopefully) arrive in Moscow on Saturday.

... Time went by and we went out for a drink in St-Gillis and afterwards start to walk in direction of the center (Beurs) for the HC meeting point for frieten! We talked all the way and Its was really great, she is really a nice enthousistic person. At Beurs around 19h, people start to arrived : For the frieten meeting Frank came (thorgal67), as well as easyrider69 and christianw. We went to a fritkot near by and savoured some more ...

... laughing at me when I used it to transport a basket of fries and 2 cups of water. I guess when you think about it, it's pretty funny. *** Many woman wore just their bras. Julie commented that she thought it was weird that woman were trying to pass their bras as bathing suit tops but sadly, I don't think they were trying to disguise anything. *** It was so hot. And of course, on a hot day like that, nothing is quite as refreshing as a tall glass of...milk!?!?! I can't believe that ...