Hotel Antwerp Billard Palace

... 2h30 au lieu de 2h et il faudra que je change de train puisqu'il y a de la construction, (enfin, c'est ce que j'ai cru comprendre. C'est pas toujours clair clair. Le monsieur à la gare essayait de me convaincre de voyager demain à la place, alors peut-être que c'est plus qu'une demi-heure de différence....?)

... with marble finishings and all! Some Belgian engineering and architectural design! Although wallet -draining, shopping was gloriously satisfying -lots of great bargain everywhere. Why pay more for something you can get for less? One thing I must admit though - the Belgians do have a thing for fashion !

... out too late, since Karlien had to work in the morning. Heading back to Brussles was fairly uneventful, though passing by Brussels Nord train station by night was somewhat interesting, since the red light district, complete with Amsterdam-style prostitutes in windows, is clearly visible from the train. Not exactly the most charming part of Brussels, though it wasn't my stop so it was more of a curiosity than anything else. When I got back ...

... not actually be when the customer needs the investment. - In private hands, the public are supplied their public transport and utilities by people that are unaccountable to them. Which means there is no recourse if the price goes too high or the service too bad. People can't 'vote out' the bus company if the price goes too high or the service too bad. The bus company is not accountable in the way that a city council is. - Once you get more ...

... Belgian Bar I had really ever been to. The rest were all Irish or American pubs, full of English speaking people. Here it was french all around! Across the street from Delirium is "the Absinthe House". This place sells every type of Absinthe in the world. The pub crawl ended right before this stop as absinthe would be the last thing the majority of us needed at that point. This pub crawl was a true pub crawl that put a good finish onto ...

... see his back again. From what I could get from the Dutch explanation, Magritte was a Surrealist painter, in the sama vain as Salvador Dali. For some reason, his painting just struck me; perhaps because Magritte interupts your expectations when you think that you'll see the man's face. It also reminded me of those dreams where you can see a person but you can't make out their face. The rest of the museum was the typical display of 14th - 19th century religious art: a lot of Madonna's, Jesus ...

... Lot of things will depend on what people will write back. Our main goal is a fly and drive and staying in basic hotels. But I hate being the standard tourist. I like the visit things and see things (I'm not fineart fan) but not as a tourist. Almost 4 years, I was a host for other HC-people. This would be the fist time to be a 'guest'. When people were staying at my place, I ...

... expect to see anywhere from Morocco to Turkey to Afghanistan, from rugs to hookahs to Qu’rans. Next day I’ve still got to kill time until my night ride, so take a day trip out to Bruges on the recommendation of a friend. It has the distinction of being intact after WWII, so plenty of nice architecture, but nothing you couldn’t see somewhere else

Two weeks to go before lift off and I haven't decided yet where to go. I think the first idea, to go from good old Belgica to Porto on my bike is the best idea. I think I fancy a nice port wine with view of the old harbor! I might change my mind and go cycling to the north cape instead, but not really... Friday the 2th, I have done my last day at work... Next Tuesday I will take the train to 'De Panne' a seeside town in Belgium next to the border ...

... head outside again. At this point, the weather was a bit nicer so we walked along the main street, looked out over the River Ourthe (see Pic 19), and stopped for a moment to check out the memorial for those who perished during WWI (see Pic 21). Apparently every town in Belgium has a memorial with the names listed of those townspeople who died during The Great War (WWI) - on a later trip we saw the memorial in Antwerp which is at the main train station. It is a really nice thought ...