Brussel Sprouts
Mannekin Pis
Originally uploaded by elisabeth_howson.At least that's what everyone said when I said I was going to Brussels last weekend....
So we've established that the Mannekin Pis is the national symbol of Belgium, that they like their beer and they make some fabulous chocolate, but the question is, is Brussels worth going to given it's bad reputation. Well, I have to say that it is. It's a reasonably attractive European city. It has everything we like - old buildings, museums, good food and a public transport system that works. We took the Eurostar - the easy alternative to flying. Our five star hotel was very pleasant although we seemed to be in the street with all the strip clubs (this also happened when we went to Vienna) and we were all the way down one end of the hotel where the hall way narrowed to half the normal width. Obviously it was the special room reserved for people who booked on lastminute.com. Even though it was quite late, Robert and I went out to find some food. Robert got stuck into trying the beer immediately and had a burger with fries. I just had the chocolate sundae (no, we weren't at McDonalds). Fries are served with mayonnaise in Belgium. An interesting alternative.
We paid the ridiculous amount of money for breakfast in the hotel (all I had was a bowl of rice bubbles and a cup of coffee - oh and I did take a little tub of nutella for later). Then we headed out into the city. Robert was armed with his new Sat Nav and I had the old analogue version. We then played duelling maps for the rest of the day. First we explored the Comic Museum. This was quite interesting - lots of information about TinTin and the evolution of Belgium comic creators throughout the years. Not everything was translated into English but it was still very interesting. Then we found the Square of Martyrs - deserted now but used to be the place to live back 200 years ago. Then we went off to the Grand Place via the Royal Galleries. There seemed to be so many amazing shops with expensive looking handbags and shoes. I didn't dare go into any. There was a chocolate shop on every corner and art deco styling everywhere.
For lunch we just grabbed a quiche and a drink with the intention of going to the chocolate museum but that turned out to be closed - it was only open on Mondays! Still, we then made our way to the Mannekin Pis, had a drink at a pub and then had to make an emergency dash back to the hotel to get Robert some pain killers. He'd been suffering from a toothache and it suddenly got worse. We tried to find a dentist but everything was closed so we just settled for neurofen and a lie down. After a little nap, we went out for dinner to Restaurant Vincent. It was a predominantly seafood restuarant and the waiters even cook food in the middle of the restaurant. The walls, floors and ceiling were all tiled and as you can imagine the noise level was quite high. We struck up a conversation with the couple sitting next to us - all the tables being so close together - they were from America and happened to have a house in Portugal. The lady was carrying her little dog around in a bag with her... it was all very Paris Hilton 20 years on. Back at the hotel we had a drink in the bar and starting talking to a Spanish guy who was living and working in Brussels as a translator. A rather interesting night.
Sunday was Folk Festival day and all the streets had been closed to cars plus public transport was free. We went to the Museum of Muscial Instruments which was in another art deco style building. It was an interesting approach to be given headphones which played pieces of music for the different instruments in a particular display. You stood on a number on the floor and the appropriate piece of music would be played. No words, just music. A rather relaxing way to spend a morning.
After lunch we walked up to check out the Palace. We couldn't go in as it was only open to the public until the beginning of September. So we decided to try out the underground system and go to the Autoworld. We walked through the Parc du Cinqentarie, through the big arch and spent the afternoon looking at cars. We then went back to pick up our bags from the hotel and then to the station to catch the Eurostar back to London. Unfortunately Robert was still in pain as we'd run out of Neurofen so the trip home was not as pleasant. Still, we managed to get home in the end.
It is now a whole week since we went to Brussels and it has been one of the longest weeks I've had since we got here. One of our friends said that it was the 4 month blues. My anxiety levels have been through the roof but I think I'm getting better now. As a result I've been rather unmotivated to write anything. I've been so bad that i'm still in possession of all the chocolates that we bought in Brussels!!
I'm hoping this week will be better. Robert's parents are now arrived safely from Singapore as of Saturday night and we'll be playing host to them until the end of the week.
Before I go I just want to say a Happy Birthday to all the people I know who have Birthday's in September - Mummy, Astrid, Christina and Philippa!!
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside
Today we took part in an annual motorcycling event run by the Ace Cafe. The Ace Cafe is an institution in London that attracts motorcycling enthusiasts from all over the world. Every year they have a huge ride to Brighton and take over the beach front with stalls and motorcycles. We made our way up to the Cafe for 10am and found thousands of bikes ready for the big ride. We took off pretty much immediately and headed off down the motorways. People lined the side of the roads and stood on the bridges over the road to wave and cheer. It was sort of cool and very very loud. We tended to create traffic jams where ever we were. With so many bikes in the one place, plus the usual Brighton crowd, plus the fact that it was a beautiful day, it was a little busy.
Brighton was not as nice as I expected. It actually seemed a little shabby. There was a distinct lack of greenery and lots of very white buildings which would make the place quite oppressive in summer. Perhaps we were in the wrong area, but it was definitely down market. The beach has no sand, although the council had shipped in a bit to keep the kids happy. The sea was blue and sparkling and there were lots of little sailing ships on the water. The Fun Park on the Pier was also in full swing. We got some fish and chips, wandered along the water front and then decided that it was too hot and crowded and we'd be better off heading home. We drove along the coast for a bit and saw some white cliffs and possibly the more salubrious areas of Brighton - the houses were whiter, and the cars were more expensive. Golf and kite flying seemed to be the sport of the day.
After tracking down a toilet we headed for home. Robert set the Satellite Navigation system to take us home without the motorway (Robert's latest toy purchase, the Tom Tom Rider is specially designed to be mounted to a motorbike, is waterproof and has a special helmet insert so you can hear the instructions. Of course, you can use it in the car too!). Now we're completely exhausted. I think we'd better have a quiet week or our weekend in Brussels at the 5 star hotel will be spent in bed sleeping.
Oh, and I forgot to mention a couple of things. I got on my bicycle for the first time last Sunday. The weather was improving and so we went on a ride around Chelsea and Battersea. That's where those photos came from on Flickr. Also, yesterday we went to the Wimbledon Farmer's market. We bought lots of cheese (including buffalo), tasty non-wheat bread, organic vegies, pork, lamb and bacon. Looking forward to the difference that all this organic stuff is meant to make to the taste of things. If nothing else we can feel good for buying from the small producers rather than the big retailers.
After a weekend of almost perfect weather, I just hope we get more of it for a few more weeks yet. At the moment it seems that summer is back for a little while.
Promenading
I made the exciting discovery today that it was in fact the last night of the BBC Proms. The Proms was always something that I used to watch when I was young and really had no idea what it was all about until I just read about it on the web. Turns out that it's a long standing tradition dating back to 1894. Originally it was one man's desire to educate and make music more accessible to the general public. By offering cheaper tickets to stand in the "Promenade" area of the hall, more people were able to come and listen. As the years wore on, it was taken over by the BBC and is now even available on your mobile phone.
I bought us two tickets to go to the Proms in the Park. We managed to make our way there and find a small spot on the grass with the hundreds of other people in Hyde Park. It was a very civilised crowd drinking Pimms and Champagne. We listened to all sorts of music until we got too cold to go on. We didn't count on it being as cold as it was. So we had to leave and go home early. I'm now sitting in the warmth of my lounge room watching the end of it on the TV. Shame really, but we get a better view of all the different concerts from here. I feel happy to have been part of the tradition if only for a little while.
Since we sent Juliet back to Sydney last Saturday we've been taking it a little quieter. We've booked ourselves a trip to Brussels for a weekend of 5 star luxury and a trip on the Eurostar. I'll let you know next week if there is anything else to do there except drink beer (as I've heard many people complain). We went to see some Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre on Wednesday. We went to see Titus Andronicus. I had no idea about the story but it turned out to be a rather violent tale of murder and revenge. It was very well done - lots of fake blood and suitably traumatised victims of violence. Wednesday was rather hot (the last hurrah of Summer) and with all the heat and the blood on stage there were quite a few females fainting in the audience. We were on the top teir and so had a great view of those dropping like flies. It provided an amusing distraction from the rather serious happenings on stage. A word of warning - if you are intending to go to the Globe theatre, prepare to be uncomfortable, hire a cushion and be happy that the play is entertaining enough to take your mind off the tiny hard benches that they have. I know this is all in the name of authenticity, but I do wander how some people cope (in fact a lot of the theatres in London are made for legless dwarves...).
Tomorrow we're off on a motorcycle adventure to Brighton with a whole lot of other motorcycles. No doubt tomorrow we'll be really hot after being really cold tonight.... nevermind. I'll let you know how that goes.
(Oh, and I've finished my scarf, but it's too short! I'm going to have to add some more length I think.)
Welcome to Britain, please join the queue
While it isn't exactly most people's idea of a day trip, we did in fact go to Heathrow Terminal 3 for an afternoon of queuing. Yes, we took Juliet out to Heathrow and put her on her long journey back home to Sydney. We booked a hire car to take us all out to Heathrow so we didn't have to lug her heavy bags (full of all those shoes she bought in Paris!) on public transport. That was the easy bit. First we had to queue for check-in. The new hand luggage restrictions mean that you can take less into the cabin but you can put more in the hold. So no one seemed to raise an eyebrow when her 2 bags weighed 30kg together. Unless of course Royal Brunei airlines have a higher baggage limit in the first place. Who knows. We spent about 45 minutes in the check-in queue, but our next challenge was the security line. We joined it at what felt like 500m from the entrance and spent another hour waiting in line. Poor Juliet was a little concerned that she wouldn't make it to her gate in time but we assured her that everything would be fine. We had time to inspect the list of things not allowed in hand luggage as we waited. Juliet had to give up her lip balm and her toothpaste, but was able to keep her Neurofen and her organic oregano from Croatia. As we got within viewing distance of the security check area, she was called to the front of the line so she wouldn't miss her boarding call. We said our tearful goodbyes and we escaped to the tube. I guess it provides us with useful experience for our trip to Spain at the end of October.
The Boy of Pye Corner
The Golden Boy of Pye Corner
Originally uploaded by elisabeth_howson.On Monday, the bank holiday with seemingly no reason to be, we went on another walking tour. This time we went to follow the trail of the Great Fire of London. We started off at Monument station. The monument was designed by Sir Christopher Wren to commemorate the fire in 1666 which burnt for 3 days cosuming more than 13,000 houses and devastating 436 acres of the city. The monument is 202ft tall and can be climbed for a small fee. We didn't climb it as we were feeling a little hungry and wanted to find somewhere to eat first. We saw Pudding Lane which housed the bakers shop in which the fire started. We also saw lots of little plaques on walls saying where old buildings used to be before the fire destroyed them. It was rather strange to walk around as there are so many office buildings in that area making it rather difficult to imagine how it used to be. Many of the churches and old buildings were rebuilt, while other places were demolished and replaced. Some of the buildings took elements of the old as part of the new. One thing I never knew was the fact that they blamed gluttony and sometimes the papists for the fire - at least that's what the little boy at pye corner was meant to represent:
"The Boy at Pye Corner was erected to commemorate the staying of the great fire which beginning at Pudding lane was ascribed to the sin of gluttony when not attributed to the papists as on the monument and the boy was made prodigiously fat to enforce the moral he was originally built into the front of a public house called 'The Fortune of War' which used to occupy this site and was pulled down in 1910. The 'Fortune of War' was the chief house of call north of the river for resurrectionists in body snatching days. Years ago the landlord used to show the room where on benches round the walls the bodies where placed labelled with the snatchers' names waiting till the surgeons at St Bartholomew's could run round and appraise them."
The grammar is a little troubled, but I think it makes some sort of sense. We left Juliet to check out the Notting Hill festival with another friend and we escaped home. I wasn't terribly interested in being caught up in the crush of hundreds of thousands of people all trying to fit in to the one place.
We sent Juliet off to Paris on Tuesday for a couple of days. Personally I think she just wanted to get away from me in my bad mood ;-).
The land where time begins
Juliet and Elisabeth
Originally uploaded by elisabeth_howson.Yes, on the last Sunday of Summer Juliet, Robert and I decided to take a trip to Greenwich. Greenwich has attractions for both boys (ships, big telescopes and cool scientific stuff) and girls (pretty gardens, historical things and nice buildings). We went for a ride on the Docklands Light Rail for the first time which was a little like a roller coaster. As it was almost lunch time we found the pub called The Cutty Sark which was recommended in one of our walking tours of London books. We all had the Sunday Roast which was quite good and we watched the ships float by on the Thames. Then we walked into Greenwich park to see what there was to see. We found one tree hill then some roman ruins (which looked like a few bricks someone had left lying in the grass). We referred to our tour information and discovered that there was an old Oak tree which was known as the Queen Elizabeth's Oak. Ok, so old wasn't how they described it:
"This ancient tree known as Queen Elizabeth's Oak is thought to have been planted in the 12th Century and it has been hollow for many hundreds of years. It has traditions linking it with Queen Elizabeth I, King Henry VIII and his Queen Anne Boleyn, it may also have been a lock-up for offenders against park rules. It died in the late 19th Century and a strong growth of Ivy supported it until it collapsed in June 1991."
A new English Oak has been planted alongside the oak by Prince Phillip.
Then we moved on to the Observatory and the Prime Meridian itself. We piled into the grounds of the observatory with the rest of the tourists, took the appropriate pictures, checked out the exhibitions and tried not to spend too much money in the gift shop. I just liked taking pictures from up on the hill, especially when the sun came out. By this stage we'd had enough and headed back through the park taking pictures of the pretty buildings and the Cutty Sark. We subjected ourselves to the Indian Restaurants of Brick Lane. Juliet wanted to have a curry before she left London. We got sucked in by the second person - 30% off and a free round of drinks - and the meal wasn't too bad although the entrees had the smallest little lamb chops I've ever seen. We tried to check out the rest of Brick Lane but decided to abandon that idea when we kept being asked if we wanted another meal. We went home feeling tired but full.
