Big balls and small pissers.
ADVENTURES #2: BRUSSELS AND LONDON (PART 2)
Welcome back – if you haven’t caught up on the last post, you can do so here. But if you’re stubbornly against going back and reading, as a catch up, we went to Brussels for a few days, messed things up a little and ended up in London for longer than expected on the way. That’s about it…
Anyway, after leaving the museum behind, we continued our exploration of the city, walking the streets, taking in the sights. On our way back to the centre, we partook in a little grocery shopping, I’m not sure exactly what it is about foreign supermarkets, but they are far more interesting to me than shopping at home. Perhaps it’s because I don’t quite know what I’m looking at, or the odd cultural differences in eating habits, and the strange brands that enable these oddities. Either way, we both had fun searching for our lunch. Once we had picked out a suitable array of picnic supplies, we headed for the Botanical Gardens and set up camp on a bench by the lake in the lower gardens.
The food was delicious, and it staggered us how much we were able to get for twenty euros. Good food and beautiful gardens. The only downside were the teenagers sucking each other’s faces off for the entire time we were there… after eating, we took an alternative route to avoid the dry humping on show and as we walked up the hill, the impressive Le Botanique building slowly came into view. Crossing the road and entering the main gardens, we were stunned by the beauty of it, and intrigued by the variety of statues that decorated the area. Be mindful of these when visiting, it seems they can be aggressive (see photo above). After this, we made our way back though the gardens and past the kissers again, who were still there, and back to the shops, which we perused on our way back to the hotel. After making it back, we enjoyed the pleasures of the pool and sauna for the first time – an addition which I would now sorely miss if I were to book a hotel without it. This was perhaps too enjoyable, and it delayed our time to leave for our meal out quite considerably. This it seems was another costly mistake on our trip, and as we walked around the local area, we found that many of the restaurants were either fully booked or close to closing. Eventually we found an appropriate venue however and sat to eat. The place was nice, the atmosphere was good, but it was pretty spendy in some regards. Forty euros for a steak wasn’t too bad, but a fiver for an incredibly small portion of Béarnaise sauce (a desert spoon at most), over twenty euros for a rather small omelette, and a fiver for a water… I suppose it wasn’t the worst gouging, but it always grates on me when water can’t be got for free. In isolation, the cost would be rather meaningless, but we were haemorrhaging money all over the place from the very start of the trip. Like I say though - good meal! After that, we headed back to the hotel and slept soundly to the next day – many steps, much relaxation, and a hefty meal clearly make for deep sleep.
The following morning, we were up early for our included breakfast again, and after much coffee and tea we set off once more. The weather unfortunately took a rather sour turn – drizzle and grey clouds took over from the sun that had blessed us the day before. Umbrella required! For our second outing, we decided to first visit the Atomium – a symbol of Brussels. Our day then had us set out for the central station and as we’re clearly utterly rubbish with rail-based transport, we naturally immediately made a mistake. We ventured underground and got on what we thought was the correct train, but it turns out that it isn’t just their underground trains that can be boarded underground. We ended up a couple of stops outside of the city centre before being guided right by an incredibly helpful rail company employee. He gave us a card that in his words would “tell our story” in case we were questioned as to why we were in the wrong place with the wrong tickets. We can only assume that it requests pity to be bestowed upon us for being typical idiotic English travellers. Either way, we got back to the station in short order and boarded the right Metro train. Within a few minutes we got ourselves into another situation as the carriage emptied of all passengers save for a bloke with his headphones on, and another traveller who was fast asleep. The guy listening to his music asked us if we had heard any announcements that might indicate what was going on, but as it was in French, we were unaware of anything being wrong. The train stopped deep in a tunnel a moment later and seemed to shut down. This was mildly concerning, but we assumed it was just temporary. The driver of the train walked past the carriage after a few seconds and knocked on the window, he seemed to be rather bemused by our presence. The man who was with us, as it turns out, worked for the transport company but on the busses, and after communicating with the driver, he conveyed to us what had happened. A change in shifts was all, and we just needed to get the following train at the next stop. The train resumed after a few minutes, and we followed the good Samaritan for a bit as he lead us right. On our way he told us that the underground system in Brussels is the worst he has experienced in Europe, that may be the case but I have a feeling he was trying to make us feel less useless. After a minute or so we were on the right platform and once we were set, we parted ways with the bloke and continued on towards the Atomium after boarding the next train.
Stepping out of the station and seeing the unique image of the structure before us was quite something, and it is more impressive to see in person even than the images online make it appear. From the station exit, it was a short walk through a car park, past some other attractions, and down a broad road. Upon reaching the bottom of the shallow hill, we found ourselves among a throng of damp tourists, and a really disorientating queuing ‘system’, something that we English don’t enjoy. Orderly queues for us please. Despite this, we sort of ended up in the right place, and eventually purchased our tickets. Once we had them, we crossed into the opposite building and suddenly had our photos taken. We didn’t ask, and they printed them out and made a keyring for us by the end. Seemed like such a waste as we didn’t want them… Our special moment will live on in a landfill somewhere I’m sure. Anyway, up the escalator we went and began our exploration of the strange structure. The lower section is merely an exhibition of the history of the project, but as we ascended, lighting and music took over, and we experienced something that might be described as ‘trippy’. The display of light and sound was rather impressive and made the visit to the site worthwhile in and of itself. Beyond that, the views from the upper spheres were also rather impressive, more so seeing the rest of structure from within another part of it. After we had made the loop back to the start, we passed through the gift shop (as is the way with most places we go it seems), and returned to the train station, making next for the Neuhaus Factory Shop to gorge ourselves on free chocolate. I was rather disappointed in myself unfortunately, as I was only able to consume about seven examples of the shops offering before having to give up. Perhaps starve yourself before going. The prices were good for some things, kilogram boxes of the same kind of chocolates for example, but other smaller selections are got far cheaper in the city centre. Despite the prices, and the getting damp en route, the chocolates we did eat were good, and free, so definitely worth the excursion! After that, we decided to grab an early dinner – being in desperate need of something savoury. Before finding a place to eat, we decided to visit the Manneken Pis. Like I said in part one, Lottie had seen it some fifteen or so years prior, but had forgotten the experience. As I rounded the corner, I found myself rather surprised by its lack of size. A very small statue of a urinating boy. I’m not quite sure on why its so popular, but I suppose its something to see. The main thing I got out of the experience was a new umbrella from a shop a few doors down, as mine died from being blown inside-out one too many times. Worth a visit to the statue I suppose, but don’t expect too much – there are plenty of other architectural delights, and other statues and fountains that are perhaps more worthy of your time. Anyway, after that, and visiting yet more chocolate shops, we turned our attention on dinner. You’ll know that we’re partial to Italian food, and we found ourselves getting pizza and pasta once again, this time in a little place called Pizza Pronto – aptly named as our food arrived incredibly quickly. We liked this place as it felt very much like a family business, and our food was prepared just a few meters from our table. Recommended if you visit the city. Once we had filled ourselves up, we visited another grocery shop and picked up a few bits before heading back to the hotel to enjoy the pool once more. For a few hours we relaxed there, and it was much needed after all the walking about in the rain.
The next day was unfortunately our last, and after eating lots more items in the included breakfast buffet and packing out things, we stowed our bags in the hotel’s luggage store and made off for one last explore before having to catch our train back to the Eurostar terminal. Walking the streets sans-backpack was a treat, and it felt nice to walk about unhindered. We had only been in the city for a couple of days, but by the third we felt comfortable there, and knew our way around the local area as if we had always been there. We walked down towards the Grand Place, explored some more of the shops, the galleries, and landmarks – fuelling ourselves with some Belgian chips on the way. Unfortunately, there was a distinct lack of salt shaken over them, so we ended up popping into a nearby shop and picking up some – we realise how ridiculous that is, and we were appropriately laughed at by a local. Made the chip experience all the better though. Slowly we wandered back to the hotel and found ourselves with a little more time on our hands than we had anticipated. We made use of the coffee and tea facilities then and indulged ourselves in the free pastries once more, settling down to play cards in the foyer for a while. Time ticked away pretty quick then and before we knew it, we were heading off, burdened with our bags once more. Luckily, we had learnt our lesson from our arrival, and only had to take the short walk to the nearest station. This was easy, and we found ourselves back at Brussels Midi in no time. We passed through security and border control once more and after a little wait, we boarded the Eurostar. Homeward bound! The closer we got to England, the more the sun shone, and as we disembarked at Kings Cross, we felt as though we had time travelled - the time away disappeared in a flash! There was a little bit of a wait for our next train and we decided to look around the shops at the station – I picked up a book from Hatchards and a copy of EDGE Magazine from WHSmiths. Lottie got a gift for a friend from the White Company and as we passed Pret, she was given a free tea which was about to be tipped away… someone ordered and forgot apparently. This small diversion passed the time nicely and before we knew it, we were on our way back home, changing at East Croydon before taking the last leg to Angmering.
All in all a lovely trip, despite some idiocy on our part - all good adventure, however. If you get the chance to visit Brussels, I wholeheartedly recommend it. A few days there is enough to take in many of the sights, but longer could easily be spent. We’d have liked to have taken a day drip to Bruges, for example, but all in all we got out of the trip what we wanted – an interesting and relaxing time away from the usual. And after visiting the Pixel Museum, I now have a rekindled love of Lightgun games, and I am rather determined to get my hands on a Sinden, funds permitting.
Have you travelled lately? Where have you been? I’d love to hear about it. If you’ve been to Brussels, what did you think? We’re not sure when or where our next trip might be, if you have any suggestions let us know!
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