I am surprised to find that it was already a month ago when I was in Belgium and I'm only just getting up to the fourth day, Sunday. Already I'm looking forward to our trip to Wales and then Morocco next month, which are definite. After that, I'd really like to do a short trip over to Ireland on my Birthday. But anyhow, I'd best get my log of Belgium out of the way first.
After our travelling about on the previous days, we decided we'd best hang around in Brussels and see more of the place. We started by going to the Sunday market which springs up all around the plaza beside the railway tracks. It's actually a very common place to find a market in Europe where space is at a premium and there's this land that no one wants to live on beside the raised rail lines. Temporary market stalls just seem to appear to sell all manner of products from junk to fresh produce to flowers to bedding.
After hanging about here and marvelling at the 'wall of meat' we started a long walk across town, headed for a famous friterie named Maison Antoine that we had heard was the best. And that would mean the best fries in the best country to get them, so therefore, the best fries in the world. Of course, the way was long and arduous and fraught with many dangers. Dangers such as: Palaces and Museums!
No kidding, we accidentally walked by the royal palace and some other amazing looking buildings that we otherwise would not have seen. So that was good. We also saw one particularly incredible building in art nouveau style, that on closer inspection turned out to be the Musical Instrument Museum. Having no great inclination to go there, but having been recommended it by Marine's friend, we went in.
Everything about this museum adds together to make it one of the best I've been to. It has musical instruments from all over the world, from all periods of history. There's even an area for modern electronic sequencers which takes you all the way back to the earliest programmable pianos and trumpets all the way back. Even better; headphones are handed out on entry which allow you to listen in on what each instrument sounds like just by standing in front of it.
We did finally reach the EU parliament building and went down behind it to find the little frite stand in the square surrounded by people. We waited in line for about 30 minutes to get our fries and when we got them finally, we went over to one of the pubs in the square to enjoy them. It's not even bad manners to do so! They have signs up saying that frites are welcome at their tables, though I imagine it would be rude to not then buy a drink. That was not a problem for me as it had been a long walk over and I needed a drink.
When we were done, we walked back into town via a different route and after about half an hour of walking we ended up back at the old shopping mall where we stopped for a coffee in a rather touristy area and watched the local beggars. We had a bit of shopping to do and so dispensed with that and then settled down in another one of those well hidden pubs down a short alley. This one had one middle aged woman at the bar and a couple of regular looking customers and allowed for smoking indoors.
As we sat there and enjoyed our drinks in that most incredible and ancient of settings, we watched several sets of obvious tourists peer in curiously and then scamper away. Probably off to Starbucks. I can see why most locals would come up to us speaking French; we just don't do those things which make us stand out immediately as tourists. I write this knowing that there will be no way to avoid looking like an outside when we arrive in Morocco, however.
Anyway, it was now getting around to evening time so we decided to find some food. Our search around St Catherine's square didn't turn up anything to our fancy, so we headed back towards the Marolles where there was a place called Birdie Nam Nam. It was a bit of a 'fusion' restaurant that offered traditional Belgian cuisine with a bit of a twist. I had the duck with Sichuan pepper and cherry and Kristen had a carbonnade with potato mash and crumbled speculoos biscuits. Although the food was rather good, it was a bit more expensive and the atmosphere wasn't as amazing as the amazing bier restaurant down the road.
However, stuffed full, we headed back to the hotel to sleep.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Belgian Times - Day 3
Our third day in Belgium was a Saturday, in which we got up early and caught a train Northwest towards the coast, where we hopped off at Ghent. It was raining when we arrived there and we had foolishly not brought an umbrella with us. Also, it should be noted that it's about a half hour walk from the station and into the centre of town. During this time we got mildly wet and the rain mercifully ceased in its precipitating.
The houses outside of the old part of town (ie the newer homes and apartments) were quite intriguing, having their own distinct and quirky style, but this changed once we crossed over a canal into the old town, which still has its cobbled streets and ancient buildings. We wandered in and around the central area until about midday, at which point we went to a restaurant on the main square for a bit of lunch. I had a the ribs, which almost destroyed me completely as it was massive for the price. We also sampled some of the local jam filled candies and a kind of milk cake that were being sold in the main square.
All considered, I think Ghent is a lot smaller and quieter than Brussels and a bit cleaner and prettier too. It seems to be that people in Europe take for granted how old and grand their cities are. But still, we had yet to see Brugge so we headed back to the station and hopped on the train again.
It took us around 30 minutes from Ghent to get to Brugge by train. When we arrived it was not raining so we walked in the direction of where we expected the town centre to be (ie following the tourists mostly). We crossed a main road and went straight down a quiet, cobbled street lined with small, single storied houses with no front yards. That is to say that every house on the street had its front door pressed right up against the pavement. And these houses were absolutely quaint and beautiful and crammed side by side.
We turned down a side street towards a cathedral on a whim and I started filming, which place in this post around here somewhere:
From here we bought a tourist map and found our way to the market square where a triathlon was setting up. Again I should point out that every building in this place is stunning and there are so many minor details that need to be seen in person to truly understand. It must just suffice for me to say that it is amazing and for you to believe me in this.
And so we wandered, and so we came to an old school where they still teach how to make lace and also sell it there. This lace you can be sure is made traditionally right there in Brugge, instead of China, but because of this there is a distinct price difference.
After buying some of this lace, we headed back to the canal to take a boat cruise, which was actually rather comfortable and dry and it was truly a lovely day for such activities. I have part of a video of this here:
Tired out from our long day, we had beer and wine at a bar on a small square that was quite packed with bars and people getting a little of the sun that evening. We also stopped in for some frites before we hopped on the train back to Brussels. We were more than a little tired, but we stopped at the Central Station and walked back to the hotel via the waffle stand. Thus ended our 3rd day in Belgium.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
The houses outside of the old part of town (ie the newer homes and apartments) were quite intriguing, having their own distinct and quirky style, but this changed once we crossed over a canal into the old town, which still has its cobbled streets and ancient buildings. We wandered in and around the central area until about midday, at which point we went to a restaurant on the main square for a bit of lunch. I had a the ribs, which almost destroyed me completely as it was massive for the price. We also sampled some of the local jam filled candies and a kind of milk cake that were being sold in the main square.
All considered, I think Ghent is a lot smaller and quieter than Brussels and a bit cleaner and prettier too. It seems to be that people in Europe take for granted how old and grand their cities are. But still, we had yet to see Brugge so we headed back to the station and hopped on the train again.
It took us around 30 minutes from Ghent to get to Brugge by train. When we arrived it was not raining so we walked in the direction of where we expected the town centre to be (ie following the tourists mostly). We crossed a main road and went straight down a quiet, cobbled street lined with small, single storied houses with no front yards. That is to say that every house on the street had its front door pressed right up against the pavement. And these houses were absolutely quaint and beautiful and crammed side by side.
We turned down a side street towards a cathedral on a whim and I started filming, which place in this post around here somewhere:
From here we bought a tourist map and found our way to the market square where a triathlon was setting up. Again I should point out that every building in this place is stunning and there are so many minor details that need to be seen in person to truly understand. It must just suffice for me to say that it is amazing and for you to believe me in this.
And so we wandered, and so we came to an old school where they still teach how to make lace and also sell it there. This lace you can be sure is made traditionally right there in Brugge, instead of China, but because of this there is a distinct price difference.
After buying some of this lace, we headed back to the canal to take a boat cruise, which was actually rather comfortable and dry and it was truly a lovely day for such activities. I have part of a video of this here:
Tired out from our long day, we had beer and wine at a bar on a small square that was quite packed with bars and people getting a little of the sun that evening. We also stopped in for some frites before we hopped on the train back to Brussels. We were more than a little tired, but we stopped at the Central Station and walked back to the hotel via the waffle stand. Thus ended our 3rd day in Belgium.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A video update
I've been playing around with video editing and roughly spliced together a few videos. I have one for each day in Paris which I will post here, but please note that I haven't been pedantic about quality and some of the segments have no sound. I think these just add an extra dimension to my travel which couldn't be captured in still images or words.
First up: Our first day in Paris, including the view from the top of the Sacre C'oeur, the Arc De Triomph and the Eiffel Tower.
Day two, our walking tour starting at the Place St Michel and going past the Louvre"
Day three, where we went to the Arc de Triomp and ended up sitting by the Seine:
Day four, Versailles including the garden and grounds, the hall of mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedchamber.
And a bonus video of Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath:
First up: Our first day in Paris, including the view from the top of the Sacre C'oeur, the Arc De Triomph and the Eiffel Tower.
Day two, our walking tour starting at the Place St Michel and going past the Louvre"
Day three, where we went to the Arc de Triomp and ended up sitting by the Seine:
Day four, Versailles including the garden and grounds, the hall of mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedchamber.
And a bonus video of Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath:
Monday, July 11, 2011
Belgian Times - Day 2
Our second dayin Belgium commenced on Friday the 17th of June. Kristen awoke before me and perused the morning flea market for bargains. The market itself consists of a multicultural mix of people with blankets spread out and a wild assortment of wares arrayed about the place. Basically any piece of junk that could cenceivably sell is placed out for the relatively small number of shoppers and bargain hunters.
After I crawled out of bed, we both headed down to the station where, with less than the expected amount of fuss and bother we managed to get ourselves tickets to Antwerp AND day return tickets to Ghent and Brugge the following day. One thing about Belgium that should be noted at this point is that it's multilingual. Some people speak French only, some people speak Dutch only, but everyone generally speaks English to avoid confusion. Because of this a lot of cities have a Dutch name, a French name and sometimes an English name (think Florence/Firenze in Italy). I'll probably slip up at some point at write Anvers, Gent, Bruges or Bruxelles, but please bear with me.
As I mentioned, getting the tickets was easy. Getting on the train, even easier. Within the hour we were in the port city of Antwerp. Now, geography lesson time: What is Antwerp famous for? Answer: Diamonds. It is the historic centre for the world diamond trade and still maintains a stranglehold on that most unusual of commodities. I'm going to wax political for a moment and mention that diamonds are abundant, cruelly harvested, fabricatible and artifically price controlled, so don't buy them. Now back to the scheduled programming.
When we arrived in Antwerp, we saw a number of jewelery shops all trying to cash in on the city's reputation. We also saw the zoo, but chose not to go into it as we've seen zoos before. Instead we walked down the back streets towards the MoMu aka the Fashion Museum. There was an exhibit there on knitwear throughout history, which was really rather fascinating. After seeing this, we were starting to get hungry so we hunted around for somewhere to eat.
We settled on a friterie in the main square, which was manned by just one man who scurried about trying to do everything by himself. At one point he abandoned his post for a smoke break while confused patrons looked around trying to figure how to get their frite fix. Yes indeed, by this stage we were both already deep within the throes of frite addiction, ordering up a hearty portion each with wurst and chicken.
After lunch, it began to drizzle a bit, as we wandered about the streets of the city centre. This seemed like the perfect excuse to go to Pater's Vaetje for a drink. Again I was confronted with a bewildering assortment of beers on the menu. I found that I developed a taste for Duvel and Chimay Bleue after a few attempts. It should be noted that one does not get drunk while in Belgium. Instead, a beer is poured properly from a bottle into a special shaped glass and appreciated for its strong and unusual flavour. At no point during my stay in Belgium was I ever really 'drunk' however.
When the skies had cleared a little, we went for a walk down the riverside and past a wee castle perched on the shore. We walked all the way up to the limit of the city centre and then back again through the red light district. Yes, it was intentional this time, unlike Aachen. I have to admit that the talent on display in Antwerp is of a much higher standard than in Aachen.
With this out of the way, we went in search of the pedestrian tunnel which links one side of the river to the other. We found it after searching around a bit for the entrance and descended into the depths. The tunnel itself is quite scary and is incredibly long. It just seems to stretch on forever. I was really hoping the whole way through that the lights wouldn't go out because that would be really rather horrific. On the other side of the river, there's not much to see except to look back on the side we came from. So back we went through the tunnel again.
One really remarkable hidden part of the city is an alley just off the town centre. It took us a fair few minutes of searching to finally find it after we saw some people wandering out of the entrance. The alley winds its way between a pair of restaurants and leads past a few locked residental properties and pops out again on the other side of the block. I have a video somewhere of me walking through it that I'll have to dig up.
As the day grew late and we tired of walking around, we caught the train back to Brussels again and relaxed at the hotel for a short while before heading just down the road to a small bistro called Restobieres (beer restaurant). Now, from the street this place is only announced by the presence of a chalk board announcing the day's specials. The front window obscured by glass bottles does not allow one to easily glimpse inside. This place wasn't even mentioned on any list on wikitravel, so the very act of crossing the threshold could have spelled our doom.
But I jest, we knew from the instant we saw it that this place was a real find. Our hunch was confirmed when we gingerly pushed the door open to find the most beautiful little bistro in the world. We were sat down at a table and I believe we were given the menus in French, because that's how hardcore we are. I really do enjoy the mystery of ordering food in French as I only know a few words. But I do know what escargots are (snails duh) and also lapin (rabbit) so I had the escargots in a sizzling beer sauce followed by the rabbit in a beer gravy. Kristen had a deep fried, breadcrumbed melty cheese case and then the Belgian version of sausage and mash. Both were absolutely amazing. Dessert was speculoos and icecream and a waffle with whipped cream and candied cherry sauce.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
After I crawled out of bed, we both headed down to the station where, with less than the expected amount of fuss and bother we managed to get ourselves tickets to Antwerp AND day return tickets to Ghent and Brugge the following day. One thing about Belgium that should be noted at this point is that it's multilingual. Some people speak French only, some people speak Dutch only, but everyone generally speaks English to avoid confusion. Because of this a lot of cities have a Dutch name, a French name and sometimes an English name (think Florence/Firenze in Italy). I'll probably slip up at some point at write Anvers, Gent, Bruges or Bruxelles, but please bear with me.
As I mentioned, getting the tickets was easy. Getting on the train, even easier. Within the hour we were in the port city of Antwerp. Now, geography lesson time: What is Antwerp famous for? Answer: Diamonds. It is the historic centre for the world diamond trade and still maintains a stranglehold on that most unusual of commodities. I'm going to wax political for a moment and mention that diamonds are abundant, cruelly harvested, fabricatible and artifically price controlled, so don't buy them. Now back to the scheduled programming.
When we arrived in Antwerp, we saw a number of jewelery shops all trying to cash in on the city's reputation. We also saw the zoo, but chose not to go into it as we've seen zoos before. Instead we walked down the back streets towards the MoMu aka the Fashion Museum. There was an exhibit there on knitwear throughout history, which was really rather fascinating. After seeing this, we were starting to get hungry so we hunted around for somewhere to eat.
We settled on a friterie in the main square, which was manned by just one man who scurried about trying to do everything by himself. At one point he abandoned his post for a smoke break while confused patrons looked around trying to figure how to get their frite fix. Yes indeed, by this stage we were both already deep within the throes of frite addiction, ordering up a hearty portion each with wurst and chicken.
After lunch, it began to drizzle a bit, as we wandered about the streets of the city centre. This seemed like the perfect excuse to go to Pater's Vaetje for a drink. Again I was confronted with a bewildering assortment of beers on the menu. I found that I developed a taste for Duvel and Chimay Bleue after a few attempts. It should be noted that one does not get drunk while in Belgium. Instead, a beer is poured properly from a bottle into a special shaped glass and appreciated for its strong and unusual flavour. At no point during my stay in Belgium was I ever really 'drunk' however.
When the skies had cleared a little, we went for a walk down the riverside and past a wee castle perched on the shore. We walked all the way up to the limit of the city centre and then back again through the red light district. Yes, it was intentional this time, unlike Aachen. I have to admit that the talent on display in Antwerp is of a much higher standard than in Aachen.
With this out of the way, we went in search of the pedestrian tunnel which links one side of the river to the other. We found it after searching around a bit for the entrance and descended into the depths. The tunnel itself is quite scary and is incredibly long. It just seems to stretch on forever. I was really hoping the whole way through that the lights wouldn't go out because that would be really rather horrific. On the other side of the river, there's not much to see except to look back on the side we came from. So back we went through the tunnel again.
One really remarkable hidden part of the city is an alley just off the town centre. It took us a fair few minutes of searching to finally find it after we saw some people wandering out of the entrance. The alley winds its way between a pair of restaurants and leads past a few locked residental properties and pops out again on the other side of the block. I have a video somewhere of me walking through it that I'll have to dig up.
As the day grew late and we tired of walking around, we caught the train back to Brussels again and relaxed at the hotel for a short while before heading just down the road to a small bistro called Restobieres (beer restaurant). Now, from the street this place is only announced by the presence of a chalk board announcing the day's specials. The front window obscured by glass bottles does not allow one to easily glimpse inside. This place wasn't even mentioned on any list on wikitravel, so the very act of crossing the threshold could have spelled our doom.
But I jest, we knew from the instant we saw it that this place was a real find. Our hunch was confirmed when we gingerly pushed the door open to find the most beautiful little bistro in the world. We were sat down at a table and I believe we were given the menus in French, because that's how hardcore we are. I really do enjoy the mystery of ordering food in French as I only know a few words. But I do know what escargots are (snails duh) and also lapin (rabbit) so I had the escargots in a sizzling beer sauce followed by the rabbit in a beer gravy. Kristen had a deep fried, breadcrumbed melty cheese case and then the Belgian version of sausage and mash. Both were absolutely amazing. Dessert was speculoos and icecream and a waffle with whipped cream and candied cherry sauce.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Belgian Times - Day 1
On Thursday the 16th of June I got on a train at London's Kings Cross St Pancras station bound for Brussels, Belgium along with Kristen. But why Belgium of all places? The idea first came to us after our visit to Paris in which we met up with Marine who was going to work in Brussels and the idea just kind of grew from there.
It's only about 2 and a half hours on the train right into Brussels and we had booked ourselves into a hotel within walking distance from the station. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision as it placed us in the Marolles district right on the square containing the main flea market of the area. The hotel was a rather nice affair for the price and though the room was small, there was quite a gorgeous wee dining area on the ground floor that evoked very classic French bohemian feeling.
Around the square were a few cafe/pub establishments that were quite reminiscent of cafe's in France, only different in that their main poison happened to be beer rather than wine. And now I'm making it sound like we arrived in Belgium and immediately started drinking, which is not wildly inaccurate, but the first matter of the first day was to get our bearings.
We did this by walking purposefully down the main street of the Marolles towards the city centre. We didn't get far before we stumbled over the first retro clothing shop. Then we tripped over an antiques store with oddest jumble of beautiful junk. And then we fell headlong into another and another. I've never seen anything quite like it and it was all really rather exciting.
We eventually came to the centre of the town and I remember lamenting that the city was not as immediately beautiful as Paris. I think now that I spoke too soon, as we turned a corner and there stood a large group of tourists all crowded around something. The Mannekin Pis! It's really just a tiny statue of a little boy peeing that has gained no small amount of fame for some reason (later, we saw the little girl version of this hidden down a secluded alley and were rather disturbed).
It was around this area that we saw our first waffle stand (which is not surprising as we had just entered tourist land) so I had my first Belgian waffle, drizzled with nutella. There's something about the combination of soft cooked waffle batter seeded with rock sugar and slathered with warm hazelnut spread which I shouldn't even need to state.
From there it is a very short walk to the Grand Place, which is, in a word: breathtaking. It's a full 360 degrees of amazing, old building façades. During the day, the place is overrun by tourists all snapping pictures, but as night draws in it brings with it groups of teenagers and young adults who sit on the cobbles and drink.
Off to the side of the square is La Cure Gourmande, a French confectionery store which Kristen first found while we were in Paris. She took me along to show me and the place is so beautifully laid out and addictive, I wanted to buy everything. It's almost a good thing that a branch hasn't opened up in London.
By this time we were feeling quite peckish and went in search of food and found a curious establishment which appeared like a cafe, only they serve no food. Instead, they welcome people to bring their food from the sandwich shop next door and sit at their tables with it and drink beer. The other strange things about the cafe's in Belgium is that they tend to only have about 2 staff members on to run the entire place. One will stand behind the bar and talk to the partons, pouring the odd drink, while the other will go between the tables bringing out the drinks and clearing them. That's with maybe 20 people in the bar and the service is actually quite fast.
We had a drink and then headed back towards the centre where we found a frite shop that came recommended by the internet. The frites here (basically French fries) are triple fried and both crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and come with a choice of about 30 different sauces. They are a treat that is absolutely not to be missed, more than any other thing in Belgium: try the frites!
Next up, we crossed the centre of town again to find the oldest shopping mall in Europe. As you might expect, it's not the sort of affair that one would associate with a mall today, but rather it is a high ceilinged boulevard lined with luxury boutique stores. The shops are rather nice, but a little expensive perhaps, though we did buy some chocolates here.
Just off this mall is the cramped restaurant tourist trap, the Rue des Bouchers. We were given a piece of advice near the end of our stay in Belgium: If there is someone standing outside trying to persuade you to go in; don't go in. We are quite wary travellers so we do so by instinct, but it's quite a good piece of advice. Some of these places are notorious for being rip-offs.
Bearing that in mind, we headed back to the hotel and the sky opened up and bucketed down on us. We took shelter in Delhaize, the local supermarket and did a spot of shopping. After freshening up, we headed back to the Rue des Bouchers and to a restaurant we knew to be all right from checking the internet.
I had a rather tasty moules gratin with cheese and garlic butter and Kristen had a pork chop with mushroom sauce. Rather straightforward fare, but very good. Afterwards we met up with Marine and went to a very ancient bar hidden down a secluded back alley. The place exuded a rustic charm and if I remember correctly this place even allowed patrons to smoke indoors. Also, I believe this place only had one or two staff on. We had a drink or two, met one of Marine's friends and then headed over to another more modern bar where we sat outside.
At the end of the evening, Kristen and I detoured past the waffle shop and had another, this time with whipped cream added into the mix. Is there any better drunk food?
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
It's only about 2 and a half hours on the train right into Brussels and we had booked ourselves into a hotel within walking distance from the station. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision as it placed us in the Marolles district right on the square containing the main flea market of the area. The hotel was a rather nice affair for the price and though the room was small, there was quite a gorgeous wee dining area on the ground floor that evoked very classic French bohemian feeling.
Around the square were a few cafe/pub establishments that were quite reminiscent of cafe's in France, only different in that their main poison happened to be beer rather than wine. And now I'm making it sound like we arrived in Belgium and immediately started drinking, which is not wildly inaccurate, but the first matter of the first day was to get our bearings.
We did this by walking purposefully down the main street of the Marolles towards the city centre. We didn't get far before we stumbled over the first retro clothing shop. Then we tripped over an antiques store with oddest jumble of beautiful junk. And then we fell headlong into another and another. I've never seen anything quite like it and it was all really rather exciting.
We eventually came to the centre of the town and I remember lamenting that the city was not as immediately beautiful as Paris. I think now that I spoke too soon, as we turned a corner and there stood a large group of tourists all crowded around something. The Mannekin Pis! It's really just a tiny statue of a little boy peeing that has gained no small amount of fame for some reason (later, we saw the little girl version of this hidden down a secluded alley and were rather disturbed).
It was around this area that we saw our first waffle stand (which is not surprising as we had just entered tourist land) so I had my first Belgian waffle, drizzled with nutella. There's something about the combination of soft cooked waffle batter seeded with rock sugar and slathered with warm hazelnut spread which I shouldn't even need to state.
From there it is a very short walk to the Grand Place, which is, in a word: breathtaking. It's a full 360 degrees of amazing, old building façades. During the day, the place is overrun by tourists all snapping pictures, but as night draws in it brings with it groups of teenagers and young adults who sit on the cobbles and drink.
Off to the side of the square is La Cure Gourmande, a French confectionery store which Kristen first found while we were in Paris. She took me along to show me and the place is so beautifully laid out and addictive, I wanted to buy everything. It's almost a good thing that a branch hasn't opened up in London.
By this time we were feeling quite peckish and went in search of food and found a curious establishment which appeared like a cafe, only they serve no food. Instead, they welcome people to bring their food from the sandwich shop next door and sit at their tables with it and drink beer. The other strange things about the cafe's in Belgium is that they tend to only have about 2 staff members on to run the entire place. One will stand behind the bar and talk to the partons, pouring the odd drink, while the other will go between the tables bringing out the drinks and clearing them. That's with maybe 20 people in the bar and the service is actually quite fast.
We had a drink and then headed back towards the centre where we found a frite shop that came recommended by the internet. The frites here (basically French fries) are triple fried and both crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and come with a choice of about 30 different sauces. They are a treat that is absolutely not to be missed, more than any other thing in Belgium: try the frites!
Next up, we crossed the centre of town again to find the oldest shopping mall in Europe. As you might expect, it's not the sort of affair that one would associate with a mall today, but rather it is a high ceilinged boulevard lined with luxury boutique stores. The shops are rather nice, but a little expensive perhaps, though we did buy some chocolates here.
Just off this mall is the cramped restaurant tourist trap, the Rue des Bouchers. We were given a piece of advice near the end of our stay in Belgium: If there is someone standing outside trying to persuade you to go in; don't go in. We are quite wary travellers so we do so by instinct, but it's quite a good piece of advice. Some of these places are notorious for being rip-offs.
Bearing that in mind, we headed back to the hotel and the sky opened up and bucketed down on us. We took shelter in Delhaize, the local supermarket and did a spot of shopping. After freshening up, we headed back to the Rue des Bouchers and to a restaurant we knew to be all right from checking the internet.
I had a rather tasty moules gratin with cheese and garlic butter and Kristen had a pork chop with mushroom sauce. Rather straightforward fare, but very good. Afterwards we met up with Marine and went to a very ancient bar hidden down a secluded back alley. The place exuded a rustic charm and if I remember correctly this place even allowed patrons to smoke indoors. Also, I believe this place only had one or two staff on. We had a drink or two, met one of Marine's friends and then headed over to another more modern bar where we sat outside.
At the end of the evening, Kristen and I detoured past the waffle shop and had another, this time with whipped cream added into the mix. Is there any better drunk food?
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
June
I begin this post on the 3rd of June, a Friday in which after work, I met up with Kristen on Oxford St to go in search of some shopping and possibly some food in Soho. If memory serves, we went to Hummous Brothers again for a healthy hummous meal. I remember being a little apprehensive about that place when we first arrived in London, but I was hooked the minute I first tried it.
The Next day we caught the tube down to St Pauls to visit the Borough Market again. It was a beautiful day and the market was packed with people, as it always is. The market specialises in really good food, with an area set aside for various street food stalls. It's always hard to choose what to pick there as it all looks so good and the queues are often quite long. But always worth the wait and always difficult to know when to stop going back for more. I had a delicious green curry cooked in a large, open paella pan nearly 2 metres across.
After we had our fill, we got on the tube to Earl's Court and walked from there to the Brompton Cemetery. This was our first time visiting an old cemetery, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The thought and planning that went into the old Victorian cemetery differentiates it from any that I've seen before and there is obvious wealth in some of the monuments and tombs around the grave sites. The place also was quite overgrown in areas, but is maintained as a park for the locals. A small number of people were taking the opportunity to sunbathe there, as it was actually quite a bit quieter than the other real parks would have been that day.
The 9th of June we had went down to the road after work and had our favourite Thai for dinner, followed by the creme caramel dessert from Wahaca at Westfield mall. A bit indulgent, but one must do these things. I worked again that weekend, which seems to be too often recently, as we have been a bit short staffed at work. As it is I worked last weekend and I'm working this one too.
Anyway, enough wallowing. On the 14th of June, a Tuesday, I had the day off so I capitalised on this by going down to the UCL in Holborn to check out the Grant Museum of Zoology. It's a remarkably different experience that can hardly be described. Jars and cabinets of hundred of different specimens line the walls of the room, each showing off some weird and wonderful creature either pickled, stuffed or skeletal. I have some pictures around here somewhere.
After that, I skipped on over the road to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, which is also free and very unassuming. It just holds a few rooms full of Egyptian artefacts. Ancient Egyptian artefacts. Five thousand year old pieces of pottery. Wow. It's not placed there for spectacle like one can see in the British Museum. It's just sitting there waiting to be contemplated at a slow pace and studied by the students at the University.
And then on the 16th, I fled the country.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
The Next day we caught the tube down to St Pauls to visit the Borough Market again. It was a beautiful day and the market was packed with people, as it always is. The market specialises in really good food, with an area set aside for various street food stalls. It's always hard to choose what to pick there as it all looks so good and the queues are often quite long. But always worth the wait and always difficult to know when to stop going back for more. I had a delicious green curry cooked in a large, open paella pan nearly 2 metres across.
After we had our fill, we got on the tube to Earl's Court and walked from there to the Brompton Cemetery. This was our first time visiting an old cemetery, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The thought and planning that went into the old Victorian cemetery differentiates it from any that I've seen before and there is obvious wealth in some of the monuments and tombs around the grave sites. The place also was quite overgrown in areas, but is maintained as a park for the locals. A small number of people were taking the opportunity to sunbathe there, as it was actually quite a bit quieter than the other real parks would have been that day.
The 9th of June we had went down to the road after work and had our favourite Thai for dinner, followed by the creme caramel dessert from Wahaca at Westfield mall. A bit indulgent, but one must do these things. I worked again that weekend, which seems to be too often recently, as we have been a bit short staffed at work. As it is I worked last weekend and I'm working this one too.
Anyway, enough wallowing. On the 14th of June, a Tuesday, I had the day off so I capitalised on this by going down to the UCL in Holborn to check out the Grant Museum of Zoology. It's a remarkably different experience that can hardly be described. Jars and cabinets of hundred of different specimens line the walls of the room, each showing off some weird and wonderful creature either pickled, stuffed or skeletal. I have some pictures around here somewhere.
After that, I skipped on over the road to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, which is also free and very unassuming. It just holds a few rooms full of Egyptian artefacts. Ancient Egyptian artefacts. Five thousand year old pieces of pottery. Wow. It's not placed there for spectacle like one can see in the British Museum. It's just sitting there waiting to be contemplated at a slow pace and studied by the students at the University.
And then on the 16th, I fled the country.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Month of May
Here I am, at work on a Saturday, munching into my first ever Cornish pasty (from Sainsbury's no less) and reflecting on the past few months. I'm also engaging in a little bit of detective work to figure out the exact dates that I went various places. I do this by a) Google Latitude, which uploaded my phone's location wherever I am and b) the date stamps placed on all the photos that have been taken from Kristen's camera. Perhaps it is entirely fair to say that I rely far too heavily on the trappings of modern technology to cover up for the frailties of my flesh and blood. After all, the main reason for this blog is for me to keep a record of my travels so I don't forget them. The secondary and no less important reason being to share my activities with anyone who cares to read, which if I am to be abjectly frank is probably only Kristen's mum and my mum. Holla.
Anyway, my Sherlock style powers of deductions (I'm reading Sherlock at the moment on my kindle. It's great!) have lead me to the events of the 6th of May, in which Kristen and I headed up to Kilburn to attend a local foodie event in a back yard. The lady who organised it put on a really nice event and converted her house and garden into a food show for the evening, with attractions such as live cooking demonstrations and street food vendors.
The next day, the 7th of May, we made an ill advised trip down towards Greenwich, with the intention of taking the Docklands Light Rail over the Canary Wharf district. Of course, we forgot to check the planned engineering works which cripple the London transport network every weekend, which cause inconvenience to multitudes of tourists, I'm sure. We found Greenwich to be effectively cut off from us just as if an impassible chasm had opened between us and it. Still, we did have a chance to explore the very modern area around Canary Wharf which is home to the new financial heart of the city.
Then on the 12th I note that after work, Kristen and I went into town to do some shopping, but we ended up getting the tube to North London to have dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Anteplilar. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but they really never fail to impress with their amazing selection of Turkish food. It's on par with a Thai place just down the road from our place that serves up the best and most authentic Thai food I've ever had.
The following night, I see that after work I stayed around for a couple of drinks with colleagues at the office, which ended up with about 5 or 6 of us sitting out on the lawn in front of the office drinking beers from the local Sainsbury (mentioned earlier). Good times, thanks to the liberal drinking laws in this country.
On the 16th, we had tickets to see Okkervil River at Heaven bar that evening. It was an incredible gig that was full of amazing energy. You could feel the happiness of the band as they played an electric set that just didn't want to end. Unforunately they were forced to cut their encore short as the venue threatened to switch them off, which was a bit of a bitter way to end a set. They're still one of my favourite bands and one of the best live acts I've seen to date.
I lose track of where I was up until the 25th as I think my phone ran out of credit and stopped reporting my location, so I'll have to investigate what I got up to in that missing weekend. I seem to have seen Tallest Man on Earth at Shepherd's Bush Empire on the 20th, which Kristen was sick to attend. That means that weekend we made another attempt to visit Greenwich, but had to return home after seeing the Maritime Museum briefly as Kristen was feeling too weak to go on. The 25th was the night of the Mountain Goats gig in Camden at a really amazing bar called KOKO. The place is basically an old music hall with a three tiered seating arrangement facing the stage, all painted red and exquisitely detailed.
That brings me to the final day of May, the 31st, on which we went to see the Fleet Foxes play at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was a truly exceptional show and the way their voices blended together was incredible. I was most pleasantly surprised at how such a mellow seeming band could absolutely captivate the audience.
And that completes the month of May. Next up, June and a return to the continent.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Bonus Okkervil River video:
Anyway, my Sherlock style powers of deductions (I'm reading Sherlock at the moment on my kindle. It's great!) have lead me to the events of the 6th of May, in which Kristen and I headed up to Kilburn to attend a local foodie event in a back yard. The lady who organised it put on a really nice event and converted her house and garden into a food show for the evening, with attractions such as live cooking demonstrations and street food vendors.
The next day, the 7th of May, we made an ill advised trip down towards Greenwich, with the intention of taking the Docklands Light Rail over the Canary Wharf district. Of course, we forgot to check the planned engineering works which cripple the London transport network every weekend, which cause inconvenience to multitudes of tourists, I'm sure. We found Greenwich to be effectively cut off from us just as if an impassible chasm had opened between us and it. Still, we did have a chance to explore the very modern area around Canary Wharf which is home to the new financial heart of the city.
Then on the 12th I note that after work, Kristen and I went into town to do some shopping, but we ended up getting the tube to North London to have dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Anteplilar. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but they really never fail to impress with their amazing selection of Turkish food. It's on par with a Thai place just down the road from our place that serves up the best and most authentic Thai food I've ever had.
The following night, I see that after work I stayed around for a couple of drinks with colleagues at the office, which ended up with about 5 or 6 of us sitting out on the lawn in front of the office drinking beers from the local Sainsbury (mentioned earlier). Good times, thanks to the liberal drinking laws in this country.
On the 16th, we had tickets to see Okkervil River at Heaven bar that evening. It was an incredible gig that was full of amazing energy. You could feel the happiness of the band as they played an electric set that just didn't want to end. Unforunately they were forced to cut their encore short as the venue threatened to switch them off, which was a bit of a bitter way to end a set. They're still one of my favourite bands and one of the best live acts I've seen to date.
I lose track of where I was up until the 25th as I think my phone ran out of credit and stopped reporting my location, so I'll have to investigate what I got up to in that missing weekend. I seem to have seen Tallest Man on Earth at Shepherd's Bush Empire on the 20th, which Kristen was sick to attend. That means that weekend we made another attempt to visit Greenwich, but had to return home after seeing the Maritime Museum briefly as Kristen was feeling too weak to go on. The 25th was the night of the Mountain Goats gig in Camden at a really amazing bar called KOKO. The place is basically an old music hall with a three tiered seating arrangement facing the stage, all painted red and exquisitely detailed.
That brings me to the final day of May, the 31st, on which we went to see the Fleet Foxes play at the Hammersmith Apollo. It was a truly exceptional show and the way their voices blended together was incredible. I was most pleasantly surprised at how such a mellow seeming band could absolutely captivate the audience.
And that completes the month of May. Next up, June and a return to the continent.
[gallery link="file" orderby="ID"]
Bonus Okkervil River video:
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