Hello/Hallo/Bonjour

Ok, so, I am back from my ... eventful... 6 days going to London then on to Brussels, where 3/4 speak French and 1/4 speak Flemmish (Dutch) hence my multi-lingual title for this post! So... here goes:

26/5- I got up at 6am, showered and dressed and went downstairs to meet to taxi I had booked for 6.30. The taxi driver was a nice enough man, and he drove me into the city, where not long after my Megabus arrived. There were lots of football fans around, as I soon found out the Bristol Rovers were playing in some league final at the new Wembley stadium and if they won they went up a division. As i was standing there in the queue I looked at my reservation print out and noticed it said Monday 28th May. Which was of course in 2 days time. So I calmly showed it to the man hoping he would let me on and not notice. He did notice, and said they already had 2 coaches instead of one and had 117 people booked on for the trip cos of the football. He suggested I ring the office and try and get on the next one. So, tired, I welled up and struggled to hold it all together cos it was ok, I would just ring and the people in the office would help me get to London in time for my show. So I went to get my mobile out... but it wasn't there. It was sitting on my bed where I had last had it. At this point I had a good old cry, cos I was stranded in the middle of Bristol. The information place didn't open til 8.30am. The offices for Megabus didn't open til 8am. I finally rang the megabus on a payphone and the only bus was midday, which was too late. So I waited for the info place to open, and when I told her she said she wasn't even going to look cos there would be no other coaches going out of Bristol to London. I said what about trains, and she said I could try but wasn't too sure how I would get on. So I walked to the station and they were selling tickets outside it was so busy inside, and they had even put on extra trains. I managed to get one. £48 versus the £4 I have paid for the bus. But I was on my way, on a crowded train full of singing football supporters who were already drinking at 9am. When I got to Piccadilly station I then had to get on the underground to Victoria, walk to my hostel, dump my bag, get back on the underground and head to the stop near the Aldwych Theatre. The weather was slowly but surely getting greyer and greyer and threatening to rain. I queued for my side entrance door to open and climbed the stairs to the nose bleed section of the theatre, designed for bums from the 1920's, so it was a tight squeeze for everyone. But Dirty Dancing was AMAZING!! Very true to the film, great singing, great dancing, and the guy who played Johnny.... *drool*! There were several hens do's out watching it and they all cheered when he came on, and screamed when he took his shirt off, and several were fanning themselves with their programmes whenever he was on the stage. Anyways, when I came out it was starting to sprinkle with rain, so I went back to the underground, back to the hostel, up the 91 stairs to my room, and bunked down there for the night. On the top bunk. Joy. The most random thing in the hostel... There was a shower in the room... with just a glass door with a bit of frosted glass in the middle. Interesting. I didn't use it... I showered in the share with everyone in the building showers down the hall.

27/5- I got up to find it was... raining!!! Yay! For my London Eye experience. And as I got closer and closer the rain got heavier and heavier and the visibility got worse and worse. GRRR! It was a good experience, I can tick it off the list, but the rain was pouring down the glass so you couldn't see much, and then the rain made it hard to see far anyways. So I ended up with lots of tragic photos.

After I went on the ferry ride which was good, informative, you got to find out about the different bridges and some of the other sights along the river and the history of the Thames areas.

Then I had lunch at a Chinese buffet called Chopstix and caught the tube to Hamleys. the toy store with 7 floors. I had never heard of this before (of if I had it was blocked from memory) which is sad, because I was a bit too old for it this time! People were going crazy buying everything, like they don't sell toys in their home countries! I bought myself a Hamley's bear. I have named him... wait for it... Hamlet. Cos he's little and from Hamleys! HAHA. I know, I'm hilarious! From there I went back on the tube and across to Kightbridge station where one can find the illustrious Harrods, which only opened at 12 on Sundays, and it was only 1pm, so it was a scooch crowded, especially because of the slightly less rainy but still misty weather. I walked around a little bit, went into the souvenirs and cos I was too poor this time decided I would go back next time I am in London, however I did go into the food hall and bought myself a slice of £1 banana cake so I could get a bag. I queued for 25 minutes for it! But it was probably the cheapest thing you could get in order to get a bag!

I had a whim to take myself to go and see Wimbledon. Just to say I had. So I caught the tube to Wimbledon station. There were no signs to the tennis centre, only the lawn tennis museum, so I went back on and got off at the next station, Wimbledon Park. There was a sign that said to get to Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Centre to follow the signs for the Gold Ring or something like that Walk. So I followed and followed and go myself nowhere, other than tired, exhausted and with the feeling of being crushed into the ground by my backpack. Which was only my day pack! So i stopped under a tree, where it wasn't too misty and had my banana cake, to lighten the load, and then drank my drinks to lighten the road some more. At this point I decided Wimbledon Arena was a national secret and they didn't want you to find it so I went back to the station and caught the next train to head back, after over and hour of walking pointlessly. Then as we approach the next station, Southfields, it says on the announcements "alight here for Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Centre" which I did, and it was about a 25 minute walk but I eventually found it. Shut of course, but I made it! So I took a photo and went back. Guess what, if I had gone the other way following the ring signs at Wimbledon Park I would have found it and guess what it was right next to? The lawn Tennis Museum!!! ARGH!!! Walking back to the station I found a phone on the floor. It was broken. I picked it up, put it back together and went through the contacts to find "Dad" who I rang. Turns out "dad" was in South Africa but it was his daughters phone and he tried to help me get it back to her, but in calling him i used up her left over credit, and i didn't have my phone. So I walked along with it, and eventually one of her friends rang it, and turns out the owner was in London for the weekend. So I arranged to meet her at the underground station near my hostel, and she travelled 45 mins to come get her phone. So that was my good deed for the day. Then I went back and went to sleep.

28/5- I got up, packed, checked out, got on the underground, went out on the new Jubilee line to the stop next to the Millennium Dome, took a photo, and got back into the train and went to Heathrow Airport. I was there too early, but didn't have anything else I wanted to do in the rain and cold... highs of 10'C!! Bring on Summer! I was going to go to Malaysian Airlines to work out my return ticket but I didn't realise it was a public holiday, so they would have been shut. It dawned on me that if I could reclaim my time spent sitting in airports during the last 12 months I could get like another 15 hours at least! Finally I checked in, and the plane... oh wow... I should fly from Heathrow on proper international flights more often! It had room. Leg room. Bum room. It was great!! So I flew into Brussels, caught a train to the North Station and walked in the gloom to my hostel, where I decided I would just stay for the rest of the day as it was already like 6pm. There were bastard children (10 yr old boys) running around the place, as it was one of those big family/school group friendly hostels, not just a backpackers. I had to yell at them at one point cos they were rolling a ball down the hall to bounce off their door, which was right next to my door, and it was SO annoying! So then they went inside and bounced it against the adjoining wall instead. MUCH better! I was assigned the top bunk, even tho no one else was in there, but there was more light up there and head room, so I sacrificed my knees again and made the climb up and down. I went to bed alone, and woke up alone, however there was evidence that 2 other people had used the room during the night.

29/5- I got showered and dressed and went off to catch the open top bus tour. It was still looking like it could rain at any minute so I went for waterproof instead of warmth, and that was a bad choice as it was freezing! I got off to see the Opera, which is modelled off the Opera House in Paris. I went from there around the corner to the Mannequin Pis. I learnt that he has over 100 different outfits made for him for special occasions! Then I got back on the bus and went to the Courts of Justice which are massive, but covered in scaffolding during renovations (like most important buildings I have seen). There is a good view of the city as that is the highest point. You can even see the Atomium, which I got off and took a photo of, while on the bus tour. It was built for the world trade fair, and it supposed to symbolise an atom, made up of 9 nuclei which represent the then 9 regions of Belgium. It is massive! Apparently you can climb it and there is a restaurant up one of the balls. I walked back down the street to a very pretty cathedral, however inside about 70% is boarded up for renovation. Then down from there is the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) which is in an old art deco style building that used to be a hotel. I paid €5 for my tour where you get headphones and when you stand in front of a display of instruments you hear some piece that focuses on that instrument either as a solo or an ensemble of brass etc. There were some very nice pieces, and some interesting ones, like an ocarina and drum concerto. Some were oriental instruments. There was no clarinet music, just old clarinets showing their development. I had to run by the bagpipes display because the music was awful! it hurt my ears! From there I walked down the hill and through a park, where there are very nice views from the top. The blue sky was trying very hard to come out at this stage. Then I walked down in the general direction of the Hostel, and stumbled on the Grande Place which was an amazing square of old buildings.

My random thing that made me smile was that most of the little streets are cobbled, and where the zebra crossings are, instead of painting them on, like every other city has done, they have cobbled them in too using white marble stones! It was just a nice touch.

30/5- I woke up at 8.45am after spending another nights on my own, to discover glorious sunshine outside. I showered, packed, checked out, walked to the new hotel, cos the hostel was booked for the 3rd night, and dumped my bag then set off. I walked through the Grand Place again, where I bought myself a Belgian Waffle for breakfast. While I ate that I looked at the map to see what I was near and what I could do for free, as I was on a rather tight budget and had done the things I could afford to do the day before. I walked up the hill through where the amazing view was, past the MIM and up to the Place Royale which is guarded by a giant horse statue. It is where the King resides when he is in town, and the flag was flying, which meant he was home! Opposite his palace is the Parc de Bruxelles which had a really nice photo expo running up and down each side of one of the perimeter fences. Through the park is a fountain and opposite was the Palais de la Nation. I walked up and around the block and discovered the Palais des Academies which houses 5 of Belgium's 7 academies (e.g. medicine/ fine arts/ military etc). I then walked down the Boulevard de Waterloo, which is a massive street designed to reflect the boulevards of Paris. I then got some lunch and walked to the Petit S'Ablon park which has 48 statues of tradesmen on pillars around the outside, representing the 48 trades that were acknowledged in the guild. I then ended up outside the Museum of Fine Arts which is near the big horse statue, completing my big loop. I worked out a loop past a church and to the botanical gardens before heading back to the hotel. I was amazed to discover I timed something right, walking into the Cathedral just as the 2pm bells were chiming, and being handed a flyer because there was a free concert starting at 2pm from a group called the Oakville Singers where were touring, from Worcestershire! So I sat and listened to them sing for 90 minutes, then walked nearby to the Place de Congress where there is an obelisk guarded by 2 large lion statues who protect it and an eternal flame. From there I headed up to the botanical gardens, which are pretty, but not very serene, as they are RIGHT next to 2 of the biggest roads surrounding Brussels. It was then cloudy and starting to rain so I headed back to the hotel, checked in and headed to my room. The room was ok. It was a first for me... it had a mirrored ceiling! Random!

31/5- It was sunny first thing but quickly started to turn cloudy again. I had my complimentary bread roll and danish, then headed on foot to the Station. There I got hit on by some creepy man who wanted money for a ticket, then when I said I didn't have any he started to rub my back and tell me I was beautiful. So I politely told him to leave me alone and made big gestures so the rail guard came over and the guy left. Then caught the train to the Airport. Then the Plane to Heathrow. Then the underground to Victoria. Then the megabus coach to Bristol. Then a taxi to home. What a lot of different types of transport!

So overall views...

London: I remember being crowded, big, unfriendly and rude. This time it was still crowded, with so many tourists just stopping to see something despite the fact there are like 300 people walking on the same footpath. It is still big. I did see some acts of kindness and niceness though, so I think I am not so sure on the rudeness. I know I definitely couldn't live there though. I'm glad I didn't do the usual tourist things, cos I think I have done them to death, and I was doing some off the beaten track stuff, which when I see on TV now I can say "I've been there".

Brussels: I'm glad i didn't have longer than my 2 full days there. It is a nice little city, but it is VERY little. You can walk everywhere, and it doesn't have a great deal of history/heritage so there is only so much you can see/do that is Brussels-specific without going into museums etc which I am so bored with. And as for the Chocolate. They charge a fortune for stuff you can buy in Coles. Guillyan, Cote D'Or etc. I bought one bar I hadn't heard of before, and it wasn't anything special. Oh... and they sure do like their statues!

My quiz for this post is a bit different. I took some photos of the photos in the expo and you need to guess what they are pictures of. They are either sections of, or the whole, whichever makes it harder to guess. Good luck!

1...............2....................3....................4....................5

Appologies for the picture quality, but when I stitched them together I couldn't be botheredgoing back and playing with the size. Makes it more of a challenge! It was a world/culture/environement expo if that helps!