Some random musings:
On the Eurostar: The Eurostar took just two hours. It took me longer to get from London Victoria to Bognor than it took me to get to Brussels from Kings Cross. The seats are pretty big and comfortable. I like it. I do miss the fact that they don't do an onboard announcement that you are going under the tunnel any more. And I've been so often to Brussels over the past year that I'm not far off qualifying for a Carte Blanche.
Checking Passports: Passport control leaving the UK was crazy. There was a school group in front of me and I could certainly have got through in the chaos without having my passport checked.
Welcome to Brussels: Arriving in Brussels on the Eurostar is always underwhelming and disappointing. The Eurostar arrivals hall at the Gare Du Midi is bleak and unwelcoming and the station busy and not particularly user friendly. Certainly, compared to St Pancras, its pretty terrible. There are few maps of the metro and the ticket machines now dont let you buy a single ticket. You either queue for 20 minutes for a single ticket or have to buy a carnet. And now that they have introduced gates at the station it adds a bit of complexity for the traveller trying to understand how the system works. But at least a single journey is under 2 Euros compared with £4 on London Underground.
Mapping: I have a thing about maps. I like them. And I need one in Brussels. Despite having spent over 20 days in Brussels over the last five years, I still dont know my way around the town. But Dear Belgian tourist authorities, this is the most useless map I have ever come across. It doesnt tell me where I am or help me get where I want to. Is there a worse tourist map anywhere?
Dirty place: I only realised this week how dirty Brussels was. There is litter everywhere. Authorities of Brussels - SORT IT OUT.
Eating: One of the pleasures of travelling is getting to eat out. I went to a Brazilian restaurant and had fish in a coconut sauce for dinner (a bit like a thai red curry disappointingly without the spice) and a Vietnamese fish curry at lunch.
A bit like being in England: Brussels has become an English city. Pretty much everyone speaks English. This makes it an easy place to travel around.
Traffic: Yes, Brussels is a small city. But some of those roadworks have been there for years.
And a few random pics:
Berlin Wall (outside the European Parliament)
Nice park for a jog.
The Presidents Cup (MEPs)
And I did a bit of work: Spoke at the launch of the Vodafone Smart Accessibility Awards; Met an MEP, and visited the EESC.
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