London Bridges Falling Down

Fred and I had a lovely day in London.  The storms dissipated and the sun came out, a prefect day to explore London.

Behind me is the London Eye, built in 2000 for the Millennium it has become a symbol of modern Britain at 443 feet tall.

I never thought I would be standing in front of Big Ben. London wasn't at the top of my travel list, although now that we have been we know we will return.

Fred wanted to see a debate at the House of Parliament (behind us, right next to Big Ben) but they are on summer recess. 

Our first fish and chips!  It was delicious but not what I was expecting. It was a large fried fish (I was expecting fish sticks) and it came with pea mash.

The Imperial War museum, restored rooms of the secret British underground bunker often used by top British officials as a headquarters during World War II, was incredibly interesting.  I went for Fred because he loves WWII history, but I was intrigued by the history in these rooms.

We ended our day at evensong in Westminster Abbey. The entire evening prayer is sung by a chorus. The music reverberated in the walls of the church. It was just beautiful.

Pub Tour of London

Our first day in London!

PUB # 1:

Ian (Fred's friend since high school who has lived in London for 12 years) took us on a tour of London. His idea of a tour of London is actually a pub tour of London. We started at a German pub where a stein is typical, and holds 2 pints of beer.

German food is great for hangovers. (We had some celebratory drinks at Ian's pub upon our arrival.)

PUB #2: 

The Old King's Head was established in 1881. Ian wasn't impressed, his pub is older.

View from the Tate.

PUB #3:

After checking out the Tate Modern we stopped into a waterfront pub where I got a taste for Bulmer's. Bulmer's makes several ciders but I think my favorite is crushed red berries with lime.

PUB #4:

Gordon's Wine Bar is thought to be the oldest wine bar in London, and according to their website, quite possibly the oldest wine bar in the world. http://www.gordonswinebar.com/default.php

We got a port and sat outside where signs were posted about watching your purse because pickpockets use canes to snatch them. I suppose after enough ports you become less vigilant. I didn't make it to the bottom of my port so I think I was safe. I split my port between Fred and Ian. It just isn't my thing. 

PUB #5:

We ended the afternoon at Punch and Judy where from the 2nd floor balcony we watched a street performer escape from locked chains wrapped around his body.

We stopped into a cheeseshop on the way home where we tried all the cheeses the cheesemonger had to offer.

I already miss the cheese shops. Stinky cheese is good for me. :)

Rush hour on the underground is not the best time to head home. It gets a bit tricky to make it on (with all your body parts intact).

Brussels Sans Mussels

Since we could easily take the Chunnel to London from Brussels it was the logical place for us to end our Belgium tour. Brussels wasn't our favorite city in Belgium but we enjoyed what it had to offer. 

We didn't eat anymore mussels, but we did eat some other Belgium staple foods like chocolate and waffles.

Our B&B (Leopold II) was just steps from this church. You know you are in Europe when you walk around the corner and happen upon such beautiful architecture.

Walking around Brussels you wouldn't realize that the city was founded in 979 until you find, amongst modern buildings and apartments, remains of an ancient tower.

The Grand Place is the central square in Brussels. The buildings surrounding the square were all built at different times depending on Brussels finances and what seemed important in that century. It started as a open air market in the 11th century and by the 15th century it housed city hall.

Crowds gathered to watch this game in the middle of Grand Place. I am not sure what the name of the game is but it was taken very seriously by the men in jumpsuits.

Brussels is very proud of their 'Manneken Pis', the statue of a little boy peeing, which was created in 1618. There are many different legends about this statue but regardless of the legend you may have heard they all end the same way- a little boy pees on something and saves the day. 

Chocolate in Belgium is different from the states. It is a delicacy, and can be very expensive. The shop above looks like a ritzy jewelry shop but it is actually a chocolatier. I would not be surprised if they had a body guard out front. In my opinion I did not think the chocolate in Belgium was better than any other chocolate I have had (See's, Australian, Lindt). Maybe my palate is not refined.

I was so excited about getting a Belgian waffle (just called a waffle in Belgium) and I have to say I was a disapointed. Dutch pancakes are WAY better.

Fred and I said goodbye to Brussels, and the euro, and took the Chunnel to London.

We just barely made it in time! We didn't realize that we were going to have to go through security and a U.K. border checkpoint. It was more similar to flying than taking a train. Thankfully we gave ourselves just enough time and enjoyed the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) to Britain. 

The Chunnel is the longest underwater tunnel in the world; 23.5 miles long, 790 feet below sea level.

Ghent Festival 2011

We were not sure what to expect for the Festival of Ghent. (When the parade started it really through me off.)  There wasn't much information in English on the internet, but we were glad to be celebrating whatever it was that we were celebrating.

The festival ended up being 34 outdoor stages of every type of music you could think of, all free of charge. Some of the stages START at 4:30am. This is a 10 day nonstop party.

This stage was right around the corner from our B&B.

It was incredible to be listening to a full orchestra with castles and buildings that are hundreds of years old in the background.

Cheers!

It was raining steadily but that didn't stop the festival-goers.

I do not know what to say about these...

We walked into a beer tent to get some 2 euro beer and were immediately befriended by some nice Belgians. They had homemade limoncello that we HAD to (according to them) try.

After this it was a blur. We didn't move from this table for hours.  Beers were being handed to us like tap water (thanks to our new friends!).  We are already ready to come back next year.

It was Thomas who made the Limoncello; delicious and STRONG.

Benny and Len were the ones who grabbed us when we walked in.

Fred and I saw these the day before the festival and thought to ourselves 'there is no way those are outdoor urinals'. We were very wrong.

Fred just had to try it for himself.

Boys are yucky!

Or maybe I am just jealous that I had to pay to pee indoors.

Gravensteen in Ghent

Gravensteen was built in 1180 and, not surprisingly, has an intriguing history.  It was used as a courthouse, a prison, and at one time a factory. It was set to be demolished at the end of the 19th century because of its poor condition, but thankfully they changed their minds and decided to renovate it instead.

The last executioner in the castle kept his job for almost 50 years.

I do not understand how you could possibly go home to a wife and kids when you have a job like this.

The methods of torture were vast and extreme.