It's been over 2 months since i got back from North America and so much has happened. I promised myself that I would continue to blog once a week and my first blog would be my thoughts and  conclusions on my trip although it's only now that i'm having a chance to reflect on all the things I did - It already seems like a lifetime ago. I also promised myself I would write blogs about turning 30, what it was like to be a best man at a wedding in Italy, the pain of sorting through thousands of pictures, the joys of unemployment and how i entered the world of the White Van Man when I moved Ricky and Nicky's belongings to Finsbury Park. These articles may now appear in the 'read' section as i don't really have much there at the moment. Who knows, i'm thinking aloud here.

Oh, and for all those who couldn't stand the length of those American blogs, I've also promised myself that no further blogs will be over 800 words.

This is not the Conclusion blog. This is not the 'turning 30', the Best Man or the White Van Man blog.  It is under 800 words though which is something. This is simply a blog for the sake of it.

I've redesigned my website (i've spent the last month learning PHP) and i'm currently making sure things are working as they should. The website may look exactly the same but i can assure you it is completely different. For a start, it's now running on my own custom built CMS and I'm also putting my SQL skills to good use again by storing everthing in my own database.. And the blog page itself is not redirected from Blogger so you will find all the links and archives now work as they should. I'm still ironing out all the creases and squashing those bugs at the moment but Overspecific will soon be back to it's overspecific best soon.

That is less than 800 words, isn't it?

It took us an hour on the number 30 bus to get from Hackney to King’s Cross. Within half an hour of arriving at the new Eurostar Terminal at St Pancras, we were travelling at speeds of up to 186mph on our way to Brussels and we actually did arrive within 2 hours with two (planned) short stops on the way. Call me the ultimate pessimist but I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it, even if seeing it was a bit of a blur as we made it to the continent within the hour. Finally we have a railway system to be proud of.

We stopped off at our Hotel to drop off the bags and then off we headed through an alleyway of tourist trap restaurants where smoking hosts/waiters pleaded and beckoned us in from the cold, promising us mountains of mussels and buckets of beer. But their pleading and begging was not heeded. We were looking for Aux Armes de Bruxelles and it was right at the end of Petit Rue des Bouchers. Understated and empty, we sat at Jacques Brel’s favourite table and were treated to some fine food. A little pricey but we were treated elegantly and before long the place was packed with hungry locals tucking into plates of mussels. The herring starter was probably more of a highlight than the mussels for me but we certainly left with large tummies and large eyes. Next stop, Cirque Royale.

We had a beer en route, which we shouldn’t have had because we missed the start. Being from London, I’m not used to things being on time. In short, Rufus Wainwright did not disappoint. He gave us a sharp lesson in how you can be both a great musician and a great entertainer. I never thought this was really possible but he didn’t fluff a note all night and his costume changes and cabaret finale kept everyone fully entertained. I never get bored of listening to him or watching him perform.

We finished the night in A la Mort Subite (instant death) which is a classic Belgian Art Nouveau bar. The beer menu seemed to go on forever and we kept the drinks small so we can work through the list, until it came to last orders and then we were typically British by ordering ‘grande‘. We met another couple, one Brit, one Finn, and off we went into the night to another Local bar where the beer was still good but the music was awful. Still the locals danced into the night to the horrible 70’s covers being blurted out. It was around about now that I realised that I had left my camera in the previous bar. But at 3am, it was time to head back to the Hotel and I would have search for it in the morning with a clearer head.

I was lucky that I’d left my camera in a very reputable bar and I told the proprietor this when he handed me back my camera. A late breakfast in a café at the end of Gallerie du Roi and we were off sightseeing.  Grand place is exquisite. Art Nouveau architecture at it’s finest. So few decent examples exist due to those blasted wars in the last century but this square is beautifully maintained.
We walked down more cobbled streets and up past the strangely dilapidated square round Mont des Arts where the view across Brussels was good and improved by the clear skies. We came to the Musee des Instruments de Musique (MIM for short) and were delighted to wander round an excellently run museum on all instruments musical. 20th Century gems like Theramins, Odnes Martinots and early synthesizers in excellent condition as well as  500 year old claviers, lutes, horns and harpsichords. An added bonus was the photographs of the building itself and how it was brilliantly renovated in the 80’s and restored to it’s former glory. A late lunch of frites and mayonnaise followed. Better than chip shop chips, better than French fries. The secret is in the cooking (they are double-fried).

More walking and sightseeing, followed by a late afternoon beer and then back to the Hotel to freshen up.  We had another restaurant to visit tonight. A slight mishap with a bank machine swallowing my card delayed us somewhat but we were soon in Grand Place and queuing with locals and clued up tourists down the steps of the cellar restaurant known as a ‘t Kelderke. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt tonight, the mussels were the main event although the entertaining host and waiters were good support acts.  The restaurant is small, unassuming, busy but definitely worth the wait.

Beers in the trendy area of Place St-Gery followed but don’t let this put you off. It’s not Shoreditch Trendy. The area is full of laid-back Belgians, enjoying their excellent beer and conversing with big smiles on their relaxed faces. Café Centrale was slightly too busy for us but we found a table in Zebra. Brussels isn’t as big as the map leads you to believe but there’s plenty of things to see and do and, unlike Paris and London, it’s better because it’s not sprawled out over miles of tourist tat traps.

The last day was spent buying beer and chocolate to take home and watching a great protest march in aid of keeping Belgium together. It’s hard to believe that Belgium hasn‘t had a functioning government for nearly 6 months and Belgium as a country could be on it‘s last legs leaving Brussels as an independent European state city, hopefully the affable Belgians will realise that the world would greatly suffer from losing this country and it’s tradition in beer, chocolate and Mussels. Who would inherit these? Or would the Walloons and Flemish have a custody battle on their hands?  Let’s hope none of this happens.

Late afternoon saw us leave swiftly on the Eurostar and we were back in London in less than two hours. The only mishap being a drunk Englishman liking the sound of his own voice too much. Luckily the carriage further along was half full so me and a host of others could move and enjoy some peace and quiet before the hustle and bustle of London’s jam packed roads and the obligatory slow ride home on public transport.