Day 166 Brussels – Kent

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Day 166 Saturday 28 July

Brussels, Belgium – Lille, France – Calais – Ebbsfleet, Kent 395 kms/245 miles; Cumulative: 18,440 kms/11,458 miles

A day in Brussels: breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien, browsing round the Saturday antique market in the Place du Grand Sablon, a walk to the Botanic Gardens, lunch at La Maison de Crepes… and the evening Eurostar back to Ebbsfleet

And a poem on the wall of the Gare du Midi:

‘This is no beach/This is not the edge of the sea/This is a horizon with gulls/the future where we all begin to dream’

Day 165 Amsterdam – Brussels

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Day 165 Friday 27 July

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Brussels, Belgium 228 kms/142 miles; Cumulative totals: 18,045 kms/11,212 miles

I missed the train… it was standing at the platform as I got out of the lift, but moved away before I got there.

I caught the next one – an hour later – and sat on a fold-down seat in the luggage compartment, which was full of people (some without seats) and was so hot that when the doors opened at a station we would all lean out to get some fresh air.

And when I got there I STILL had a problem with understanding the metro… despite all the times I’ve been!

But I got there… and ordered the aperitif Maison at the Arcadi cafe. When I asked the waiter what was in it, he said: ‘gin, and… we’re never too sure, because the barman changes it according to what he’s got behind the bar!’

Needless to say, it was great!

Then I watched someone crossing the square wearing a white dress and heels and carrying a purple handbag, but with noticeable male-pattern-baldness issues! I wondered briefly if s/he was wearing a chef’s white apron over shorts, but the shoes and bag seemed to contradict that.

Dear old Brussels! It’s good to be back.

Day 164 Amsterdam

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Day 164 Thursday 26 July

A thoughtful day… about endings, about the meaning of ‘home’, about change (and whether it’s possible), about the past, about the future…

Words are just words.