The apartment has a kitchen and so we could prepare our meals if we wanted to do so. But we are on holiday and it’s much more fun to go out to eat.

For our evening meal, we set out at about 8 pm, heading for the station area where we thought there would be plenty of choice. In the event, it turned out that many places were already closing down for the day.

We visited each restaurant that was open and had a menu either on the tables outside or displayed by the door.

In the end, we chose a brasserie offering vegetarian pizza. Service was slow. I think this was because there were only two waters on duty and quite a few customers out on the terrace.

After we had managed to attract a waiter’s attention and give our order, there was another long wait. When the pizzas arrived, they were quite good and of reasonable size.

After our meal, we strolled back to the apartment to finish the evening relaxing.

So ends our first day. What will tomorrow bring?

Bonne nuit, tout le monde!

After a good rest (train travel is so tiring!), we went out for a walk.

Our apartment is situated in Anderlecht, one of 19 communes (roughly equivalent to London boroughs) into which the Brussels Capital Region is divided.

This afternoon we covered only a tiny part of it, travelling “round the block”, albeit a fairly large “block”. This part of town is neither particularly interesting historically nor particularly beautiful but, so what? We were in Belgium, treading its streets and just enjoying being here.

As we walked over our first black-and-white-striped pedestrian crossing, I warned Tigger to take care, saying that motorists here don’t respect the crossings like they do in the UK. Events subsequently proved me wrong when several drivers, seeing us hovering on the kerb, stopped their vehicles to let us cross. There was one rogue, however, a female driver who, as I put foot to tarmac, hooted at me and swept on past.

The topography in Brussels is fairly flat making cycling popular. Dedicated cycle lanes are now a feature of the urban landscape. What took me by surprise, though, was to discover electric scooters for hire dotted all over the town, analogous to hire bicycles in London. I don’t recall seeing any such on our last visit.

In the UK, electric scooters are not legal on public roads or pavements, but here they seem to be. There are if course bicycles for hire also, including the electric variety now seen in Britain.

This is a view from the Pierre Marchant Bridge along the canal. I say “the” canal as I am not certain which one it is. I think it is the Brussels-Charleroi Canal.

This lady had a bag of bread and was feeding it to the ducks and coots. This seems to be an activity that knows no frontiers. People feed the birds all over the world.

Meanwhile, not far away, someone had left a heap of bread occasioning this scrum of pigeons. The fact that there was no fighting shows that there was plenty.

There were a couple of other dinner guests too. If you have sharp eyes you may be able to make out one if them in the above picture. Imagine the picture is a clock face and look at the position of the number 7. Do you see the brown rat, holding a piece of bread in his mouth hurrying off towards the left, just above the sole pigeon?

Rats are not everybody’s cup of tea and nor are pigeons, for that matter, but I like both and enjoy watching them. So there!

This very handsome building is an École Communale or Commune School. I don’t know whether it is primary or secondary but it is certainly a fine piece of architecture. We couldn’t see a date anywhere and our best guess is that it dates from the Belgian equivalent of the Victorian era.

We were attracted to this face smiling down at us from a house dated 1911.

This is just a random scan shot (“panorama” in iPhone terminology) at a crossroads. The temperature was about 24 deg C and we were looking around for a cafe where we could have a nice cool drink. (Yes, I know you Aussies would consider 24 positively chilly but we’re British dammit!)

Seeing this cafe called La Dame de Pique (the name means “Queen of Spades” and the décor reflected the theme), we hurried across and ordered Lipton Ice Tea, the real one, this time.

Our apartment was nearby and so we returned thither.

If the weather continues as it is today, I think this piece of furniture is going to prove to be a valuable asset!

This is Le Pain Quotidien at St Pancras Station where we stopped for breakfast before committing ourselves to the care of Eurostar.

This photo by Tigger shows the view from where we are sitting in the Eurostar departure lounge waiting for our train to be announced.

To reach this point, we had to pass the ticket barriers then pack everything – baggage, hats, coats, cameras, etc – onto trays to pass through the X-ray machines and, finally, show our passports to both UK and French passport control. You are advised to allow 45 minutes for these processes but in fact they took a lot less.

As the title suggests, we are off to Brussels today, returning on Sunday evening. This will be something of a sentimental journey as the next time we make this journey, if we do, it will no longer be as members of the European Union that has done so much for this country economically, culturally and in terms of civil rights.

The mean-spirited, jingoistic attitude that always lurks like a dark ghost in the British psyche has, with the encouragement of mendacious self-seeking politicians, once more gained the upper hand in the UK. We will have a long and painful road to travel before happier times restore us to our rightful European heritage.

Brussels in one of my favourite cities and I am looking forward to exploring its treasures once again, albeit briefly.

At 12:08 our train pulled into Bruxelles Midi station. We went out by the back way into a road we knew from before.

This is not a very prepossessing photo of Brussels. It was a first quick grab and better ones will follow, I hope.

The above mentioned street behind the station is lined with restaurants. We chose the Europa as we had been there before.

We could have sat outside but the temperature here is higher than in London (24 deg C vs 19) and the sun is warm, so we went inside.

We usually drink Lipton Ice Tea in Belgium but it wasn’t on the menu in this restaurant so we tried this alternative called Fuzetea. (Photo by Tigger.) It’s similar but I prefer Lipton.

From the restaurant we walked to the apartment where we will be staying until Sunday.

Here we are “at home”, resting before going out again to start enjoying being in Belgium.

When I step off the train, by reflex I snap into “French mode” but then I have to adjust. Here in Brussels it is not like being in France, despite the language. It is more relaxed and friendly somehow. Later, when we visit another town, outside the Brussels region, it will be interesting to see whether it feels the same or becomes more “French”.

Linguistic note

Brussels lies entirely within the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium, Flanders. Originally, it was itself Flemish-speaking like the rest of the region. Since the 19th century, however, it has gradually evolved into a French-speaking city. As it is the capital of Belgium, it is technically bi-lingual but the majority now speak French. Brussels and the surrounding area, called the Brussels Capital Region, forms part of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, also known as the Francophone Community. (Wallonia is the southern, French-speaking region of Belgium.)

Administratively, there are three regions, the Flemish Region in the north, the Walloon Region in the south and the Brussels Capital Region. Linguistically, there are three communities, the Flemish-speaking, French-speaking and the German-speaking communities, respectively. English is spoken widely and competently and is increasingly used in business and advertising, perhaps to avoid drafting all signs and slogans into three languages.