Saturday    13.8.2022
  760km Total: 5796km   7h 25m Total: 88h 32m
  50.46km 31°

As a landlubber I've travelled by ferry quite enough this trip so I've decided to try the Eurotunnel to get back to the European mainland.
Since pre-purchased tickets are only valid for a two-hour interval, I'll just have to take a chance that I can buy some once I'm there.
The last time I crossed England this way I lost two hours just in the queues on the M25 past London so it would be rather foolhardy to think that it will go smoothly this time.
In any case, it's not something I'm prepared to gamble €70 on.

Of course, murphy's law means that I actually could have managed a slot like that this time around.
There was a queue on the M25 this time too (obviously), but nowhere near the hellish congestion it was in 2017.

I arrive at the terminal in Folkstone just after four o'clock after a fairly uneventful but efficient day on the motorway and get a bit of a shock when I pick up my phone and all departures now show sold out.
What I know now, however, is that it is far from all the tickets they put up for booking on the website, so once at a booth I was able to book a departure at 6.50PM.
It was a pretty brutal premium of almost double the price compared to a pre-booking but at least I'm guaranteed to catch the train.
I never found out the reason, but the train is quite delayed and we don't leave the terminal until almost 8PM.
So even though the crossing only takes 35 minutes, the whole adventure from arriving at Folkstone over to Calais will take almost as long as it took to travel the 500 kilometres (313mi) there.
Part of it admittedly my own fault for not pre-purchasing the tickets.

Riding onto the train felt a bit futuristic.
Unlike the open carriages on the Autozug where you can travel a good distance, this is divided per carriage so in "my" carriage there are only 4 cars and two bikes.
Then it was so full that I had less than a decimeter between the arse of the bike and the roller door of the carriage.
As the crossing only takes about half an hour, it is a completely open carriage without seats so as a bike rider you'll simply have to stand.

Something I as a reasonably experienced traveller should have included in the calculation but had totally forgotten is that I actually lose another hour in the crossing as I change time zone.
So it's close to 10PM when I leave Calais and considering that I'm already starting to tire, the next hotel booking in Brussels (which is 200kms (125mi) away) seem less and less as a stroke of genius.
If I were to keep a record of all the "it didn't look that far on the map" mistakes I've made, it would be off the scale.

I'm not installed in my room until it's close to midnight and pretty much exhausted.
There is no doubt that tomorrow won't be an early start.

Eurotunnel, Folkstone

Sunday    14.8.2022     31°

Today is a lazy day.
I set the alarm for 10AM to get breakfast and then head straight back to my room and take a nap.
So the discovery of Brussels doesn't start until a bit after lunch.

I start off quite seriously by going to a Comics Art Museum.
It was an interesting exhibition that was also housed in an Art Nouveau building from the last century.

For the sake of rarity, my next point of interest is a church that actually isn't a ruin.
St Michael and St Gudula is a gothic cathedral completed in 1519 with very beautiful details inside.

From here I strolled on to the Grand-Place which is one of Brussels' most famous landmarks.
Built in the Middle Ages, it houses, among other things, Brussels City Hall, built in the early 15th century.
However, no matter which way you turn on the square, the buildings are so stately that they take your breath away.
The fact that most of the square's surface was occupied by a flower show meant that the remaining ground surface was totally packed with tourists, you really had to elbow your way through the entire square.

After running a lap around the square I sit down at 'T Kelderke's.
The name means the little cellar and the place dates back to the 18th century.
Although it was tempting to slip into a cellar with the temperature hovering around 30° (86°F) I sat on the outdoor terrace where I had a salmon filet so big that it took up most of the plate.
That thing must have been an absolute monster.

After rinsing the salmon down with a hefty mug of draft beer, I needed a little piss.
I couldn't very well visit Brussels without visiting the Manneken Pis as it's practically a national monument.
Although the name literally means little man peeing, I was still surprised by exactly how small the statue actually is.
The bronze statue dates from the early 17th century and measures only 61cm in height.
Apparently they celebrate various anniversaries by hooking up the statue to barrels of Belgian beer which they then hand out in mugs to passers-by.
Sadly, this was not such an occasion.

From here the destination is again a stately Gothic cathedral, the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon.
Construction started around 1400 but for various reasons the church was not completed until 1549.
You might think that a church has nothing in common with a pub, but what both places have in common, I have now learnt, is that they turn on the lights when they want to get rid of you.

I stroll around the centre of Brussels during the late afternoon and into the evening, it's a beautiful city.

Comics Art Museum

St. Michael och St. Gudula

Grand-Place

Manneken Pis

Mural that show how proud the Belgians are about their comic artists.

Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon and the  Sablon park.

Monday    15.8.2022     28°

If yesterday was lazy, I am even more lazy today.
I make up for the rather intense stay in Ireland and don't leave the hotel until well into the afternoon and then admittedly mostly because I am hungry.
I stroll into Brussels Grill and feast on meat and beer.

I felt no pressure as I already think I've seen what I set out to see so I stroll around quite aimlessly just enjoying the surroundings.
In the late afternoon, however, on a whim I buy a ticket for the last round on a tour bus (Tootbus) as I wanted to see the Atomium.
After all it is quite synonymous with the city.
The Atomium is a 102 metre high structure built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair and consists of 9 spheres, each 18 metres wide and weighing 250 tonnes.
The top sphere houses a restaurant with a panoramic view.
The Atomium was renovated between 2004-2006 at a cost of €26 million.

After the tour bus, I take a walk around the city centre and sit on an outdoor terrace on the Grand-Place for a last Belgian beer.

I found professor Calculus shark-submarine in a comic book store.

Atomium

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Grand-Place