London, England: Hello everyone from England! Continuing our train adventures, we took the Chunnel train from Brussels to London today. We have taken the Eurostar several times before, but only between Paris and London. Not sure if that service is fancier or not, but our fancy seats were not fancy today, nor were they clean, but they still charged fancy prices. Not happy... but we are here.
Before leaving Brussels this morning we had two tasks. First, we needed to walk down to the Great Place to see what all the commotion was about last evening - with all the marching bands, bagpipers, and tents being set up in the plaza. Okay, we went and we saw, but we still have no idea what the celebration is about. There were many booths set up to sell food and beer though. I was able to translate that there is something to do with the 37th anniversary of the Friends of "something" with a lot of paraphernalia spread around about Manneken Pis. (I know, I know, I am so helpful.) We even asked at the hotel (again) and again they just shook their heads. Madam, every day there is a celebration.
The second task was just for me. I wanted to eat a Belgian waffle... but not a syrupy mess smothered with chocolate or Nutella and topped with chocolate chips, nuts, fruits, nor whipped cream. I just wanted a plain waffle, often called a Leige waffle - just topped with a little pearl sugar. Served warm. There is a place near our hotel that always has a line. It is not a chain, just one shop. A plain waffle is less than three euros. So, I stood in line and was served a very hot waffle to eat out-of-hand. DT photographed this epiphany-ish moment on the balcony outside our hotel room:
As soon as we arrived in London and checked-into a hotel, we went immediately out to spend the afternoon with Lady Katharine and her family. She and Simon now have three children and they are all adorable, interesting, clever and funny. Lady K cooked us a meal and we stayed until it was time for the kidlets to go to bed (aged 9 years to 18 months), before making our leave.
And next, Dear Reader, after posting daily for over five weeks, I am going to take a few days off. Tomorrow we head out to the countryside to enjoy time with our old friends, Shirley & Martin (our neighbors in Taipei), then we will fly back to Los Angeles. (As I type this Saturday evening, our kids are enjoying a weekend at our house in the desert!)
Until my next update, I remain, your British correspondent.
Pedometer: 5,000 steps. Just checked - I still have a pulse.
Thank you for the vacation you took us all on 🙂