Thursday, 3 August, 2017 – weather: rain and then slow improvement to a very good day

We had decided yesterday that we would take, belatedly, the bus tour around Brussels. When we get up it is raining hard and lowers the energy or will to go out. As the rain slows and stops, we decide to get up and go. We actually did not get wet at all. We walk all the way to Central Station which is about 30 minutes but the good thing is that it is mostly a down hill walk.

We get to Central Station and there is a bus there picking up passengers. It is absolute chaos but we are OK as everyone that has gotten on has gone to the top deck so there are lots of seats available in the bottom area. We eventually get on and get a seat and the bus finally takes off. As per the other bus site seeing tours, there are no photos taken from the bus, except this one.

An impressive structure seen from the bus is the Atomium

Unlike our bus tours in Edinburgh, we hop off part way through, not at the Atomium but at an area near markets and a restaurant area recommended by our Airbnb Host. I was glad that we did.

At this stage my camera ran out of battery so I used the phone camera for the rest of the afternoon.

We decide that we will take a look at some of the restaurants.

Inside was pretty impressive too. The weather is improving all the time and we seem to have ended up in a real winner, including the menu which has so many things I could order. A few small extracts:

There was also Eels in green sauce but I passed on that too.

We departed Restaurant Van Gogh feeling very satisfied, among the best meals of the whole trip. I wish we had discovered St Catherine’s Square much earlier in our stay in Brussels. No more photos from me today.

We walk back to the bus stop and after a long wait hop back on the next bus to complete the first tour of the day. Julie would like me to point out this interesting bit of recorded commentary regarding a statue of one of Brussels heroes and martyrs:

“He was decapitated and died shortly afterwards”.

We finish the tour at Central Station and cross the street to where there is another bus with a crowd around it. Julie finds out that it is indeed the one that goes on the other tour. Eventually the driver shows up and the usual chaos occurs but we get on the bus and it takes off.

This tour covers a lot of the area where we are staying. We hop off before it is finished at Luxemburg Square, not the country Luxemburg. This is a new area for Julie but with the help of / in spite of Google maps we make it back to the apartment.

A detailed description of our bus tours

I don’t need any more food for today after the big lunch. Julie goes out and grabs some more smoked salmon and on return makes another fried bread with salmon. Early to bed as we need to get up early tomorrow to leave town.