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Belgium Day Four: Going Slow

After a day of enforced rest, my knee was improving, which was fortunate as we had to change hotels.

Our original plans had involved trips to Waterloo, Bruges and the Herge museum but these all needed to be changed once I injured my knee. However, we had only booked into our hotel (Brussels Hotel, Avenue Louise) for the first three nights, anticipating spending a couple of nights away from Brussels, and now the hotel was full.

So this morning, after assessing my knee, we booked a hotel right in the heart of Brussels, Hotel Opera (Rue Gerty, 53) and preceded to pack our bags. The journey to the hotel was complicated by the Brussels Marathon which was taking place this morning. Several roads and tram routes were closed so we took a slow, roundabout route to the hotel. My knee bearing up remarkably well despite the perils of escalators and the stop-start nature of public transport.

After depositing our bags we went around the corner to Delirium for much needed refreshment. This bar is a beer drinkers paradise and a must-see for any tourist in Brussels with a taste for interesting drinks. In 2004 it gained the world record for having the most different types of beer on sale at one time, 2004 of them to be exact. I just had one, the Rodenbach Grand Cru, a bizarre but incredible beer. There really is nothing like it.

Suitably anesthetised we wandered around the narrow streets near the Grand Place and ended up in the La Boutique Tintin, just off the Grand Place. Whilst full of all things Tintin, I expected more from a Tintin shop in the heart of Tintin country. It had a fair amount of clothes and Tintin memorabilia but not a massive range.

It did have a few Tintin / Herge related books I was not aware of (all in French of course) and a good selection of the albums in a variety of languages. I picked up a facsimile edition of Tintin Au Congo and may go back tomorrow for more.

Then it was time for a waffle and back to the hotel. Tonight, we shall probably visit Delirium again. This is only because my knee won’t carry me any further and nothing to do with the 2000+ beers we haven’t tried yet….

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One Response to “Belgium Day Four: Going Slow”

  1. Dave Says:

    Hey – sorry to hear about your knee – it must be so frustrating!
    Glad you enjoyed the Delerium. I mentioned for you to visit this in a previous post as I was certain you wouldn’t be disappointed. We were in Brussels for 4 days last year and every afternoon and evening was spent there trying the different beers. My fav was Rulles Bruen (on tap there) so we’d order that as well as one we’ve never tried. I didn’t like the fruity ones so didn’t head for those.
    That Military Museum was one of the best I’ve been to with the amount of gear they had. I mean, when you have 3 Spitfires on display you tend to wet your pants…
    I guess we were lucky not to be there on a Monday but I know that would have annoyed the hell out of me.
    Hope your knee is getting better and hope the rest of your trip is exciting and fun. Europe has too much to offer and even though we had 3 months on a Eurorail pass we never really scratched the surface. I will definately return to Brussels one day and head out to the countryside.
    Cheers,
    Dave

    October 13th, 2009 at 3:24 am
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