Originally Tony and Lesley had arranged to go to Bruges with Neil and Mari before changing it to Brussels which is when yours truly opted to join them.(left) last chance for a decent breakfast for a few days
After a hearty breakfast at Da Vinci's, we gathered at St Pancras International for the 11:04am service to Brussels Midi which turned out to be a very smooth journey getting us there just after 2pm.
As we exited the international part of the station, there was a driver on the concourse waiting for a passenger. "Bianca Jagger" read his sign. "Wishful thinking!" we told him.
We caught a local train to take us the couple of stops to Brussels North and our hotel which was located in the modern business district - very much like a small version of Canary Wharf but with much less atmosphere.
After a quick beer and a bite to eat in the hotel bar, we wandered off into town - taking taxis as the hotel is about a mile from the main centre - ending up near the Belgian stock exchange (or Bourse).
As Friday night is usually a curry night in DAFTS circles, we'd eyed up a couple of possible restaurants - one was an Indian with the highly odd name of the Shamrock and the Fanny Thai which does thai food (what else?) - on Rue Jules van Praet which seems to be a mini-Chinatown.
We went into a nearby bar - Les Roi Des Belges - which turned out to be full of young, trendy folk and not the sort of place DAFTS are normally seen in but we were thirsty and once we'd got a table we were well settled.
Tony and Neil tried various beers from the beer menu whilst I was a little too adventurous in trying (and sticking to) 75cl bottles of the N'Ice Chouffe.
This is a 10% winter beer which despite the strength was quite easy drinking - too easy as I ended up having another two bottles.
By the time we ate at a nearby thai restaurant I was a little befuddled but at least I still remember that the food was very good (even if I disagreed with the waiter over what a spring roll is - don't ask).
Not surprisingly I was a bit fuzzy-headed the next morning but that was soon cleared as Tony and I set off early for a walk back towards Brussels Midi. Our destination was the Cantillon Brewery which was top of my "must do" list (just above "get nice chocolates for Liz").
We arrived just after 10am and after being given a talk on the brewery and the process of spontaneous fermentation - which uses natural yeasts found in the building itself - we were free to wander around the brewery.
The beers that Cantillon produce can probably be described as an acquired taste - lambic beers are sour, even after fruit has been added - but I developed a taste for them several years ago and this brewery is one of just a few which still follows the traditional process.(right) Tony tries the Cantillon kriek
At the end of the tour we ended up at the bar where we bought a few samples - the basic Geueze and then two beers which had added fruit - the Kriek and the Rosé de Gambrinus. Tony found the latter to be most to his taste and took a bottle back for Xmas day.
The afternoon was spent trawling around a few shops - Neil and Mari had gone off to do some serious shopping but Tony, Lesley and I couldn't muster the enthusiasm and we wandered around the city centre and visited a few bars.
We later met up with Neil and Mari in a small brewpub just off La Grande Place - Les Brasseurs de Grand Place - where we tried their artisinal beers. Given the prime location, it was not surprising to see them charge 4.5 euros for these beers which weren't exceptional by any means.
From here we went in search of a nice juicy steak - we'd seen a restaurant called Steak Frit earlier in the day and although it was initially busy when we went, Tony worked his charm and we finally got a table.
The place was packed and the service from our waitress was rather haphazard but even so we were quite surprised to later see her chucking in her apron and storming out after a heated discussion with the maitre d'.
The steak though was beautiful, charred on the outside and bloody in the middle - served with excellent frites and what could only be described as a token effort of a salad. Clearly the Belgians have no time for such things.
And that was my lot - just the most fleeting of visits but I'd probably come back at a quieter time of year and try out some of the bars I didn't get a chance to visit.
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