2025 Europe Trip Outtakes

So I try to instill this, especially, in my children...life is not all Instagram perfect.  So I thought I would wrap this trip up with some of the bumps in the road during this trip...or outtakes.

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  I took a really hard fall in the streets of Brussels walking from the train station to our hotel.  Luckily I had on a skirt, so I did not rip or bloody any clothes, but I had massive road rash on both knees.  And my left knee is still scabbed over all these days later and for the first time in my life I took ibuprofen for pain for a few days.
• Do not put your Underground/Metro ticket with your cell phone as Alec learned.  First time an agent helped him through the exit.  The second time we just pushed him through the turnstile with Andy.
• All Underground/Metro ticket systems are not created equal.  We had a good laugh that every time we tried to buy 3 one-way tickets in Brussels the path to purchasing those tickets on the kiosks was different each time.  Sometimes we could purchase 3 in one transaction other times we had to purchase them each through a separate transaction.
• Picking up our rental car in Brussels turned into an adventure as it was all set to German and it would take us a good hour and figure out how to change it to English.  In the meanwhile we muddled through and used my phone to decipher the onboard navigation and eventually get it all changed over.
• Night one camping at InTentsGP for the Belgium Formula 1 race we had a couple of drunk Brits try to enter our tent after the pub/bar closed.  Scared us, but ultimately, we all had a good laugh.  In their defense all the tents look the same minus a little number tag at the entry...and probably even more so drunk and in the dark.  We even came back blurry eyed from breakfast one morning and sat down outside one tent and started to eat and finally realized we were a row off.
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  Formula 1 Grand Prix morning was a downpour.  We literally walked 45 minutes in the rain to the track.  We did have rain gear, but our shoes were soaked and would remain so until the end of the trip.  "It smells a bit like feet in there" - Alec's line after attempting to dry his shoes with the hair dryer in Cologne hotel bathroom.
• "Do you have any toilet roll (aka toilet paper)? became the common line in the port-a-restrooms at our campgrounds for the Belgium F1 race.  I may or may not have dripped dry a few times.
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  Chips (Fries), Beer, and Water is the breakfast of champions when the catering tent is too full due to the downpour for us to even get to the cereal the morning of the F1 Grand Prix.
• Thank goodness my husband is an engineer...I am not sure I would have remembered that bars is another way to measure air pressure/PSI and jumped on Google to do a conversion to air up our tires properly in Germany.
• While driving in Germany it took us many exits to figure out Ausfahrt means exit and wasn't a very large city with a lot of exits.
• Returning our car in Cologne was a 20 minute adventure...first as we sat at a garage entry point with a gate we could not figure out how to open and then we looked left after several minutes to see an open entry right next us. Then we totally missed the small Hertz key drop box and wondered around a bit before finding it and dropping our keys without the proper paperwork and crossed our fingers it would go well.  It did.
• Andy had to block people on numerous flights who tried to push their way past us and others to be the first off the plane. Always keep in mind different cultures handle personal space differently.
• A lot of doors push inward in stores versus pulling out.  Once I stood trying trying to decipher a store sign in German as I thought it was closed to find yes, the door opened inward and it was just operator error.  I am sure the sales team inside was having a good laugh.
• But on the other hand motion sensored self-opening doors were also a lot of fun and caught us off
  guard and became an inside joke as we are in the midst of watching Andor and proved to be a little jedi power humor.
• I will never see these people again and my love of hats proves helpful....when we realize I should not have brought my US travel hair dryer or straight iron.  We eventually bought a small hair dryer before leaving London and a UK to EU converter for it to find no easy place to use it camping AND IT RAINED A LOT, and then we had hair dryers in our hotel rooms the rest of the trip.  You are welcome to whoever finds the unused hair dryer and my Lonely Planet Germany book in our hotel desk in Berlin.
• After years with a retainer Alec nearly lost it three times on this trip.  Two times in the morning when he wasn't quite awake.  Both times we were able to retrieve it from the "rubish"/trash.  The third took a phone flash light and scouring the plane floor.
• Leaving SFO late on a Friday night is still a challenge....from it taking an hour+ to get our luggage to it taking nearly an hour to go a couple of miles to get over the Bay Bridge at 11PM thanks to normal traffic as well as the Grateful Dead's 60th show that had just wrapped in Golden Gate Park. 

All of these unexpected bumps make us better travelers.  They make us more patient travelers and people, children, parents, spouses. It makes you ask others for help and/or to slow down. Along with all of these there were lots of pleasurable bumps from an impromptu dance party in Brussels to watching England's women football (soccer) team win the Europe Cup with a bunch of Brits in a pub.  None of it we would trade.  We have always been a family who prefers to spend our money on experiences versus things.  And not all of those experiences quite pan out the way you envisioned, but they all create memories that will last a life time.

Final Stop - Berlin

Up early we had a 7:45AM train to Berlin from Cologne.  We used the German Railroad, U Bahn, which was very nice.  Even nicer than the Eurostar, except we did not have a meal.  We did wind up with free beverages though due to a delay part the way through our trip.  We arrived in Berlin about 1.5 hours late, which was fine by us as it put us closer to our hotel check-in time.

The train station in Berlin was HUGE so much so it took us a bit to figure out which way was which to secure an Uber.  It took about 15 minutes to get to our hotel, a chain we used a fair amount overseas when the kids were little, Novotel.  This was the Novotel Berlin Mitte, located within a couple minutes’ walk of the famous Museum Island.

I had planned most of the trip, so I put Andy in charge of the afternoon and then I took over dinner.  For the afternoon we would head over to the island and to a museum tucked pretty much underground along river, the DDR Museum.  This museum was mostly hands-on exhibits where you learned the history and the lifestyle during the German Democratic Republic - The Wall - The Stassi - and much more.  It was very crowded, but we took our time and soaked it all in.  It covered everything from the standard political and governmental aspects to education, home life, vacation, shopping, environment, and economy.  We stood in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living room of one of the apartments that people were allotted under the regime and then in a cell where people were locked away for the smallest of things. It was all very surreal

After we were done, we grabbed a quick ice cream, as we had skipped lunch, and were planning a good dinner.  A easy 5-minute walk back to the hotel Alec hit the gym and Andy, and I hit the hotel bar for a cocktail.  Our dinner this evening was about a 15-minute walk to the amazing Zur Gerichtslaube.  We opted for one more truly authentic German restaurant, and this one did not disappoint.  It is ranked #80 on Trip Advisor out of 9445 restaurants in Berlin.  This place was wonderful.  The Gerichtslaube (courtyard arcade) was built around 1270 in Gothic brick style and was repeatedly remodeled over the following centuries. Originally built in the Middle Ages and primarily used for the often extremely gruesome administration of justice, the Gerichtslaube (courtyard arcade) has had various functions over the centuries until it finally became a restaurant in the 20th century. We opted for outside seating as the weather was beautiful, and it was very lively.  This time both Alec and I got schnitzel, and the boys tried the beers made just for this restaurant.  The service was also very good.  We didn't finish until nearly 10PM, in typical European dining style.

The next morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Very plentiful as it should be for 25 euros.  Then we had a 20-minute walk to meet our guide for another Get Your Guide booking.  This time it was a 4-hour tour entitled "Berlin: Discover Berlin Walking Tour."  We knew with a very cheap price it would be more crowded, but the reviews were quite good.  Sure enough about 20 people tagged along with our guide Eran (who was Israeli, but got to Germany via... Isreal --> US --> Amsterdam...fell in love with a German --> Germany...divorced, hated his IT job, loved history, so there you have it ...a tour guide). 

We crammed a lot into our 3.5 hours (given a 30 min break for snack, etc).  We visited Museum Island and learned all about the buildings and their former intentions.  We also re-learned most of the buildings are replicas as 90% of the city was destroyed in the war.  We saw bullet holes everywhere.  We stood at the site and saw the memorial for the famous 1933 pro-Nazi book burning.  We visited Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the east west crossing points. A little further and we came upon one of the three stretches of the Berlin wall that is still standing.  Less than 5-minute walk from there and we stood on the parking lot which covers the cement filled bunker where Hitler, along with several others, committed suicide.  I will admit I prefer the way Germany has chosen to note these historical places.  There are simple placards with information in German and English.  There is nothing big about any of it...while they do not wish to forget, they also do not wish to create larger scale markers which may be more inviting to those who still support the teachings and ideologies of Hitler and the Nazis.  

It was very poignant to go from there to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  Made up of 2711 dark gray slabs that are the exact same length and width their heights all vary...getting taller towards the center and shorter on the outsides.  They also are set in rows that undulate as well as slant.  They also are placed such that only one person can walk through on their own.  You cannot walk side by side, only single file.  Our guide had us walk through and talk about the experience on the other side.  It "felt like drowning," "felt like being buried," "alone," and so on.  It was definitely a very powerful and thought-provoking piece.  We ended at the Brandenburg Gate. All along our tour our guide had photos of the various sites put to use in Hitler's speeches, parades, etc.  It was so strange to be in such a place.

A long and emotional day we returned to our hotel after a little shopping and packed a bit before heading out to Rotisserie Weingrün.  Another top rated restaurant #112 in the city, this place was more California in style, and the food was amazing.  All of our meats...chicken, steak, sausages were cooked perfectly.  I enjoyed black truffle mashed potatoes...the best mashed potatoes I have ever had (sorry Grams).  And the cocktails, wine, and beer selections also did not disappoint.  An incredible meal to end an incredible trip on as the next day we would head home via a stop in Frankfort.

Driving Fast and Slowing Down in Germany

We awoke of course to rain again in Belgium.  For the first time though the catering tent was not insane as many people had departed the night prior, so we were actually able to get to all the food easily and Andy was even able to order a hot meal for a few pounds.  We checked out about 10AM, but had 6 hours before Alec's second most anticipated adventure of the trip, driving the famous Nurburgring in Germany.  We had quickly assessed a few options the day before and opted for the Moselle River town of Cochem.

Unfortunately, along the way we needed to stop twice as our tires kept showing low and then upon arrival we couldn't find good parking to allow us to walk up to the beautiful Reichsburg Cochem Castle which drew us to the town.  Apparently this is quite the little hot spot as the car parks were packed and lots of people were about on bikes, walking dogs, and enjoying the shops and restaurants.  It was a picturesque town and would have loved to spend a day there. By the time we found a parking spot and walked into town (and after our 3 days in a row of walking back and forth to the race track) we opted to skip the castle, grab a bite to eat, walk in town a bit, and then head on our way.

We enjoyed lunch at Elli's Schnitzel-Haus.  The reviews on-line were mediocre to poor, but honestly the food was quite nice.  Prices were not crazy and the service was very friendly and helpful.  I would learn later after some research it was the owner who was serving us.  Andy had his first schnitzel, Alec pizza, and myself chips (fries) with a tatziki type dipping sauce.  It was very nice. A 20 minute walk back to our car and we were off...by the way, I forgot to mention Alec would get to drive fast later this afternoon, but Andy did get to drive the autobahn a few times on this day.  I will admit when he started pushing 90mph I chickened out and asked him to slow down.

We arrived a bit early for Alec's drive so we went on to the race course and visited the Nurburgring RingWerk, which is a museum.  Had we researched a little better I would say we probably would have explored a little more of the overall facility before committing to the museum. It was good, but had several attractions aimed at young children.

Needing to arrive an hour early we drove to Ringfreaks, the company Alec had spent weeks finding.  See at 18 there were many rules for driving the famous 28.2k Nurburgring.  In 2027 it will celebrate 100 years of racing.  It has hosted about every kind of motorized racing you can imagine and has seen the likes of Schumacher to Hamilton win on its famous curves.  Today it is mostly known for its 24 hour endurance races. Back to the rules...Alec's age, and budget, limited the cars he could drive.  He would wind up with a BMW F30 328i.  He also was required to have a coach in the car with him.  He could drive anywhere from 2 - 5 laps.  He spent his hard earned In-n-Out dollars and went for 5.  Andy went with him and checked him in.  I figured a nervous Mom would not do well for Alec's confidence.  The guys in the office were kind enough the point us to "YouTube Corner" for us to watch for Alec. Andy might have lied to me or limited my information upfront by saying it was the corner where YouTubers liked to video the fast cars.  After Alec was finished I would be told it was actually the corner where YouTubers like to record crashes.

Alec turned on his data so we could acess his Life360 location and be ready for photos and videos.  He would do 2 laps and take a break while the coach rode with someone else, then he would do 3 more.  We sat and waited patiently as he waited in a line to scan his pass and access the track.  We would learn ANYTHING...and we do mean ANYTHING can do the open track tourist drive.  We saw minivans, a car with a large Thule box, a work van, and lots of family wagons.  These were mixed amongst Lotus, BMWs, Porsches, and more.  It was incredibly entertaining.  Andy hid Alec's speed from me and I only got alerted when he was a couple minutes out so I could climb down the hill to the hole in the fence for photographers.  He had a great time!  And was very grateful for the coach.  The turns were so numerous and seemed never-ending that he said it was super helpful and allowed him to drive faster and more agressively overtaking many other drivers.  By the way if anyone goes and wants a coach his name was Marcell.  Apparently he has over 5000 laps on the course and has raced on it quite a bit.

He wrapped up around 7PM and drove the car back to the facility on his own and checked out.  Starved we stopped at a local petrol station and secured some snacks and hit the road to Cologne where we would check into our first real hotel, Artotel by Raddison, located right on the Rhine.  It was a beautiful location and our room was a corner with huge windows that opened on the second floor looking towards the cathedral.  We were disappointed that the hotel advertises a restaurant, but it only exists for a pricey (but plentiful) breakast buffet.  So we ordered via Uber Eats from Micki's   It was very fast, hot, and good Italian.  The hotel had provided us a large water with air ("sparkling water") and Andy grabbed his first Kolsh from the bar when he met our delivery guy.

We slept in and enjoyed the buffet which was very good.  Alec worked out in the minimalist hotel gym and we lazed around and I did laundry until nearly 2PM.  Then we had the fun adventure of returning the rental car to the train station.  We tried to go into the parking garage through the wrong entrance, then it took us about 15 minutes and several in and outs of the building to learn we simply drop the keys in a box marked Hertz and walk away. 

A quick walk around the corner and we were at the centerpiece of this city and UNESCO site, Cologne Cathedral.  It is the tallest twin-spired church in the world and the second largest cathedral in Europe. Construction began in 1248 but would not be well-funded until the 1840's.  It was amazing...definitely ranks up there with Notre Dame, St Peters, and Duomo.  It would take us nearly an hour to self tour the interior.

What else does one do after chuch, but have a beer so we headed off to Brahaus Fruh am Dom, which translates to the Beer Hall of the Cathedral, so very close.  It was started in 1895.  We settled into a table on the first floor and so it began.  Our beers were marked on a coaster on the table.  The server would only stop when we placed our coaster over the top...well not really...he was very used to tourists who did not know so he was kind enough to ask us if we wanted more and how many.  We would learn he was Persian, who came to Germany via L.A. to escape the Iyotollah's rule.  We were grateful for his kindness because by about 4 beers in we could not be trusted to remember to place our coaster over the top. We ordered traditional and appetizer of Halver Hahn (bread, cheese, butter, and onion) and our meals included Deftige Gulaschsuppe, Schweineschnitzel, and Ofenfrischer Schweinebraten and of course, Streudel, for dessert.  A very fun and filling afternoon as we would wind up spending nearly 3 hours there just chatting. We walked back to our hotel to enjoy more of the city sites and then off to bed as we had an early morning train to Berlin, our final stop.

Forumula 1 (2 & 3) at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Up very early...along with hundreds of our closest friends at our campsite we headed to the catering tent for breakfast.  It was a bit mad as it actually looked to be a rain free day, so everyone was headed to the track.  Included in our campsite was cereal, juices, coffee, and toast with jam.  The boys loaded up and brought it back to our campsite which also had a cute table and chairs set outside.  We ate quickly and started on our 45 minutes walk back to Circuit de Spa-Franorchamps.  This time for the flatter route which took us most directly to our seats.

First stop was down the hill to the FanZone area for the interviews.  Alec thought we would be way in the back, but we went around the side and I would say where 25 people or so back from the stage.  We saw interviews with Red Bull, Alpine, and Mercedes.  Which means yes we saw Max and for me I was happy to see George Russell.  They were very fun and made them do funny challenges at the end of their interviews.  The crowd was great.

We were on turn 1 between two covered grandstands.  The day was filled with Formula 1, 2, & 3 sprints and qualifying.  I personally enjoyed the Formula 2 best and when it was the English commentators turn I would learn their cars are made for overtaking, not overall performance.  I also learned they start reverse grid, so reverse qualifying order in the championship races.  I like this too as it is similar to skiing allowing the less tenured racers to have a shot at a cleaner course and start.  The day was insanely hot...actually I should say humid, which we are not used to anymore.  Alec also decided to forgo the classics exhibition to stand in a nearly hour line for swag.  Everyone around us was great.  To our left were 5 guys from the east coast celebrating a 40th birthday.  In front of us a British couple who were quit young and quiet.  To our right a large German family.

Our seats on the top row came in handy this day as we are the only ones who could stand and also got a breeze as we actually were not completely blocked in by bodies.  This seating would also come in very handy on Day 2...when yes in true Spa fashion it would rain...and rain...and rain.

We enjoyed the catering tent for dinner where Andy had chicken curry and rice, myself veggie lasgna, and Alec cheeseburger and fries.  And of course we went to the pub for a beer while we used the charging lockers for devices.  Plans were to crash early and be up and walking by 7:15AM the next morning to make the Formula 3 race.  Ear buds in we crashed hard and didn't awaken until....

....the pouring rain and our alarms at 6:15AM.  Andy checked the radar and we decided to forgo the Formula 3 race.  Glad we did as it was actually canceled.  This morning we skipped breakfast all together and donned our rain gear.  Yes, we brought full pants and jackets and started our 45 minute walk to the track.  Luckily getting in was a little easier this time and the rain had stopped a bit and we would see the Formula 2 race.  Breakfast would be fries (which the Belgians claim are truly Belgium fries, not French as we silly Americans mistook French-speaking Belgians who provided them during the war as French people and it stuck) as the waffle line was a mile long.

The day would go back and forth between sun, rain, cloudy.  Come Formula 1 time they did the drivers parade and it was overcast, then time for the National Anthem and it started to rain.  The drivers would take 3 laps before they red-flagged the race and would eventually push out the start time by an hour.  The DJ was awesome at keeping the crowd engaged all over the venue.  We literally tried to do the wave all around the track and dance parties and singing broke out everywhere.  And why does the top row come in handy by the way...because we are the only ones allowed to put up umbrellas.  And by the way for those who were grumbling about the rain...it POURED!  Yes, we do agree they have tires that are supposed to work in the rain, but we definitely could see how the spray and visibility would make it very dangerous.

Saldy the race was a little anti-climactic when it did occur.  We were excited to be on turn 1, but they did a rolling start (which we will agree was not needed), so it was very tame.  Piastri would overtake Norris early and from there the grid for the top positions nearly held the entire race.  We will say it was great to see Leclerc hold off Max to finish 3rd and Hamilton got tons of cheers for going from starting in the pits to P7.  But given there was serious chatter about the race being canceled we were glad it was not and we got to see some good racing in quals and sprints.

We debated the track invasion as people pushed their way towards gates in front of our stand, but in the end when it was all over and we were exiting...we decided at the last minute to make the turn and go join the masses.

After our long walk, hot showers, and dinner in hand...another treat was joining a couple of hundred again at the pub inside the soccer clubhouse to watch the British women's football team defeat Spain for the 2025 Euro in a shoot out.  What fun that was!  Another unexpected surprise on our trip.  Next up...Alec getting to spend a chunk of his hard earned money from his employment at In-n-Out to drive 5 laps on the famous Nuerbergring in Germany. 

Brussels Food & History Tour and InTentsGP

A decent night's sleep, we were off to the lobby area for our hostel breakfast with a ton of our Tomorrowland friends.  Very mediocre European continental breakfast...cereals, meats, breads, yogurt, but thankfully a coffee machine. That's OK as we were headed for a 4-hour food and history tour at 11AM today.

We quickly ate, packed our bags, and stored them again in the lockers as we wouldn't pick up our rental car until ~4:30pm after the tour. Then we boarded the Metro again to the Bruges station and made our way to a corner of the Palace area in front of a Chocolatier called Mary.  This is our 3rd time using Get Your Guide as we have been very happy with past bookings in Paris and San Francisco.  This time we were doing the "Brussels: Food Tour with Lunch, Chocolate, Beer, and Waffles."  We arrived with about 5 minutes to spare to find a young man having a quick smoke while he waited on us and the others in our party looked around.  We would find we were a small group.  The other 3 were a couple of a best friend from New York who were Dominican in ethnicity.  Super fun to talk to about travel, food, and of course the Grand Prix as they were going as well with plans to drive back and forth each day.

We started in the Palace area by entering Mary, the first female chocolatier, in Brussels in 1919.  They also have been providing chocolates, a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder, to the Belgium royal family since 1942.  We tasted several, including one we would purchase later a champagne rose.  Then out onto the Palace area we would get lots of history including the Free Masons, various artisan guilds, and Karl Marx.  He had lived there for three years until expelled in 1948 and it is where he would write his Communist Manifesto.

We would find our way now to our second chocolatier in the Palace area, Galler. Liked by many for it's minimalist packaging, free trade cocoa, and a collaboration indictive of the country with over 170 chocolatiers it's very much a forward looking business. After this we would wind our way through the streets seeing the famous Manneken Pis again and also seeing the museum that houses all the costumes he has been dressed in over the years.  Our guide informed us it was quite a treat for us to see him naked as he rarely is.  We also learned at this time due to Brussels being the NATO seat as as well as EU this is a incredibly diverse city.  Our guide claimed it to be the second most diverse city in the world.  I fact checked him and can not find that to be true, but do see that nearly 50% of Belgians do not have Belgium as their first country of origin in their registered status.

We eventually came to a store front and upon entering found several tables set for tours.  And here we would sample several beers while Tony, an elderly gentleman, prepared an amazing lunch.  First, we were each presented with a pot of mussels with onion, herbs, broth, and I think spinach.  And bread of course for soaking up the juice.  We would use our shells like tongs to eat the meat of other shells.  The second course was an amazing meatball with cherries served with a potato croquet and applesauce.  Absolutely delicious...and more beer of course.

With bellies full we walked it off for more history, different sectors of Brussels, old marina, China town, and more.  We also would visit Mannekin's mates...a girl named "Jeanneke Pis" and a dog named "Zinneke Pis."  Finally we would wind our way to the exclusive glass-domed high-end shopping areas of Saint Hubert Royal Galleries and our Waffle and Coffee tastings at Mokafe Taverne.  We learned the heavily loaded waffles you saw on other areas were not the truest.  The best were very light, cooked fresh, dusted with powder sugar, and served with a small carafe of chocolate sauce.  It was delicious!  Andy and I opted for cappuccinos.  And Alec for a super hot original hot chocolate which would require a lot of added sugar to get it to what he was accustomed.

Winding our way out we would stop again one more time at Mary for a last sampling and then a goodbye to our companions.  Again, another successful tour.  We were a little concerned at first as our guide was just returning from a month holiday, but he was a very sweet and talkative young man who we got to know well.  He's doing this while hoping to use his college education to do something in social work, preferably working with the homeless.

We gathered our bags, our rental car, and we were off to the countryside and InTentsGP for the next three nights for the Spa Formula 1 Grand Prix.  During our hour and a half drive we battled with our car to convert it to English, but we survived just fine and found a station playing live from Tomorrowland, which was fun.  Finally, about 6:30PM we pulled into a field across from a soccer club, checked in, and found our way to our large canvas yurt with blow up beds, but nice bedding for the next three nights.  Then we walked 45 minutes to the track where there was still one more race as well as to get the lay of the land for the next day.  Wow, there were a lot of people and the route we chose that night would be the only time we would take it as it was downhill there, but obviously a long uphill coming back.  We also learned our entrance was a long walk from inside.  Back at the campsite we would grab a shower in the portables they had set-up, and dinner from the catering tent, and a beer from the bar located in the soccer clubhouse.  In bed by 10PM we would be up the next morning by 6:30AM to get ready and walk to the track to see the interviews in the Fan Zone with several teams including Red Bull.

Brussels, Beers, and a Dance Party

In 2014 we were supposed to take the Eurostar from Paris to London with the kids for a day, but the booking got messed up.  Since then we have traveled on Amtrak plenty in the US, but we always heard the European rail was so much more.  Today we were up early and ubbered to St. Pancras station to take the Eurostar to Brussels.  It was so well-marked and easy to figure out.

We were booked in Eurostar plus with a table for 4 in car #8.  We did wind up being joined by a young woman, but there was still plenty of room for our bags, us, lapstops out for working, etc..  I thought I would be freaked out about the Chunnel.  The Official name which is the Channel Tunnel is 31.5 miles long and sits 23.5 miles under the English Channel.  But the Eurostar is going 100mph through it, so I hardly had time to think about it.  We also got a continental breakfast with tea, coffe, and juice.

We arrived into Brussels Gare de Midi.  After we disembraked we noticed people everywhere carrying flags and dressed almost like circus people, but all in a matching burgundy guiding people and answering questions.  It would be a couple of hours until we figured out that one of the, if not the, largest Music Festival in Europe was getting ready to start weekend #2 in Belgium, Tomorrowland.

Since in just over 24 hours we will need a rental car I got us a room at the hotel/hostel Meininger Gare du Midi which was less than a 5 miunte walk from the station.  With the festival, even though not in Brussels, the place was packed.  Our room of course was not ready, so again we crammed our bags into 2 large lockers and hopped the Metro to the city's center and walked to the Grand Palace.  Wow, just wow...love, love that everything is pedestrian. Chocolate shop after chocolate shop lined the streets as well as eateries.  And the architecture was beautiful with lots of gold.  In the plaza was a podium in the center with a DJ deck and it was set-up like a concert.  We thought perhaps they were tearing it down from something earlier or preparing for something later.  After all the festival itself is not in Brussels.

It was such a beautiful day we opted to get an outside table at Le "Roy d'Espange" and our first Belgium pints. Built in 1697 it was originally the baker's guild headquarters. Force, wheat, wind, fire, water, and security, all needed by bakers are prepresented from left to right by statues high up on the buildings facade. Above the entrance is Saint-Aubert, patron Saint of Bakers. During and after the French Revolution it went through a few iterations, before returning to a cafe in 1952.  Here we would enjoy our first Belgium Beers and chat with some of the festival attendees.  The Spainards next to us mixed up their AM and PM and told us there was to be a welcome set in the plaza at 3AM,  which makes sense as the festival itself goes until the wee hours of the morning. But we soon found out that was 3PM and we would wind up dancing in the plaza for 90 minutes.

Alec was beyond happy as he purchased a DJ deck to take to school and has been working hard to master it all summer.  And there were even songs, which the DJ duo called "old school" mixed in that Andy and I knew.  It was a lot of fun and a pleasant surprise.  Just like our trip to Europe 10 years ago with the kids when we wandered into a cheese festival and had our 8 and 10 year old out dancing to EDM tunes late into the night.

Exhausted we wound our way to the famous Manneken Pis.  Literally one of the top sites in Brussels and yes, it is a statue just over 2 feet tall of a little boy pissing in a fountain.  There are all kinds of stories about what he presents, but ultimately he was done like Cupid with no big story behind it.  Since then a girl version called Jeanneke Pis has been erected as well for equal rights.  And then someone thought they needed a pet, so a pissing dog refered to as Zinneke Pis was erected.  Then we hopped the nearest metro back to the station and walked back to our hotel to check out the new digs for a night.

Much larger than our last one...Andy and I have the classic singles pushed together.  And Alec is in a bunk bed again.  But this time we have a desk and all the normal bathroom amenities that we did not in our last location.  Hair dryer, soap, towels (were a charge at the last location)....we even have a TV.  We ate at a not very exciting place near the station and are now settling in for the night.  Tomorrow will be a long day with a 4 hour history and food tour in Brussels before getting our car and heading south for 3 nights of glamping at the F1 race.

How fast can you site see in London....24 hours?

Waking up on Day 2 we had slept pretty well.  Our hostel included a European breakfast of toast or rolls, humus, veggies, meats, yogurt, fruit. and a coffee machine that pumped out anything your heart desired.  Then we walked back to the Tower of London where we jumped on our Big Bus Hop On, Hop Off.  Like these things or not they are a great way to get around a large tourist city and garner some info at the same time.

We would take ours to Kensington Palace to see the changing of the guard with several thousand other tourists.  Unless you are pressed against the front gate the best view is from the center around the statues.  The downside though is there only two exit points when it is all over.  Still you get to see quite a bit.  Upon exit we made our way back to a bus stop to my most wanted attraction, Harrods.

No, I do not go for the luxury clothes and upscale jewelry, cigars, etc.  I go for the food halls.  The most amazing floor of chocolate, pastries, meat, seafood, coffee, cheese...shall I go on?  We walked it all and then grabbed some pastries for the next morning and I hit the Harrod's brand store for something for me and something for our missing Jolly.

Now mind you I am not a fan of Hard Rock Cafes, but when your son is into music just as much as your husband you do make a reservation at the original Hard Rock Cafe that opened in London in 1971 and is filled with things from the literal icons of rock-n-roll, most notable the British.  The Beatles, The Who, Clapton, Queen, Elton John, The Sex Pistols...and then throw in the iconic Americans like Madonna,  Prince, BB King, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Our server caught on quick to our interest and even gave us a pass to the vault that is not open on Wenesdays, unless you have one of these passes.  And there were the crown jewels of rock-n-roll.

Next up we went to another shopping area, Regeants Street.  Here Alec had to find his way to Huntsman, a men's handsewn suit shop which has served as the inspiration for Matthew Vaughn’s blockbuster movies Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and the prequel The King’s Man. From there Mom and Dad needed caffeine as we were now nearly 8 hours into our day and well over 7 miles of walking, so we went to a lovely little shop called Kiss the Hippo.  Little did we know it has won the UK Barista Championships twice.

Back on the bus we now had to make our way for the inconic Clark Griswald's "Look kids. There's Big Ben and there's Parliament."  He's supposedly stuck in a traffic circle, which if there was there is not anymore.  We walked all around both, as well as Westmentster Abbey, then being nearly 7PM the buses were starting to dwindle, so we hoped the Underground back to our hostel.

Alec had not yet had a traditional pub visit with folks just off work and playing darts, smoking (yes there is a lot of that still in England), and enjoying a pint with their mates.  So we crossed the street from our hostel and enjoyed a beverage, pizza from homemade dough, and of course European Women's football on the tele at Sir Syndney Smith, This public house has been serving the East End of London since at least 1809. Named after a British Admiral of the Napoleonic Wars, it has somehow survived for over 200 years to become one of the few remaining early 19th century pubs in an area of London which once had hundreds. Then off to bed for an early morning on the Eurostar to Brussels, Stop #2.