Brussels – 3rd September

I woke up sweaty, thirsty and hungover on Saturday 3rd September in Brussels. The opening night of the Belgian Beer Festival, last night, had been great and Captain Caveman spending time with his brother was fantastic. We had to check out at 11am so we had a cheese and salami sandwich to sort us out. We left the Citadines Sainte Catherine aparthotel, which I’d definitely recommend, and headed through town towards the tram. We got the one to Uccle as we were invited to spend the rest of the weekend with Simon & Anna – we were both really looking forward to that a lot. We had not seen Captain Caveman’s two nephews for far too long and we had not met the third nephew at all, thanks to the pandemic. One of the things we really appreciate when we visit family and friends is to do ‘normal’ family things. I really enjoyed sitting at the big dining table to eat a delicious pasta lunch, I even had to give Captain Caveman a nudge to leave some for everyone else – he was also loving it. The youngest nephew is super cute and has a lot of similarities to Captain Caveman when it comes to meal times. In the afternoon we offered to go to the supermarket with Simon, while Anna looked after the kids. It was an experience, as Simon had chosen the self-scan method. We piled the trolley full and then the man in the queue in front of us had trouble letting us through because we had more than 10 items. It was good fun when Captain Caveman went to get our purchases of wine and some meat to contribute to tonight’s BBQ.

We managed a short walk through the nearby woods but it did start to rain a little by the time we were halfway round. The evening with the family was great and we got on the Prosecco surprisingly easily, considering last night’s shenanigans. I was impressed when one of the children managed to complete a house of cards but he was gutted when the little one wafted past, causing it to fall. By the time bed time came round I was tired and was looking forward to some sleep. I felt bad that we had kicked the youngest out of his room, he would sleep with Simon and Anna. The two eldest are so grown up now and when they argue they do it in French. They were both very polite and well behaved though, no arguments when it was time to go to bed.