Brussels to Manchester – 6th September

There were waffles for breakfast in The Sprouts’ home on Sunday 6th September so Captain Caveman tucked in. I just had a cup of tea and decided not to risk waffles – we were flying back to Manchester later today and I didn’t need to be turnstile hopping in the loos again! We’d been having such a lovely time that I’d not taken many photos. The family one on the patio had to be taken with some still in dressing gowns. Captain Caveman was in pain and I could tell all he wanted to do was to lay on a sofa and play Bridge on his phone but there was no resting for us today. Instead, we decided to navigate the bus replacement service on a Sunday to go in to town to see the last of the Beer Festival celebrations – a parade or something at midday, and to say farewell to Louisa. I messaged Louisa with our proposed plan and to see if she wanted to leave her luggage at the hotel and meet us at noon, when she checked out. Louisa didn’t want to risk leaving an unlocked case at the hotel and preferred to have her luggage with her so said she would meet us after the procession for some lunch. She had found a restaurant she fancied for her last meal in Brussels with a memorable name.

Our buses and trams took ages and we had to change then walk a fair bit so we ended up missing any of the festival frivolities and went straight to meet Louisa at Fanny Thai. Captain Caveman wasn’t hungry, as he’d had waffles for breakfast, and I was reluctant to eat much in case I was ill (again). While Louisa ordered a starter and a main, Captain Caveman and I decided to share a couple of Vietnamese style starters; spring rolls and dim sum, both £8.28 each and tasted nice. I had a Hoegaarden for £4.60 and Captain Caveman had a Coke for £3.26. Louisa had a lovely looking chicken stir-fry with steamed rice and a Coke. The whole meal came to around £50 total and, when we tried to get separate bills, the waitress was told she wasn’t allowed to do that. She went and checked at our insistence as we wanted to pay separately and she said the owners wouldn’t allow it, which was strange.

Louisa still had an hour to kill before she needed to set off to get her bus to Charleroi airport so we went to an Irish pub nearby and sat in the sun. Captain Caveman must’ve been in agony as he ordered a very pricey alcohol free Guinness. Here’s what we had for our final farewell drinks:

O’Reilly’s Irish pub
1 Coke 4.00
1 white wine Spritzer 6.50
1 Alcohol free Guinness 9.00
Total €19.50 (£16.31)

I said farewell to our friend and would see her again very early on Tuesday morning for our next holiday. Captain Caveman went with Louisa to the underground to show her which way to go to get her bus while I finished my drink and I had a little rest with my feet up.

We went back to the vintage shop for Captain Caveman to buy the football top but it didn’t fit and then it took us ages to get back home because of the Sunday replacement buses. This meant we didn’t have much time to spend with The Sprouts before rushing to the bus stop again. We did squeeze a little bit of time having some photos with Felix, the youngest nephew, who was sad that his uncle was leaving. Simon and Anna walked us to the bus stop and we all hugged goodbye, I’d really enjoyed the Brussels weekend and felt like I would have liked it to have been longer with more time to relax. Our transport today cost more than we’d been spending on the train and I spent £14.57 on just my buses.

At Brussels airport it seemed to take us a long time to get through passport control and Captain Caveman was now really struggling to walk, so much so that he told me to go to the gate without him. I bent down to fasten my bag and accidentally bent my bank card with my big stomach, which was not ideal. Captain Caveman made it in time to board and this time we were seated together on Brussels Airlines, flying out at 9.30pm.
Captain Caveman slept for most of the flight, I rarely sleep on a plane so I caught up with editing my blog which I’d not had time to do this last week. We arrived in to Manchester just before 10pm and we went straight to The Tribe hotel. Captain Caveman was working in Manchester the next day so it didn’t make any sense for him to go back to Sheffield to have to set off early and not have had much sleep so we had paid £60 for a double room. When we got to the hotel Captain Caveman was in lots more pain and in a terrible mood. I went to the bar to get him some ice and propped his foot up on all the pillows and did more blogging. I’d only eaten the small meal at lunch and was hungry but there was nowhere to get any food by this time. We finished the day having spent about £56 which was more than we probably should have. Our spending, not including the flights had cost £220 (£55 per day) for both Captain Caveman and I for the 4 days. I personally had spent less than £60 per day over the last 9 days of holiday for both of us. I knew I could’ve been more frugal but we had consumed a lot of alcohol on this trip. We were both very tired and had very busy Mondays planned so we did what any couple would do in a hotel on the last night of a holiday – had an argument and went to sleep, both in a mood!

Gratitude List
1. Eating less so that my stomach remained fine (all day)
2. Getting to spend time with Captain Caveman, Louisa and family in Brussels
3. Having a hotel at Manchester airport to get to bed earlier.

Brussels – 5th September

On Saturday 5th September Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and was a bit reluctant to go anywhere that involved walking, but that didn’t work out that well for him. I said I would go in to Brussels to meet Louisa for lunch so he made the effort to come. The journey turned into a bit of a fiasco as the transport company had decided to do some maintenance and had put replacement buses on so it took us ages to get into town, as well as more walking for Captain Caveman than he’d expected. We met at Wolf Food Market where Captain Caveman and I had been before. He chose it because it’s a bit like Cambridge Street Collective and Cutlery Works which has lots of different food outlets from around the world which means there’s lots of choice and everyone can have something different if they want. The tables were busy but we managed to find a seat and it’s one of those places where you order via a QR code, pick up your drinks and a buzzer at the bar then wait for the buzz to then find the appropriate outlet and pick up your food. It’s not really my thing as it’s a bit of a faff but the dim sum I had was tasty. Captain Caveman and Louisa had something spicy like tacos, if I remember correctly. Captain Caveman paid for for ours as he knew how to work the online payment, whereas I don’t use virtual card payments on my phone. It filled a hole and then we did a bit of shopping. I bought a t-shirt from Uniqlo for £6.81 in the sale, an ideal top for travelling back in I thought. Louisa bought a nice jumper and Captain Caveman looked for a bag but didn’t find one. I knew Captain Caveman liked pistachio ice-cream and I thought Louisa might fancy one too so I suggested they might want to find a place for ice-cream. I can’t eat it because of my stomach so we strolled about but then both said they didn’t want any ice-cream when we got to a shop so I must’ve misunderstood. We went in to a Belgian chocolate shop where I took my Lactase pills to be able to sample some – it was so good. We bought some to take back for The Sprouts (aptly named as they are the family from Brussels). That’s when we realised we were going to be late for the rugby match so we had to rush off. Louisa had politely declined Anna’s kind offer to join the family BBQ as she’d have to get a taxi or public transport back afterwards so she was going to continue having a look round Brussels. She was hoping to get a bit more sleep tonight as the hotel hadn’t been quiet last night.

We rushed off to get numerous trams and buses to the rugby pitch and were late but luckily hadn’t missed the eldest nephew coming on to the pitch. It was a lovely sunny day by this point and I made friends with a very cute dog who gave me kisses. William played very well and we were impressed at the level – I even enjoyed the sporting event more than I thought I would. I got a message from Louisa with a photo of her ice-cream which looked very impressive, so I was pleased she had found a good one.

The Sprouts went back home by car and we got the bus to the big supermarket, Delhaize. We had said we would get the BBQ shop in as a thank you for letting us stay so we did that and Simon picked us up. By this time it was obvious to me that Captain Caveman was in a lot more pain and he had to push the trolley just to be able to walk better. He still insisted that he didn’t think it was the beer. I found it very interesting to compare prices of groceries and wine to both the UK and Türkiye and there was some really good wine for decent prices.
Captain Caveman paid for the shopping and here’s what we paid in Euros;

Red peppers 1.44
Potatoes 1.99
Apples 2.19
Burger buns 2.58
700g tomatoes 4.49
Cheese slices 4.61
Charcoal 4.69
1 bottle white wine 7.99
1 bottle rosé wine 8.99
500g Halloumi 9.18
3 litres of apple juice 9.85
Chicken 14.54
Burgers 19.80
Total spent €92.34 (£77.28)

I think it compared favourably with the UK and we got everything on the list, which would not have happened in Dalyan.

While Anna kept the wine flowing and Simon cooked the meat, we had a few games of sticks where Captain Caveman managed to teach his youngest nephew, Felix, the art of not winning every time. I confessed to William and Thomas about me having to jump the toilet barrier in Poland which we all had a laugh about.
The BBQ was an absolute triumph and Captain Caveman snaffled down far more than his fair share of the burgers. It was really good to have another family meal and my stomach was fine all day and night!
Tomorrow would be our last day as we were heading back to Manchester, I felt like the weekend had gone far too fast and we hadn’t managed to fit as much in as we could have.

Gratitude List
1. A new top from Uniqlo
2. More family time in Brussels
3. A better stomach!

Brussels – 4th September

Friday 4th September was all about the Belgian Beer Festival in Brussels – one of the main reasons for our trip. Captain Caveman and I have been several times and we always enjoy it, this year Louisa was joining us too and she’d not been before. I woke up early and made sure I’d posted some social media content for the weekend and checked yesterday’s spending which was under budget by a lot, at less than £16. Captain Caveman’s brother, Simon, had invited us to join him for the blessing of the beer at the cathedral first, so we left around 9am and got the train in to town. Louisa was off to the Banksy museum so we arranged to meet her at noon to go for the infamous Lebanese kebabs. I had an unfortunate incident with a water bottle leaking in my bag as I’d not put the top on properly and my waterproof bag was now wet – my 2 phones and power bank got wet so I was a bit stressed incase I’d ruined them. Luckily, they were ok!

The blessing of the beer is a lengthy and historic process but still interesting to witness. It finished around 11.45am and we joined the procession to the Grand Place. Captain Caveman and I headed off to meet Louisa at the building with the golden horse on top. We were the first people in L’Express, the Lebanese kebab place, as it opens at noon. Captain Caveman and I come to this place whenever we are in Brussels as it’s one of our favourite places. I don’t recall what Captain Caveman ordered as he snaffled it that quickly I didn’t see but his was cheaper than mine at £6.90 (including a beer), my chicken kebab came to £10.77 with a beer. I enjoyed it and it wasn’t too garlicky and not too much sauce and grease.

The beer festival opened at 3pm for VIP guests so we took some time to browse some shops first. Captain Caveman and I never go shopping but given that Louisa was with us we thought she might like a walk round. Captain Caveman was in pain and struggling to walk so we didn’t go too far. Usually we would sit drinking beer and eating cheese with sticks in a bar like Poechenellekelder, but instead we walked past it and showed Louisa the Manneken Pis. I bought us a pen each for work. We also went in Trucafrip, a cool vintage shop, where Captain Caveman saw a football shirt he liked but didn’t try it on and said he’d come back another time.
Captain Caveman’s gout was really playing up so he had to buy some voltarol gel and put it on in the street before we went to meet Simon and his colleagues at the beer festival.

By 3.15pm we were in the beer festival drinking our first beer of the day. Less than half an hour later it started to rain. As the rain eased off Captain Caveman’s sister-in-law, Anna, joined us having had to bribe the older boys to babysit. We had a really fun time and I loved trying lots of different beers. At the end of the night we tried a breathalyser machine where it tells you how over the limit you are. It was no surprise that Simon, Anna, Captain Caveman and I were all quite inebriated while Louisa passed the test as she’d only had a couple of fruit beers and one of the coconut beers which comes in a coconut shell. My new favourite of the ones I had was the rosé beer at Brasserie Lefebvre.
It was around 8pm and we were hungry again, I’d got Fin de Siecle on my list of places to go as they do the most amazing pork knuckle. Anna told us a story about a visit there where one of the kids was sick so it didn’t get chosen and we headed back (you guessed it) to the Lebanese kebab place for another kebab. It was very nice (again) and of course a lot cheaper than going out for a ‘proper dinner’. While there, Anna mentioned that they were thinking of having a family BBQ tomorrow as well as watching the eldest son play rugby in his debut game and all 3 of us were invited.

Captain Caveman was struggling a bit to walk so instead of us all walking Louisa back to her hotel, as I thought we were going to, we said bye at the Grand Place. I felt bad as she had to walk back on her own and she’s not used to the city of Brussels. It was only 800m so it wasn’t far enough to get a taxi, which was one of the reasons we chose to stay there before. We had to walk in the opposite direction to the train station and Louisa made it back to her hotel safely, before we’d even got on our train just after 9pm.

When we got off the train in Uccle we still had the hill to face but Simon decided to do a race with Captain Caveman with us 3 taking a short cut up a steeper but shorter hill. I nearly keeled over at the top and Captain Caveman still won – even if he was limping quite badly!
It had been a lovely day and night and I’d really enjoyed seeing Captain Caveman’s family again. The total spend for today had been less than £45 which was pretty reasonable.

Gratitude List

1. The Belgian Beer Festival with family and Louisa
2. Kebabs at L’Express (twice)!
3. Lots of beer and laughs.

Katowice to Brussels – 3rd September

The alarm went off far too early on Thursday 3rd September and I’d had hardly any sleep. Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and I had spent so much time in the bathroom that I’d started seeing faces in the wall and floor tiles.
Our bus to the airport was at about 7am so there was no time for faffing about even though I did have to do a little repack. Our flight wasn’t until 9.55am and we were flying with Ryanair to Charleroi airport in Brussels, ready for the beer festival weekend.
My stomach was still very dodgy and it was evident it was due to chillies, without going in to more detail! We walked to the bus station, all the way I was clenching, sweating and hoping my imodium breakfast would save me. It didn’t and when I got to the bus station I gave my bank card to Captain Caveman to buy the bus tickets while I went off to find the toilets. They were in the train station and they charged to enter but I didn’t have any money or my bank card. I had to jump the barrier and rush in before the need to unpack spare pants became necessary. I was in pain and sweating so took my hoody off, which helped me dodge security on the way back out.
The bus from Katowice to the airport cost just over £2 each and seemed a lot longer than it probably was. I was just relieved I didn’t shit myself on the bus or walking to departures. At the airport Captain Caveman was struggling to walk so I went to get him something to eat with what cash he had left and had to try not to puke at the egg sandwich which cost a whopping £6.60 – I even moved out of the way while he ate it.
Louisa had booked priority boarding so she was in the queue before us and they were checking every single bag so I put most of my stuff in Captain Caveman’s cabin bag just in case they thought mine was too heavy. I wasn’t checked as I went through to the boarding section last and they had already stopped checking by then.
I was assigned a middle seat in row 7 but there were spare seats so I moved to the aisle. Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back and Louisa was nearer the front in a window seat too. There was a small child with a harmonica which he played badly throughout the flight and even noise cancelling headphones could not dim the sound of it. I used the toilet several times and was actually starting to feel a bit better by the time we landed.
On my list of things to do in Brussels I had written on my planner to revisit The Spiders Web restaurant which has the best potato croquettes and steak sandwich. Unfortunately, we didn’t go as Captain Caveman’s foot was hurting and we needed to go somewhere near to the train station instead. I found a nicely reviewed restaurant called Brasserie Hop & Go but, knowing I had to get to Captain Caveman’s family, where we were staying, I decided to order safely.
Captain Caveman ordered a pint of Hoegaarden and a Croque Madame for €20.80, I just had a portion of chips and a camomile tea for €8.20 and Louisa ordered a ham and mushroom pizza with a coke for €18.40. While everyone enjoyed their food, I thought it was pricey at around £40 for the 3 of us as we were used to Poland prices.
It was nearing 2.30pm so we decided to head off to our respective accommodations. We had recommended Louisa stay at an old favourite hotel that we’ve stayed at on previous visits. The Citidines St Catherine hotel is right in the heart of Brussels, walking distance to the Grand Place and one of the more budget friendly options, considering how busy the beer festival weekend gets. Captain Caveman and I had been lucky enough to have been invited to stay with his brother and family. The youngest boy was giving up his bedroom for us and we really appreciated it, plus we hadn’t seen them all for 9 months so we were looking forward to seeing them. We said farewell to Louisa with plans to message later to arrange tomorrow’s plans once I knew them. At the train station, I needed the loo again so I left Captain Caveman looking at watches – this time I took coins and it was 30 cents!
When I got back, Captain Caveman had treated himself to a G Shock watch which was very nice and a bit of a bargain.
We took the train from Brussels Midi to Uccle for less than £5 for the 2 of us and then we had a steep walk up the big hill to Simon & Anna’s house. Captain Caveman was struggling to walk and in a lot of pain while I moaned on that we were turning up empty handed as Captain Caveman had not stopped to pick up any treats or a bottle of wine. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk what would normally be much quicker, but we did have our bags too.
I caught up with the family while Captain Caveman tried to get his new watch working and then I went up to the room to check my emails and pop on my out of office for the weekend.
That evening we had a lovely family dinner and I even managed a glass of wine. My stomach was fine and I enjoyed having home cooked food for a nice change.

Gratitude List
1. Not shitting my pants
2. Staying with Captain Caveman’s family
3. Starting to feel better again.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Captain Caveman.

Belgium to Holland – 7th September

There were previous plans made for the 7th September which we had to move or cancel. We were meant to be meeting a Dutch Dalyan friend, on our way from Belgium to Holland, for lunch but we couldn’t get the bus until the afternoon. We were meant to be seeing Ingrid but she had a funeral to attend and we moved our meeting to tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sausage Dick was going to be arriving in Dalyan later with some sausages (obviously) and Malt Loaf. He would be staying in a hotel so I’d arranged for Kate to meet with Sausage Dick to collect his delivery, give him his tobacco and sort the money out.
As we had a free morning before we had to leave Belgium we decided to take a train to Knokke, a posh seaside town. We were a bit woolly headed after last night’s shenanigans so we bought croissants at the shop on our way to the train. Captain Caveman fell asleep on the way to Knokke but by 10.15am we were walking past the Castle Huts. By 10.30am we were walking down the busy high street, then just 6 minutes later we were at the sea front eating our breakfast looking out to sea. We decided to walk the length of the promenade and it was quite a distance.

The beach was very quiet and had lots of fancy beach clubs along the way. We saw a good sign that would be useful in Dalyan, fining people for wearing swimmers when not on the beach. It took us just over an hour to walk it to the end then we came back, all the benches were wet so we couldn’t have a sit down until we got back to where we started. It was the longest I’d walked for, since before my injury and my legs ached.

Captain Caveman had got the idea that he would like to try the lobster rolls in Knokke so, after stopping for a dance with a bear then a beer in a sea front bar, we arrived at Lobster ‘n’ Rolls at 1pm. We debated ordering the Summer Lunch menu which looked great but settled on beers and a lobster roll each, truffle crisps and chips to share. Because I hate mayonnaise and can’t eat chillies, I had to ask for mine without sauce which was lovely but after only eating half we realised the time. We had to get back to the train station to catch the 2pm train. It was lucky we didn’t have the set lunch as I had to take half of my roll with me and I didn’t finish my beer. We couldn’t miss this train because we would only just have time to collect our bags from the hotel and get the bus, which we were booked on, to Rotterdam in Holland.

We had to hurry back to Knokke train station and we only just made the 2pm train, the last one to get us back to Bruges in time to collect our bags and get to the bus station.
By 3.40pm we were sat waiting for the Flixbus from Bruges to Rotterdam, this time we had reserved the front seats for the 3 hour journey. Captain Caveman kindly snaffled my remaining lobster roll so that I didn’t have a bad stomach for the journey.
When we arrived we went straight to Punjabi Food Stadhuisplein for a dinner which was really tasty, if not a bit on the spicy side for Holland. I had the butter chicken which came with loads of rice and a nan bread, Captain Caveman had a mixture of food on his tray. The homemade lemonade was good and the food was very tasty, I’d definitely recommend the place.
Our next mission was to get to our hotel, we got a €4 ov-chipkaart which can be used on public transport for up to 2 hours. We got a train to the nearest station and then had to wait 30 minutes for a bus. It was cold so Captain Caveman had to get me an extra top out. We had booked a double room at the Ibis Rotterdam The Hague airport hotel but when we arrived at almost 10.30pm they had no record of our booking. The girl on the reception eventually found it but, unfortunately, only had 1 room available which had single beds. She told us that we could have the beds moved together, that the booking included breakfast and we got the lift to our room on the 4th floor.
When we walked in to the room the single bed lay out was not for moving so we had to sleep in separate beds.

Bruges – 6th September

Tuesday 6th September was a rather eventful day. We woke up to disturbing news from a neighbour in Dalyan that our apartment block had a leaking roof. I was asked if I knew of anyone who could come and quote for the work because 2 contractors had not shown up. I got in touch with Leanne at King Emlak and asked her to send someone round. I also checked what the weather was like back in Dalyan because it seemed odd that it would be raining so much to make a roof leak in summer.
The next thing to cause concern was that there was a train strike due for this coming Friday. We were due to travel from Belgium to Holland by train to see my friend, Ingrid, so we immediately booked a bus instead when she let us know about the strike.
Captain Caveman went to the shops and came back with a pain au chocolat for me which was delicious, still not as good as Charli’s but better than at Maro.
After a busy morning we went for a walk in to town and Captain Caveman promised me a bit of a pub crawl. I could actually feel the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of me as he filled me with hope that the next stop would be for a snack or a beverage. Our pub crawl did not start well and, when questioned, Captain Caveman had to admit that he had thought the church coffee morning would turn out to be a bar, not an opportunity to sit down and chat about life’s problems.

I was getting a bit crotchety after over an hour of walking but then we happened upon a pub. We sat outside De Belleman, which was busy with diners and we had a nice Tongerlo beer each. We did some more walking along the canals and beside windmills until the next pub. At De Windmolen pub we had Hoegaarden Rosé and Bruges Zot beers with some cheese. There was no need for the cheese to have celery salt on but we managed to eat it anyway. We sat out in the sun and we really enjoyed this pub.
By 5pm we were in our 3rd pub, In De Reisduif, so the crawl was going pretty well. In this pub the Hoegaarden was only €2.80 (£2.44) so we had a couple in there while admiring the eclectic decor of this old man style boozer. Our last stop was more of an upmarket bar, the T’Molenhuis, not far from where we had arranged to meet friends for dinner. We sat on the pavement on high stools drinking Bruges Zot, the cheapest 33cl beer they had at €5!

At 6.30pm we had arranged to meet friends, Jo & Ben, at Du Phare, a restaurant recommended by Jo. We knew her from meeting in Phong Nha several years ago and had met up with her the last time we were in Bruges at Ribs ‘n’ Beer. Knowing that I would be eating less pork in Turkey I went for the pork ribs again, along with Ben, Jo had fish and Captain Caveman had the Beef stew. The food was absolutely amazing, we loved the view of the canal and the company was excellent. As the night was drawing to a close it started to rain so we moved under cover where Jo and I ate a fantastic chocolate dessert. As the rain poured there was only one thing to do, order several rounds of limoncello.
It was still raining when Jo and Ben had to cycle home, we were meant to be walking but decided to call a taxi. We waited in the bar with more drinks and got chatting to a nice bar man. He even made me promise to bring my mom to visit!
The taxi back to our hotel was only €18 and well worth it in the rain and cold (for us). Tonight was our last night in Bruges as tomorrow we had more exciting things planned.

Bruges – 5th September

Monday 5th September found me checking my emails as soon as I woke up. The Ibis hotel had good WiFi and a small desk behind the bathroom sink. Of course, our first priority was getting breakfast so we went to Maro, in Bruges. I had pain au chocolat with tea and Captain Caveman had a croissant with an espresso. They were good but not quite as perfect as Charli’s in Brussels. We did get a morsel of carrot cake to try though and that was pretty good. A table next to us was having the champagne brunch which looked good.

Our next stop was the Launderette as we were running short on clean clothes, I’d not quite accounted for it being so much cooler and had mainly shorts and dresses with me. Captain Caveman changed some more money, bought a conditioning bar, for my hair, and an adapter plug for our friends who were coming to Dalyan in September.

We had a lunch time stop off at De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) where I had 2 beers, Captain Caveman had 3 beers and we shared a cheese plate and an assorted charcuterie plate. The total came to €44.50 (£40 approx) which seemed reasonable.
We walked back to the hotel, it was cloudy but fairly warm. The cleaners had been and done a full clean even though it didn’t really need it.

That night we were booked in to Ribs ‘n’ Beer, where we ate at the last time we were in Bruges. It rained so we both got wet walking there and this was the first time I felt cold. Captain Caveman and I both had the all you can eat ribs and it was fantastic. The ribs were €23 each which was great value and our total bill, including 5 beers came to €68 (£60 approx). Walking the 20 minutes home was chilly but the rain had eased off and we were so full from so much food.

Brussels to Bruges – 4th September

We’d had a good sleep and a nice lay in on Sunday 4th September. The weather was a lot cooler than we were used to but the sun was shining. After breakfast with Captain Caveman’s family, we went to a place called Wolvendael where there was an event on. Lots of school children, and their parents, from the area had set up stalls in the park. It was a bit like a huge jumble sale but nicer. We strolled around the park and we even got to push Felix in the pram. After spending some time at the playground, we sauntered back home for our last family lunch. The visit to see Simon, Anna, and the 3 children went so quickly but we had loved every minute of it. After saying our goodbyes, Simon walked with Captain Caveman and I to the train station.

Our next stay was in Bruges, the train was just €14.70 each and didn’t take very long. We sat upstairs on the train and when we arrived at Bruges station our hotel was very close. Captain Caveman had chosen to stay at the Ibis hotel, right next to the train station on account of us needing somewhere convenient for exploring and not too expensive.
When we arrived my first impressions were good, the hotel was basic but had everything we needed. We didn’t even unpack before we were walking to a place for dinner and beers.

It was about a 30 minute walk to Pizzeria Aguila, but it was worth it. We drank 2 Hoegaarden beers and 1 Jupiler beer each, shared a caprese salad and ordered a pizza each. Captain Caveman had read that it was the 7th best pizza restaurant in Bruges so I had to wonder how good the others could possibly be. The bill came to €73.30 which was just less than £65 so I didn’t think it was too bad for Bruges. I got a bit of a surprise in the toilet with a strange doll staring at me and we took half of my pizza back to the hotel.
In the hotel room we decided to open the bottle of Havana Club rum we had bought at duty free, we had it with a coke and the rest of the pizza.
The room was surprisingly comfy and cosy, which was lucky as we would be here for 3 nights.

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.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Brussels – 2nd September

Friday 2nd September was an important day! Not only was it Vietnamese Independence Day but it was also the start of the Belgian beer festival in Brussels.
We were awake before 7am and went to breakfast at Charli Boulangerie, where the baker is on show while you eat. I had the best pain au chocolat with a green tea, Captain Caveman had a double espresso and a plain croissant. The cost was a reasonable €10 and the place was quite busy. It was mesmerising to watch the baker, who was working very hard.

We were back at the hotel before 9am and then went to the farm shop close by to get something for the kitchen. We bought ham, goat cheese and a baguette, then couldn’t resist a second breakfast.
For lunch we met Simon and Anna, Captain Caveman’s brother and his wife. It had been a long time since we had seen them and it was great to catch up again. The restaurant they chose was called In’t Spinnekopke, which means The Spider’s Web in Flemish. I loved it there, the food was excellent and the waiter was impressive. Simon and I had the beef stew, Captain Caveman had sausage and Anna had fish. The meat eaters amongst us had our meal paired nicely with a Belgian dark beer which was surprisingly nice, so much so that we managed a second one.
It was still a working day so Anna and Simon had to get back but Captain Caveman and I took the afternoon to do a bit of shopping. We went to the Base phone shop and bought a SIM card which we would be able to use while in Europe, the man in the shop was very helpful and it cost €15, including a package for up to 30 days. We finished our shopping with a beer in the Delerium pub while we waited for Simon to finish work. Of course Captain Caveman had to take a photo of me next to the Jeanneke Pis, for good sightseeing measure!

Captain Caveman’s brother works in the brewing industry so he is involved in the Brussels beer festival. He had very kindly invited Captain Caveman and I to join him at the annual event. Unfortunately, Anna wasn’t able to join on account of her having the 3 children to look after. Captain Caveman went over to the Grand Place in Brussels to wait next to the Town Hall. Here we saw various important people coming out of the building and going in to the beer festival as the first guests. This included the Belgian Prime Minister who seemed very nice.

Videos of the VIPs coming from the building in to the Belgian Beer Festival

It will come as no surprise that we had several beers during the evening at the beer festival and I did my best to keep a note of them all – I’m sure some slipped through, though. My first one was a Kriek Boon as I do love a cherry beer and I was a little thirsty. We made our way round all of the beer stands enjoying our free beer samples and comparing notes. We liked the Van Den Bosch, Aparta and Martens – the cardamon flavoured beer was one of our favourites of the night and I thought it would be great with a curry. The Paranoia at Delirium had a great name but it wasn’t in my best beers. Floris was good, as usual and I was pleased to see that Huyghe had a Gluten Free beer which I had to try. If it hadn’t said that the Mongozo premium pilsner, served in a coconut shell, was gluten free I wouldn’t have guessed. It was light and easy to drink but I found the shell with bracelet style stand a bit tricky to hold and inadvertently put the ‘bracelet’ on then forgot to return it with the shell. Another top beer was the Paix Dieu at the Caulier bar, this also got extra points for the gorgeous glass. Stuut beer did cans that matched my dress but there was none available to try, the Super 8 had nibbles and a lovely glass too. By the time we were sampling Haacht, Kasteel, then De Dool my note taking was slightly fuzzy – not unlike my photos. If I recall correctly, we finished on Leopold 7 and thought it would be a great idea to get some food.

We’d met a few people along the way and one guy came with us to L’Express Kebab where we had Beirut or Heineken bottled lager. I’m no beer snob but it definitely wasn’t my favourite drink of the night! The kebab was a winner though, and definitely what I needed to help sober me up a bit before the walk back to the hotel.
Captain Caveman’s jetlag had certainly caught up with him as he was fast asleep on the bed, the wrong way round, by the time I had got undressed.

Dalyan to Belgium – 1st September

Our first European holiday together since before the pandemic started in the early hours of Thursday 1st September. Captain Caveman had fallen asleep on the sofa but I woke him up in time for our taxi to the airport. Fikri was on time and we were off to Dalaman at 1.45am, it was going to be a long day. When we arrived at Dalaman airport we were early and the check-in desk didn’t open until 2 hours before the flight instead of the 3 hours we were expecting. It took a lot of willpower not to fall asleep, stood up in the queue.
We checked in and were due to fly at 5.35am to Dusseldorf, the airport has no free drinking water which is a bit poor and we had to buy bottled water.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman for the airport ones

We both managed a little sleep on the plane but it was only for a couple of hours at the most.
We landed at 8.15am in Dusseldorf and were asked the purpose for our visit as we went through passport control. Captain Caveman was asked how long he planned on staying. I was surprised that Dusseldorf airport didn’t seem that clean to say we were in Germany. We got a train from the airport, €3 each, to Dusseldorf Central station then walked for about 10 minutes to the bus station. We found a cafe which seemed to have some dodgy dealing rough characters outside. We bought a big bottle of water, a double espresso (for Captain Caveman) and a sandwich each for €7.50. We weren’t staying in Germany, we had a Flixbus booked to Brussels in Belgium. We left around 1pm, the bus was great; comfy seats, free WiFi and only 3 hours.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman for a couple of these

When we got off in Brussels we found that we needed coins to get on the tram or metro, we didn’t have any so we walked. We were peckish so we went to a place called Wolf in the town centre. We shared dim sum and got ourselves a beer. The dim sum were €5.50 for 3 so it wasn’t super cheap but they were very nice and we had 6 between us. We also got a pulled pork Bao, €7.50 each and one more beer each. I thought the Wolf logo on the glasses looked more like a thirsty dog. We walked to our hotel around 4pm and checked in to a nice room with a kitchenette. The Citadines Sainte Catherine aparthotel was great and would be a good location for what we had planned in Brussels.
We decided to have a little lay down but fell asleep and missed dinner – we were very tired.