The Manneken Pis

The emblem of Brussels is of course the Menneken Pis. We got the opportunity to see it on 2 different days, so we got to see it clothed and unclothed. Peeing both times of course. Sadly, we weren't there when it was peeing biere, which we understand he does a couple times a year.

For all the hype, he is surprisingly small. Evidently this is also not the original Manneken Pis. There have been a couple over the past several hundred years. The current statue is made of Bronze.

Tony and I went to the museum where they keep his over 700 outfits. There is a special organization that rotates his different outfits daily, and sometimes twice daily.

Gourmet Delights

Brussels is known for quite a few gourmet delights. Biere, Frites, Mussels, Speculoos, Chocolate, and of course Waffles. Tony is particularly fond of Liege-style Wafels. We saw a cart selling Escargots, but we couldn't bring ourselves to try them on this outing.






Liege wafels are a denser waffle made out of Brioche dough that is then baked in a wafel maker. They are covered with a light carmelized sugar coating as the baking pan is sprinkled with sugar before making the wafel.




We had wafels many ways that weekend. We tried them with Australian Ice Cream on top, as well as the Speculoos (spice cookie) flavored Ice Cream.

The Belgians really do do wafels well. We ate a lot of them.

You can't think of Belgium without thinking of Chocolates. Some of the most famous chocolates in the world come from Belgium. Leonidas and Godiva are two of the world's most famous brands.

And they all look so pretty behind the glass jewelry cases looking like precious gems. There are so many chocolate shops all selling bars and pralines. We started a mission to head to as many of the different shops to try their chocolates.

Tony and I also went to a Belgian Biere lovers dream come true, "Delierium". They have over 2000 beires, and they will match you to a biere based on your preferences, and the parameters you give them.







I requested a brown trappist biere that would have a moderate 7% alcohol limit. Their answer was a Gouden Carolus. I ordered Tony a blond biere somewhat along the lines of Double or Trippel. Their solution was a Watkap-Pater Trippel. Both were excellent examples of quality Belgian Biere.

As far a Mussles go, we made a special trip to a small seafood restaurant that was off the beaten tourist path to eat Mussels with the locals. It was a pleasant outdoor restaurant next to a quiet reflection pond with a large beautiful fountain.




















We had a light dinner of Mussels, Lobster Bisque, and Frites. It made for a very pleasant evening.

The Beauty of Brussels

Brussels is a very beautiful city. It has an inexpensive subway system that for the most part appears to work on the honor system. When we arrived, we purchased a 3 day pass for 9 euro (much less than what it would cost in London).

The downtown town center is alive with festivals and art and the main square is magnificent, containing buildings dating back to the 1600s and earlier.

Many of the buildings are guild halls built by the different trade families to show off their wealth and skill.

One hall was built by the bread makers, one by the biere brewers, and right next door was the pub where Karl Marx wrote his communist manifesto. The city is ripe with detail and nostalgia.

Nearby is the first covered shopping mall. It is a stunning glass roofed walkway lined with chocolate stores and high end boutiques. It reminded me a little of the covered arcade built in Milan, but without the McDonalds.

Brussels: The Chunnel

Tony's friends, Justin and Jessie and their little baby, Jules, came to stay with us in London for a week - our first official houseguests.

They wanted to go someplace really exciting, and convinced us to hop on the bus, head to St Pancras station, and take the Eurostar to Brussels.



My dear friend Negin volunteered to watch the dogs for us - Thanks Negin.

It was a very pleasant ride on the high speed train as we headed down to dover and then under the English Channel to emerge in France in Calais. You are only in the actual chunnel for about 20 minutes.

On the train, we got a coffee in the dining car. They also served us my favorite cookie, a spice cookie that I'd first had on Delta Airlines and of which I had become a huge fan.








Turns out they are a classic Belgian cookie called Speculoos. I'm looking forward to tracking them down in Brussels, along with Mussels, Frites, Waffles, and of course some terrific Belgian Biere to wash it all down. Jules discovered that he really loves Speculoos too, and promptly got them smeared all over his face eating them.

Upon our arrival in Brussels, we bought a weekend Subway pass, and took off trying to find our hotel. We came across a Waffle truck and Tony quickly ordered one of his treasured Liege style Belgian Waffles.






Thanks to the navigational power of the iPhone, we finally corrected our path and made our way to the hotel, and lunch, where we indulged in Belgian Frites and Biere. UMM.

Spring has arrived!

Spring has finally arrived in full force in London and the Cherry Trees are blooming like crazy. They almost look like fireworks exploding against the sky they are so vibrant in color. And color is so welcome after a gray long winter.








As they shed their seemingly endless supply of flowers, they create this amazing pink snow all over everything.





















As beautiful as it is, I'm sure the car owners are probably not thrilled by it.

A touring company of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang came to town for 3 weeks at the New Wimbledon Theater. As a huge fan of the movie when I was a kid, I was anxious to see how it would work on stage.

Tony and I bought tickets with our friend Lyn, and we took the tube down to Wimbledon to see the show. It was a blast. What a great show. I was really impressed with the mechanics of the car, and the flying scenes were very well done. I highly recommend it!

Now all I need is for Mary Poppins to come back to town. . .

Barista Training

At work, there is a Coffee Club I joined. We all chipped in 25 lbs to buy a proper espresso machine. We still have to buy our own coffee to use in the machine, but it is a good semi-professional machine. All of us are learning how to make better coffee, and how to best froth the milk to make a good Latte. However we still have a lot to learn before we can call ourselves experts.


I convinced Tony to take a Barista training class with me at BaristaBarBar to learn how to make a better cup of Espresso. It was offered down in Shoreditch, and so we walked down to this very urban section of London, and attended the class with a couple other members of the coffee club.




We learned a lot about what we are doing wrong. We also learned that we hadn't been cleaning the machine properly, and that we were lucky that no one had gotten sick or died. . . Ooops.



Anyway, I think the class was a good experience, as my espresso extraction, and my milk frothing has much improved this last week. The next stop will be to take a Latte Art Class to learn how to make clovers and leaves when pouring the frothed milk into the cup.

Bentley and Pepper Update

People often ask me how the dogs are doing here in London. They are adapting to life in the big city just fine. As the weather is getting better, they are loving the parks with all the squirrels.





The Beagle in Bentley wires him to hunt squirrels. I'm not sure what he'd do with one if he caught one, but he loves chasing them up trees. One day one fell out of the tree and almost landed on Bentley. An exciting chase up another tree ensued.




Pepper loves lounging in the grass chewing bark, but she'll help Bentley to chase squirrels too. It's fun to see her little legs move when she runs. She just went to the vet, and she has to go on a diet as the vet says that she is overweight. The vet offers a clinic for overweight dogs - "Weightwatchers" for dogs!




The early sunrises are making it difficult to keep the dogs in bed until the parks are open.









It is sad when the weather is rainy as the dogs will sit by the windows and stair outside longingly.





The London Tube system is dog friendly, so they have gotten used to riding it around town.




The only difficult part of riding the tube with the dogs is carrying them down the escalators where it is required. I guess they are afraid that the dogs paws might get stuck in the escalator treads. Ouch!

It's very cute to watch the dogs with for the Tube Car, and then when it is time to get on to see them hop in like they've been doing it their whole life. Only in a few instances have I been concerned for them getting stepped on.



Once on the tube car, the dogs are as well behaved as you would expect. They either sit between our legs, or lay down on the floor. People's faces light up when they see them on the tube.




The dogs are loving having Tony around so much, and they have enjoyed going on adventures when the weather is good. So far they've gone for a long walk in Hampstead Heath, and they've gone down to Clapham Common for a lazy picnic in the park. I can't wait to take them on a country walk.

I've taken them to a pub, and they were so well behaved. We'd always discouraged them from begging at the table, but will occasionally give them a few nibbles from the table. Pepper sat right at my feet under the table at the pub. Every time I'd look down at her, she gave me her big puppy dog eyes. I gave them each a bite of my steak.



The dogs have perfected lounging to a fine art. In the evenings, they are very mellow slug dogs, and still love to snuggle on the couch. Pepper will recline on top of Tony's chest. Come 9pm, they are ready for bed, and if left to their own devices, they will walk to the bedroom, and lay down on their beds for the night.

Next step: The dogs are going for their Pet Passports, so they will be able to go to the mainland in the future.