Another Brush with Her Majesty, the Queen

The Queen makes a procession to Parliament after elections to reopen the new session of Parliament.









My friend Jeff told me the time of the procession, so I made a point of lining the blvd, and I got to see the short parade and the carriage carrying the queen to parliament.






It is tradition that a member of Parliament is held hostage at Buckingham Palace while the Queen makes her opening speech to Parliament to assure her safety.

Having 2 inches of bulletproof glass on her carriage doesn't hurt either. . .

Windsor and the Queen

The last weekend the Jessi, Justin, and Baby Jules were in town, we took the train out to Windsor to see the Queen at Windsor Castle. The flag was flying, so she was in residence at the time of our visit. With the number of people that visit during the summer, I bet she takes off to escape them. I certainly would. . .




Windsor Castle is mostly what you would imagine a castle would look like. It has lots of beautiful stone turrets. surrounding several central courtyards. There is even a McDonalds, Pizza Hut and a Starbucks just outside the gates in case Her Highness wants to order out.


I was disappointed that there weren't any Queen Elizabeth impersonators walking around out front like you see in Hollywood. As a side note, we saw a poster that the official David Beckham impersonator was going to be making an appearance at some mall. It would have been great to get a photo with the queen (even if it is a fake one). I guess I just had to be amused with the bronze statue of Queen Victoria.






It turns out that the royals like dogs. They had a whole yard especially for their pugs, so they must be okay. At first I thought I wasn't understanding the sign, but as I listened to the audio guide, it actually is exactly what it says. . .





The palace is very impressive. We visited the main hall where visiting dignitaries would be brought in for state functions.








It would be an impressive place to dine. We also visited the room where the Queen knights people. Recently Sir Patrick Stewart had been knighted. It's exciting to think that the Captain of the Enterprise is a knight.



We managed just before closing to get to St. George's Cathedral at Windsor Castle to see where Henry VIII is buried.








Exhausted, we made our way back down the hill from the castle to the train station. It was a beautiful day. It's nice when the weather cooperates in England.

Brussels Bike Tour

Tony and I started a tradition when we went to Germany. We take the city bike tours whenever possible. We took them in Munich and Berlin, so it seemed natural to take one in Brussels.

The nice thing about taking a bike tour is that it allows you to get between sights quickly, but it also allows you to linger a little more than if you were on a tour bus.

Jessi and Justin had arranged to have a baby seat connected to one of their bikes of little baby Jules could ride along with us. He looked very cute riding along in it, and he was terrific. He didn't cry the whole way. I think he slept through most of it.

We met in the main square in front of town hall. From there we picked up our bikes and rode through the city.

We rode past the capitol and then the palace where the Belgium King still presides. It turns out there was some political upheaval at the moment in that the non-king brother was going to be removed from receiving any allowance. Tough break being number 2.



The capitol and the palace face each other. One might see this as the classic opposition of a parliamentary government and a royalty based government.

The weather cooperated, and it was warm and comfortable for almost the entire 5 hour tour. They gave us these great yellow safety vests to wear.

About halfway through the tour, we stopped at a place known for having the best Frites in town. They fry them in real LARD. All I can say is that they were some of the best fries I've ever had. The Belgians pride themselves on having invented the fries (not the French). We got them with two different types of dipping sauce. We got a Garlic Aioli Mayonaise and another mayonaisse mixed with Herbs de Provence. Both were very, very tasty. And just in case you were wondering, a good Belgian Biere goes great with Frites.

After our break, we rode past the European Union Trade Center. It is an amazing building with lots of metal, stone, and glass. It also has some very Art Deco (borderline soviet) sculpture in front of it.

Belgium Biere Making

No visit to Belgium would be complete without visiting a real Belgium Brewery. We went to where naturally fermented Lambic style biere made.

They make biere from November through April, and it uses the naturally occuing yeasts in the area to ferment the biere.

They basically boil the barley and hops and then pump the liquid up to an open air tank where the random yeast particles land on the biere and begin the fermentation process.

After a while, the biere is then pumped into wood casks where the biere ages for 2 years before it is bottled.

Lambic Biere is a SOUR biere. Actually, it is quite nasty. It has a very lemony/Citrus flavor. We tried a "Kriek" which is where they take the Lambic biere and add Sour Cherries to it. It tasted of cherries, but it was still very sour. Tony hated it. As a foodie, I appreciated the experience of trying it, but I left the brewery without buying any to take home with me. . .