Goodbye Belgium. For now.

This weekend my parents moved home from Belgium. (I've written about Belgium a few times at this stage but if you want a recap you can do so here, here, here, here, here and here. I hope all of those links worked and that I put all the Belgian posts in because sometimes I'm a bit brutal at tagging my posts.) Anywaaaaaaay, yes, my parents moved home so I no longer have a place to escape to for free. Sad face :( My last trip to Belgium was in May and I kinda thought I was pretty much done with the place, that I had seen it all and I was time to go see some other places. But then my mam brought me home this:

A delicious bottle of Kriek. St. Louis Kriek, which is one of the better brands of fruit beers. One sip of this gorgeous beverage and I was instantly transported back to lazy days sipping beer in a cafe on the Grand Place. I was reminded of Christmas markets and strawberries dipped in chocolate and Belgian waffles and Antoines chips. And now I'm gutted I won't be able to go over whenever I want to.

In the photo you can also see in the background a little figurine of a girl. My mam got me that in the market in Place Balle de Jeu....Jeu de Balle..I can't spell it. Anyway, this market is brilliant. Not like the fucking shitty markets you get in Ireland, five pairs of knickers for a euro or something. No, this market is infinitely cooler and is basically made up of bric a brac and you can buy anything. ANYTHING. Ever wondered what happens to the clothes you throw in the clothes bank? They probably end up here. Ever wondered where your stolen mobile phone ended up? Probably here. Feel like playing a GameBoy from 1992? You can probably pick one up here. You name it you can probably buy it. Broke one of your mother's crystal wine glasses? You could probably find a replacement here. But it doesn't just sell stuff that looks like it was robbed, it also has loads of old antiques and ornaments and pictures and silverware and all manner of other cool stuff. You could buy a bed. Or a power cable for your laptop. Or old records. Or old postcards and photos. I came across a set of porcelain boxes with black and white pictures of naked women on them, they looked like they were form the 20s or something and I was gonna buy them because of their kitschy irony but then I chickened out in case people thought it was a bit wierd. Which I guess they were but still, could have got me on Antiques Roadshow. I could be famous by now. Except I'm a chicken.

My little figurine is, I think, from a collection of souvenirs from Normandy from the olden days. Cool right?! Olden days stuff is way cool. WAY COOL, man. Unfortunately, I never actually bought anything there myself because I was so overwhelmed with choice that my brain simply could not choose. Plus, I was slightly intimidated by the Romas who ran it and also, I was with my boyf every time and sometimes boys do not appreciate or understand the need to purchase boxes with pictures of old fashioned naked ladies on them. I only wish I had found this place sooner. I only discovered it when I was there in September, doing my comic murals walk I came across it. I could have acummulated four years worth of second hand knick knacks.

If anyone of you is thinking of going on a city break I cannot recommend Brussels more. Brussels has a rep of being the most boring city in Europe but boring is the wrong word. Relaxed is the word you're looking for. Extremely relaxed. You may have to beg to get served dinner. But it'd be a damn good dinner. There's plenty of cool stuff to go and see like the Atomium and you can get a train to Bruges or Ostend or Ghent for the day. You can eat waffles and beef stew and chicken stew and rabbit stew if you fancy. You also have to go to this market, if you love antiquey things or quirky things this is the place to go. It's in an area with loads of antique shops too so you can have a look in them if you fancy. Word of warning though, Belgian customer service is brutal. BRUTAL. It's pretty much non-existent, the extreme end of their laid back relaxed personalities I'm afraid. I came across a shop full of cat things. Literally an entire shop made up of things shaped like cats. OF COURSE I had to look. So I looked in the window and then I went inside to have a peek and the woman in the shop was all "How can I help?" and I'm all "Oh I just want to have a look around" and she's all "Are you looking for anything in particular?" and I'm like "Well no, I just want to see if I see something" and she's all "Well look in the window then" and kicked me out! Not impressed. I dunno how they stay in business. Anyhoo, Ireland is in desperate need of a cool funky market like this where, crucially, everything doesn't cost an arm and a leg but is still an excellent item. God, Ireland is so expensive. It's really pissing me off right now. But alas I'm stuck here for the time being with no coold markets or fruit beers or waffles. Woe is me.