A Day of….Cycle, Train, Walk, Bus, Bus, Train, Cycle..oh, and of course plenty of beer.
Wanting to see Brussels but not wanting to move to a closer campsite and travel in from there, we decided to stay camped in Ghent for an extra day and do a day trip to the city. Trains for Brussels departed every 15 minutes from Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station, which was only about 10 minutes by bike from our campsite. We bought the tickets the previous day and on Wednesday morning we cycled to the station, locked the bikes and caught the next train. We were in the big city by 11 o’clock and after a swift look around the Cathedral we boarded the Brussels city sight-seeing bus. We probably spent around 2 hours on the two bus tours, one taking us through Northern Brussels via the European Parliament and Commission building complexes, the other taking us out to Atomium, the Royal Palace and the Basilica.
We found old Brussels by ourselves after the bus tours had finished, and marvelled at the old buildings in the Grand Place. One attraction we were keen to see for ourselves was the famous Manneken Pis statue. We walked miles in the scorching heat looking for it, but we knew it would be worth the effort. Eventually we found it. Err, no, this statue was a real disappointment. It is a stumpy 2ft tall at the most, and certainly not worth the walk. Oh well……
