To Luxembourg

As we drove through the calm and peaceful countryside in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, we were getting very curious about this little country. I remember reading it was the richest country in Europe but it was hard to believe when everywhere around us was green pastures and cute cottages. As soon as we reached the city though it became apparent, as the banks started sprouting everywhere. 

We met first Luxembourg city evil twin: the modern district of Kirchberg, the huge financial centre and home of the European Investment Bank, the European Court of Justice and other important headquarters (such as Skype). If banking doesn't blow your skirt, pass right through it and go straight to the good stuff by crossing the Pont Grande Duchesse Charlotte.

Once we reached the station, we looked for our hotel and this time we got lucky: the the hotel and room were gorgeous, and it costed just as much as the hotel in Cologne... I'm not sure we had a good deal here or a very bad one in Germany, but I was really sorry to leave after only one night. You know how some people say: I don't care about a nice hotel, I just care about the place? I disagree. I care. My statement would be: I can't care about a nice hotel, because I can't afford it. So bless booking.com and the beautiful hotel in Luxembourg! Yay! 

The most picturesque parts of the city, as it happens very often, is the Old Town. In Luxembourg City the old town includes the remnants of the fortress and the riverside, is built on a sandstone hill riddled with underground fortifications excavated in the 18th century for its defence.

It has an upper and a lower level - you can either walk it or take the lift. We walked the steepish cobblestone way down, had a beer in the lower part and then took a lift to the upper part. We had our beer in a little bar that we chose because the nice bar lady was playing Rodriguez, which we did not expect.

In the evening we hanged around the Place D'Armes and had dinner there, we had an early night because i wanted to get as much sleep as possible in the big fat beautiful bed and have a long shower in the big fat beautiful shower with water coming from whichever direction I chose (Yeah. Whichever.)

So this was all, we were off the following morning. We were well rested and filled out tanks with cheap diesel. We didn't have an exciting time, but we liked it and we left happy.

To Cologne

When we arrived in Cologne, we were a bit surprised as we weren't expecting the city to be so modern. If we just would have researched it a bit more, we would have known that most of the city was majorly bombed during WW2, so much so that 72% of the city was completely destroyed. It was in fact the target of the 'Operation Millennium', in which Cologne was bombed in 262  separate air raids. That's a hell of a lot of bombing. Most of the city was rebuild anew after the war, and the few historical landmarks that were left standing have been preserved, the old town painstakingly rebuilt.

The only building that was virtually unaffected was the Cathedral. The big stained glass windows were dismounted at the beginning of the war and hidden for safekeeping, so the one that are now displayed are the original. The fact that the cathedral wasn't destroyed unfortunately was far from being a miracle: it was simply left standing because it was so clearly visible from the sky that made Cologne easier to target. The Cathedral is now the most beloved building by the locals, the biggest landmark of the city and it's easily reached from any direction in Cologne.

This postbox is located near the cathedral :)

The first impression of the city and its inhabitants wasn't the most pleasant. Maybe it was the bad weather, maybe it was the horrible tiny hotel room on the third floor (with no lift), or maybe it was the nastiest hotel owner I ever came across. We quickly got used to the fact that in Cologne people don't smile unless they want to, and certainly not because they are supposed to. Their methodical nature reflects in their language -  for example, at the question 'Could you tell me time?' their reply would be 'Yes I can'. They are not being cold, they are being logical. In general, I wouldn't go as far as to say that they are rude, though they definitely aren't friendly. Maybe they act more like cats than like dogs. Dogs will always act as though they are pleased to see you, and cats simply won't unless they know you. Joey and I are southern Europeans, so we are definitely used to a more gregarious environment, and also living in the UK probably spoiled with 'politeness', so that we had a tiny culture shock :) 

Horrible Hotel Owner

On our first day in Cologne, after going out for a quick dinner we spent the rest of the evening at the hotel. The weather was awful and we didn't have any internet reception as the 'free wifi' only worked around the reception area at the ground floor. To cheer ourselves up we watched 'Ilsa, the she wolf of the SS' - I know, I know... but we loved it and it definitely cheered us up.

The following day, both the weather and our mood were much better. It was also the day off of the hotel owner. Norman Bates knows nothing on terrifying his guests. We strolled along the Rhine, visited St. Martin Church and the old city, which is here you find the trendiest bars and restaurants and the cutest corners. The old breweries definitely deserve a visit. In the midst of the old town, it is possible to find a lot of free wifi spots, and trust me they do come very handy. 

The old city colourful houses

Brauhaus Sünner im Walfisch

Tünnes and Schäl represent the typical original inhabitants of Cologne: Tünnes is the farmer and Tünnes is the bourgeois

Cologne is of course, the birthplace of Eau De Cologne, which was invented by Giovanni Maria Farina, an Italian immigrant, in the 18th century. He wanted to recreate a perfume that would remind him of his birthplace. Today, the Farina family still produces the original Eau De Cologne and their shop in Cologne is the oldest perfume factory in the world.

The Farina Shop

The Carnival Fountain

The food in Cologne was good, maybe a bit pork heavy. The portions are huge, you really get good value for money. I usually have my reservations on pork, however when one portion can easily be divided in two and it fills you up for forever I can see it has some advantages. It is not what you want to eat if you are watching your weight or be generally healthy, and you won't feel like you have fully digested your food for days after a meal, but it's economical. The beer is also amazing (and cheaper than water!).

Pork fest @ Brauhaus Sion, opened the 1318 which makes it the oldest restaurant in Cologne - worth a trip

Pfifferlinge Mushroom Soup - because after two day of pork you need it!

Overall it was a pleasant city, though we would have rather spent more time in Brussels as we could easily have done Cologne in a day (of course without visiting museum etc). We are glad we saw it, but we don't think we will be visiting a second time in the near future.

To Brussels

Once we reached Calais we drove down to Brussels. We struggled a bit to find our way, thanks to the gps and the restricted car area. I am only mentioning this in case you have had a similar experience: you are not alone. The GPS, so useful for the past hours becomes as unreliable as a badly drunk flatmate. The struggle is real.

Brussels is lovely, even if the weather when we were there was a bit indecisive. It is relatively small compared to other cities, and maybe that's why some people find it a bit dull. For a short visit like ours though, it was just perfect. I much rather spend the weekend in a very interesting city packed with things than in a larger one where you have to waste precious time moving from one landmark to the other. 

We loved the architecture, from art nouveau style of the buildings, to the flemish town houses and all the little cute shops. It's definitely a very artistic city, and is also considered the European capital of the comic strip (the most loved one has to be Tintin). It's nice to see the city displaying here and there little artistic touches filled with sense of humour.

The smallest house in Brussels

Restaurant Goupil le Fol, not sure of what they had on the menu but I loved the foxes in the display and Edith Piaf blasting out of the place

Manneken Pis VS Manneken Peace

Tintin Boutique :)

The part that we enjoyed the most is the Grand Place, which may sound a bit obvious but after all, it is beautiful. My favourite building is the Brussel Town Hall as it comes with a spooky legend: it was built in the early 15th century by van Thienen, and it's majorly off-centered. If you are a little obsessed with things like that like I am, the building will make you cringe. The legend goes that once the architect found out about this error, he threw himself from the tower of the building.

La maison the Joseph et Anna - cute coincidence :) 

Brussels Town Hall (front): it is really hard to take a clear picture of the front, this is the best I could manage at that time. The off centered door is however very visible, despite peeps & birds. 

Wes Anderson fans won't be too pleased!

People in Brussels are really friendly, the waiters are happy to have a little chit chat even if the city is crowded with tourists. The food is also very good, we had mussels and fries in a place call Léon, and waffles. Because breakfast, in Brussels, means only waffles. We didn't try any of the chocolate as we are not big fans but is a big thing in Belgium and it's supposed to be delicious. We still enjoyed the displays very much.

Mussels from Brussels! Chez Leon

Le Comptoir de Mathilde

Another big Belgian thing is beer. We didn't go crazy as we have to drive every other day, and by we I mean Joey, as he was doing all the driving. I was just trying not to grow a beer belly before the wedding. We did have a small tasting though, and it tasted great!

From left to right are my favs, in order; 

from the right to the left are Joey's favs, in order;

These are few vinyl gems we found at The Collector,
a vinyl store just off the main square

Before leaving, we paid a quick visit to the Toone Theatre. This Little gem is an institution. Built around the 1830s from the older Toone (Antoine Genty) it has been run for 8 generations by the same family. It's a puppet theatre with shows aimed to adults, although children will enjoy it too. The language spoken is Bruxellois, Brussels' very own dialect.

So this was our little visit to Brussels, it went really well and I would suggested to anyone looking for a small break. 
Is one of those cities where you can be entertained without getting overly tired, though I guess it depends on how much belgian beer you want to sample!

To Calais

As anticipated, I couldn't quite manage to keep up a blog diary of our road trip on the actual dates, for both lack of time and lack of a stable wi-fi connection. Also, I found out, you get really really tired on a road trip.  I have organized the trip by towns, instead of days, starting from our departure from Streatham at 06.45 on the 25th of July.  It has been just over a month ago, and it still doesn't feel like we entirely left the country, I guess it will take a while to sink in.

To begin with the sat nav took us to the countryside - we were a bit doubtful at first, but the english countryside is very enjoyable.

Best shot I could get of the white cliffs

In Dover there was a lot of queueing, the ferry was supposed to leave at 11.10, but by that time we were still queueing in front of it. Once we managed to get on the ferry, I felt a bit paranoid and I decided to not leave the car as I was scared to leave all of our things in there, so I just stayed put whilst Joey was fetching some lunch. He came back with a guard to fetch me as apparently people are not allowed to stay in the parking area of the ferry, in case there's a fire or something. Oh well...

That's the view from the parking floor of the ferry