Guanajuato

You might be a little confused looking at this, as to where I am, but I’m definitely in Belgium.

I met Chrissy at the station and we managed to catch an earlier train and were at St Pancras by 10.30am.  We had lots of time to kill, so went to the champagne bar and had a glass of rosé champagne and then went to M&S and got a nice selection of things for lunch.

Unfortunately our train was delayed by 30 minutes, but once we were on board, the time passed quickly and we were soon in Brussels.  We found our Aparthotel and have a ground floor apartment with a little garden area that was a very nice surprise!  There are three apartments that open out onto it, but  none of the others have any outside space.

We quickly unpacked and then walked the short distance to the Grand Place to see the flower carpet which was only planted this morning.  I intended to Blip the carpet, the theme of which is Mexico, and is dedicated to the region of Guanajuato which has a rich floral culture and tradition. However, we saw this guy dressed as an Aztec and I love everything about this photo, so I’ll save the flower carpet for another day.

We had a table booked at Le Roy D’Espagne, a restaurant on the Grand Place which has a balcony with a view  - when I booked I requested a table upstairs by the window and that’s what we got, so not only was it good to see the carpet from above, but it was a great spot to people watch.

The official opening of the flower carpet was at 10pm and we joined the crowds of people to watch the sound and light show.  It was totally amazing and they had a Mexican band playing, and then we were surprised by a fantastic firework display that was literally right in front of us.  There was a barrier but as you can imagine, there’s not a lot of space in the Grand Place, and we got hit by the sparks and something even hit me on the head!  When they’d finished, the organisers asked if everyone was ok - only in Belgium lol!  In the UK we would be stood a long way from any fireworks!

It’s been fantastic though and all the buildings in the Grand Place were illuminated and the colours changed with the music.  

Anyway it’s late and we’re both tired, so we’re off to bed.  See you tomorrow!