We sped off from the Festival of Slow and drove a long day through 3 countries  – the UK, France, and Belgium.  We were invited to stay with my friends Alison and Andrew from the Expat blog Cheeseweb in Brussels that night.  Boy oh boy did they put on a big welcome for us!

First of all, they sponsored our crossing under the Straights of Dover and into France.  A really cool ride on a train under the English Channel.  A highlight for a train buff like me.  You simply drive your car onto the train car and it takes you under the water.  I expected to see fish swimming by…but it doesn’t quite work like that!  Deb spent the day driving and handled the lane/driving switch from the UK to the rest of Europe with ease.

We arrived in Brussels around 10 PM and met Andrew outside of the city in order to park our car securely.  He met us with cold Belgian beers in hand…bottoms up!  He shuttled us back to their flat in the city center where Alison met us with champagne and a spread of food that you can’t even believe.  Meats, cheeses, olives, salads, and plenty to drink.  We invaded their home like starving Mongols!

We spent the next day doing laundry, eating Belgian waffles and frites, and walking around the Grand Place since it was Rick’s first time in Belgium.  It was hard to remind myself that we had to go…this was only our first stop after all and we had a long way to go!

Discover hop-on hop-off European train travel

Thanks to Alison and Andrew of Cheeseweb for sponsoring our Euro Tunnel crossing, putting up with our us, and just setting the bar so high that we are now spoiled!  How will we ever go from champagne, beer, cheese, and cured meats to camping and eating rice?  Time will tell…

View all Brussels photography from my housesitting stay there last summer.

How to donate to our charity – the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!