brussels grand place
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First Stop – Brussels

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brussels grand place

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 Straits 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.

This article is part of the Mongol Rally Series

The Mongol Rally is an unsupported road rally from London, England, to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. In July 2011, four well-traveled, and some may say crazy, travel bloggers set out on a 10,000-mile journey to Mongolia. This was no fluff press trip…this was us against the open road, in a car that was not meant to be driven to these lengths.

euro tunnel

We arrived in Brussels around 10 PM and met Andrew outside 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!

Belgian waffle

Thanks to Alison and Andrew of Cheeseweb for sponsoring our Euro Tunnel crossing, putting up with 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.

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5 Comments

  1. Great post!

    I missed to take a photo of The rally car and me. 🙁

    Perhaps you’ll give it a second thought and will drive back again… You know where to stopover close to Cologne. 🙂

  2. Awww! Was so great to be able to be a small part of this epic journey! It was wonderful to meet the team and show Rick around some of our favorite places in Brussels. Good luck with the rest of the trip… you’re already quite a way along the road it seems!

  3. Hi, Found you from watching your Video posted on Married with Luggage. I’m now following you on twitter as I’m hooked! I may be miles away in So Cal, but I’m cheering for your every mile!

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