Wednesday 26^th August 2015

Now that all the little Minions have returned to their institutes of learning and Xboxes it was time for us, like so many children of the 60’s to head for one of our many European arthritis treating spa towns such as Benidorm and Torremolinos. We drove down Tuesday and spent the night at Alderstead Heath Caravan Club site. Like most club sites it was well organised and clinically laid out in the Caravan Club colour scheme of green and green.  The next day (Wednesday) as virgin channel tunnel travellers we were surprised how smoothly, quickly and efficiently we were transported over to Europe, will definitely use this again.

Our first stop was Belgium, a country famous for chocolate, beer and for being the first comparison site…”every year an area the size of Belgium evaporates from the earth” , “every year a population the size of Belgium….” And so on.

Unsurprisingly the other thing Belgium is famous for is the number of times its been occupied by alien forces, and today was no exception. As we pulled up at the Aire in Brugges we started to notice the uniformed troops of Manchester United. More about these later. So what of Brugges? Its an exceptionally beautiful town where the residents seem proud of its cleanliness and fine architectural historical buildings.  Like Vienna the best way to walk around Brugges is to follow the routes taken by the many horse and traps that navigate through the narrow streets with on board tourists . Or like us take one of the many leisure motor boats that meander throughout the cities canal network with an experienced bilingual tour guide come driver who points out the many significant buildings and even throws in a few crummy jokes. The 30 minute tour costs just 8 euros each.

After the boat trip we just leisurely wandered the streets looking at each section in more detail. Finally it was off to the city square with its fine buildings and many bars. Here the Man utd occupation was in full swing, only about a thousand of them who to be fair had confined themselves to the naughty boys corner of the square where a couple of the bars were providing them with their ‘best’ lagers for 5 euros a pint. How kind! The songs were being sung and the ‘pints’ were going down well but they were no trouble. I couldn’t help but compare them to fans of my generation, the 60’s and 70’s, We were all skinny almost malnourished young kids with long hair and platform shoes who poured out from our poorly paid office or factory jobs to support our local teams with local players.  This lot like so many supporters of English teams are, like the players, alien to the city which they represent , They had stuffed wallets, tended to be middle aged with shaved heads and beer bellies. Many speaking with  cockney  accents.

We sat amused by their antics and singing but finally moved on to a lovely restaurant on the edge of the city and closer to our Aire which at 25 euros is expensive even with the electricity but worth it just for its location in the city. 

As we sat eating our meal outside we could observe the final dregs of the Man utd occupation stagger off to the ground each battalion heading aimlessly, like their defence of last season, in different directions.

This hadn’t been a lightning tour as we had spent quite a few hours visiting this great city but as we sat finishing our meal on what had been an unforgettable day the heavens opened and the lightning flashed.

Brugges

Brugges

Brugges

Brugges

Brugges