Wednesday 26th 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.
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