Hockley Heights Gazette

Well, what an interesting 36 hours! We departed Wickford around 7am Saturday morning, drove to Dover (or maybe Dove to Drover?), boarded the 9:25 to Calais, and washed ashore around 10:45 (11:45 local time). Driving ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD we made our way up the E40 to Brussels for our stay overnight at the Hotel Vendome. We settled in for an hour or so, then walked around downtown for some shopping, had a couple of beers at a local pub (pictured), then finally settling on a great meal at the Happy Buddha restaurant. This meal was our first Chinese eating experience since leaving Australia, and we so miss BBQ Leeming now! We tried to get some decent rice from the local shops but have had no success.
Anyway, after that it was off to bed, then in the morning after breakfast a drive to the European Parliament (pictured), and finally after getting hopelessly lost in the backstreets of Brussels, pleading with the French speaking locals for directions, we found our way back to Calais and the Ferry, docking back in Wickford around 5:40pm Sunday. We managed to score some cheap wine and Bailey's Irish Cream on the ferry - an added bonus on top of a great experience. We are also converts to the joys of Belgian Chocolate! Cheers from London - AP and Family...