The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

We head over via the Channel Tunnel to visit Jules and Pieter in Brussels for New Year's Eve. Over the few days we are there, we take a couple of trips out to visit various markets, including a continuing Christmas Market near the Grand Place in the heart of Brussels' old town, visit several bars and have a bike ride with Natan around the nearby Royal Park.

next album: The Last Milking at Dairy Farm, Thrandeston, Suffolk - 11th January 2007
previous album: The BBs at the Park Hotel, and Christmas in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland - 25th December 2006

Sophie the cat looks up, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Sophie the cat looks up

Pieter in the kitchen, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter in the kitchen

The wine has good legs, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

The wine has good legs

Jules and Isobel chat, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Jules and Isobel chat

Nosher in the kitchen, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher in the kitchen

Natan on a bike, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Natan on a bike

A flower stall, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A flower stall

Kai, Jules and Isobel on the streets, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai, Jules and Isobel on the streets

Kai looks at olives, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai looks at olives

Nosher gets the Hairy Eyeball, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher gets the Hairy Eyeball

Pieter buys a red pepper, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter buys a red pepper

Kai: The Baby Nosh, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai: The Baby Nosh

A couple of fruit-and-veg sellers, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A couple of fruit-and-veg sellers

A random selection of fluffy slippers, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A random selection of fluffy slippers

Uncovered tramlines, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Uncovered tramlines

A Brussels side street, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A Brussels side street

Kai in a push-chair, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai in a push-chair

A statue waves, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A statue waves

Just like Abbey Road, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Just like Abbey Road

A funky door, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A funky door

Nosher in the garden, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher in the garden

Numi the kitten peers out from behind the fishtank, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Numi the kitten peers out from behind the fishtank

A stripey kitten, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A stripey kitten

Natan plays with Numi the cat, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Natan plays with Numi the cat

Cats cannot resist the power of string, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Cats cannot resist the power of string

Isobel roams the garden, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel roams the garden

An inflatable 'Ice Monster' waits , The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

An inflatable 'Ice Monster' waits

Crowds in a Brussels square, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Crowds in a Brussels square

Christmas market, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Christmas market

A rug seller, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A rug seller

An old-style carousel, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

An old-style carousel

There's a scrum at a market shed, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

There's a scrum at a market shed

Waffles are put out to cool, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Waffles are put out to cool

Confusion at the saucisson stall, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Confusion at the saucisson stall

Waffle batter is poured into a waffle iron, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Waffle batter is poured into a waffle iron

A crowd at Vandonghen waffles, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A crowd at Vandonghen waffles

Customers wait for warm waffles, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Customers wait for warm waffles

Jules scoffs a waffle with cream, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Jules scoffs a waffle with cream

A busking brass band, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A busking brass band

Jules and Isobel munch on waffles, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Jules and Isobel munch on waffles

Restaurant 'Les Crustaces', The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Restaurant 'Les Crustaces'

A Brussels organ grinder, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A Brussels organ grinder

A dog on a bench, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A dog on a bench

Kids on a great old-fashioned merry-go-round, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kids on a great old-fashioned merry-go-round

Isobel and Jules walk around, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel and Jules walk around

Inside a cheese deli, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Inside a cheese deli

Satirical poster, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Satirical poster

People wait to cross the road, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

People wait to cross the road

Heaving crowds near to the Grand Place, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Heaving crowds near to the Grand Place

A bit of classical busking, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A bit of classical busking

The Grand Place, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

The Grand Place

Part of the L'Hôtel De Ville in the Grand Place, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Part of the L'Hôtel De Ville in the Grand Place

Tourists on the Grand Place, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Tourists on the Grand Place

Nosher and the Grand Place in a disco mirror-ball, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher and the Grand Place in a disco mirror-ball

Jules and Isobel wait for Nosher, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Jules and Isobel wait for Nosher

Graffiti, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Graffiti

Brussels' famouse Manneken Pis statue, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Brussels' famouse Manneken Pis statue

Near the Manneken Pis, Santas climb the walls, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Near the Manneken Pis, Santas climb the walls

Isobel passes a flower shop, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel passes a flower shop

Illuminated trees, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Illuminated trees

Nosher in a bar, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher in a bar

A Brussels bar, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A Brussels bar

Posters on the wall, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Posters on the wall

Stacked café chairs, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Stacked café chairs

Warm light from a church window, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Warm light from a church window

A grand entrance arch, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A grand entrance arch

More illuminated trees, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

More illuminated trees

Isobel on a tram, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel on a tram

Back in the kitchen, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Back in the kitchen

Pieter roams around the kitchen, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter roams around the kitchen

Over at Dirk and Anne-Mie's for dinner, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Over at Dirk and Anne-Mie's for dinner

Dirk looks around, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Dirk looks around

Dirk serves up some sort of pudding creation, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Dirk serves up some sort of pudding creation

Pieter plays a bit of piano, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter plays a bit of piano

Dirk waves a bottle of brandy around, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Dirk waves a bottle of brandy around

The view of Jules and Pieter's pad, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

The view of Jules and Pieter's pad

Nosher helps the boys with Scalextric, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher helps the boys with Scalextric

Nosher and Natan play Scalextric, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher and Natan play Scalextric

Natan at the top of a small hill in Royal Park, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Natan at the top of a small hill in Royal Park

A pile of rusted metal, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A pile of rusted metal

Pieter helps Natan learn wheelies, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter helps Natan learn wheelies

Natan pushes his bike through the woods, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Natan pushes his bike through the woods

We find a derelict building in Royal Park, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

We find a derelict building in Royal Park

Derelict building and graffiti, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Derelict building and graffiti

A heavily graffiti'd garage door, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A heavily graffiti'd garage door

There's not much of the roof left, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

There's not much of the roof left

Pieter peers through a hole in the wall, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter peers through a hole in the wall

Inside the derelict building, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Inside the derelict building

Broken walls and a staircase to nowhere, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Broken walls and a staircase to nowhere

A message for the local constabulary, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A message for the local constabulary

Kai and Natan on the kitchen table, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai and Natan on the kitchen table

Crowds under a blue light, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Crowds under a blue light

The Hôtel de Ville is all lit up, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

The Hôtel de Ville is all lit up

Searchlights shine from a tower, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Searchlights shine from a tower

Pieter in a chocolate shop, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Pieter in a chocolate shop

A grand building lit up in pink, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A grand building lit up in pink

In another bar, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

In another bar

Isobel gets the beers in, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel gets the beers in

Isobel's ready for a sleep, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel's ready for a sleep

Bar life, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Bar life

Isobel wakes up again, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Isobel wakes up again

Jaws translates badly as 'Teeth of the Sea', The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Jaws translates badly as 'Teeth of the Sea'

Nosher makes a purple thing of Play Doh, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Nosher makes a purple thing of Play Doh

Natan shows off his swimming goggles, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Natan shows off his swimming goggles

Kai peers out of the cardboard Wendy House, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Kai peers out of the cardboard Wendy House

A Brussels post box, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

A Brussels post box

Back on Le Shuttle under the Channel, The Christmas Markets of Brussels, Belgium - 1st January 2007

Back on Le Shuttle under the Channel

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Sophie the cat looks up

Sophie the cat looks up

Pieter in the kitchen

The wine has good legs

Jules and Isobel chat

Nosher in the kitchen

Natan on a bike

A flower stall

Kai, Jules and Isobel on the streets

Kai looks at olives

Nosher gets the Hairy Eyeball

Pieter buys a red pepper

Kai: The Baby Nosh

A couple of fruit-and-veg sellers

A random selection of fluffy slippers

Uncovered tramlines

A Brussels side street

Kai in a push-chair

A statue waves

Just like Abbey Road

A funky door

Nosher in the garden

Numi the kitten peers out from behind the fishtank

A stripey kitten

Natan plays with Numi the cat

Cats cannot resist the power of string

Isobel roams the garden

An inflatable 'Ice Monster' waits

Crowds in a Brussels square

Christmas market

A rug seller

An old-style carousel

There's a scrum at a market shed

Waffles are put out to cool

Confusion at the saucisson stall

Waffle batter is poured into a waffle iron

A crowd at Vandonghen waffles

Customers wait for warm waffles

Jules scoffs a waffle with cream

A busking brass band

Jules and Isobel munch on waffles

Restaurant 'Les Crustaces'

A Brussels organ grinder

A dog on a bench

Kids on a great old-fashioned merry-go-round

Isobel and Jules walk around

Inside a cheese deli

Satirical poster

People wait to cross the road

Heaving crowds near to the Grand Place

A bit of classical busking

The Grand Place

Part of the L'Hôtel De Ville in the Grand Place

Tourists on the Grand Place

Nosher and the Grand Place in a disco mirror-ball

Jules and Isobel wait for Nosher

Graffiti

Brussels' famouse Manneken Pis statue

Near the Manneken Pis, Santas climb the walls

Isobel passes a flower shop

Illuminated trees

Nosher in a bar

A Brussels bar

Posters on the wall

Stacked café chairs

Warm light from a church window

A grand entrance arch

More illuminated trees

Isobel on a tram

Back in the kitchen

Pieter roams around the kitchen

Over at Dirk and Anne-Mie's for dinner

Dirk looks around

Dirk serves up some sort of pudding creation

Pieter plays a bit of piano

Dirk waves a bottle of brandy around

The view of Jules and Pieter's pad

Nosher helps the boys with Scalextric

Nosher and Natan play Scalextric

Natan at the top of a small hill in Royal Park

A pile of rusted metal

Pieter helps Natan learn wheelies

Natan pushes his bike through the woods

We find a derelict building in Royal Park

Derelict building and graffiti

A heavily graffiti'd garage door

There's not much of the roof left

Pieter peers through a hole in the wall

Inside the derelict building

Broken walls and a staircase to nowhere

A message for the local constabulary

Kai and Natan on the kitchen table

Crowds under a blue light

The Hôtel de Ville is all lit up

Searchlights shine from a tower

Pieter in a chocolate shop

A grand building lit up in pink

In another bar

Isobel gets the beers in

Isobel's ready for a sleep

Bar life

Isobel wakes up again

Jaws translates badly as 'Teeth of the Sea'

Nosher makes a purple thing of Play Doh

Natan shows off his swimming goggles

Kai peers out of the cardboard Wendy House

A Brussels post box

Back on Le Shuttle under the Channel