The beggar of Brussels

Have you seen the sunken-eyed beggar woman who sits outside the luxury chocolate shop in downtown Brussels, while the rest of the street passes by, oblivious? The man on the left appears to be carrying not one, but two umbrellas. Maybe it's a Belgian custom.

Brussels was cold, bristling with tourists and eclectic buildings, but all the museums were shut for All Saint's Day. Guess who forgot to check her diary for international public holidays? So we could not visit the Horta House, an art nouveau house/museum, as planned. Nul points to their website for not mentioning that it was closed.

I shall write more later. We are only just back in the UK, late on Saturday night, tired but happy. In this shot, the camera had been left accidentally on the dramatic filter setting, but I think it works in the circumstances. It is worth looking at in large if you can bear to, for the expression on the beggar's face.

For those who like adventures and happy stories, we did indeed have a walking tour of Brussels with Steve's friend Jacques as our guide, and we drank Sudden Death cherry beer in an iconic 1920/30s bar. Then we had supper in a converted fire station near the flea market. Steve and I both had a starter of a poached egg on top of a sort of semi-solid soup of Brie and 'trumpets of death' mushrooms. I am happy to report that not only did it not kill me, it didn't even give me a headache! Later, Jacques took us on a tour of his warehouse. He has a collection of 1000 vintage skateboards, and his son and friend were photohraphing them for a forthcoming touring exhibition. You couldn't make it up....

Jacques is looking for someone to translate the book that will accompany the exhibition from French to English. Knowledge of skateboard world/ skate art would be essential. If that sounds like you, sing up!