We got engaged in Brussels! (also including chocolate, beer, a bathroom mishap, comic murals and a treasure hunt!)

Celebrations the next day (before the bus)

The day of the double proposal! 
12th August 2015

As much as we both wanted to explore Belgium, it hadn't made our final list of countries. However, although we are keen to travel via land, we decided we didn't really fancy travelling overland between Amsterdam and Paris in one sitting. We were thrilled to choose Brussels as a stopover. 

So Brussels went from a place we weren't even visiting to the place we got engaged! (More on that whole thing later.)

We were greeted in Brussels by European Commission buildings and pretzels. After settling into our Airbnb apartment we set out to explore. Knowing you can only get a small glimpse of a place in one day we had previously decided to focus on two of our loves: Chocolate and Beer. (Well, I don't love beer but I love Rob...and Rob loves beer!) 

European Commission building

Before we got to the beer or the chocolate we sat down for a lovely lunch outside and Rob had an opportunity to try out his French with the waitress. We then walked to the Grand Place, an impressive town square with a town hall (Hotel de Ville) that looks like a grand gothic church. They were setting up for a flower show the next day and we took a quick preview.

Hotel de Ville

Grand Place

Previous Mayor of the city: Charles Buls and his dog

Beloved Manneken Pis: Little Pee Man

Soon our self-made chocolate and beer tour began! I will let the visuals do the talking as I can't possibly convey the tastes:

Chocolate town!

Hard to make out my delightful little dragon chocolate lollypop!

One of everything please!

Mmm chocolate dream

Naturally, I found it pretty exciting being in the chocolate capital of the world! Apparently, Brussels is home to more chocolate factories than any other city on earth. The only thing that stopped me eating my weight in chocolate was that we only spent a day there!

We got a delectable box of chocolates from Leonidas that we savoured for at least a few days! There was a huge variety and I wish Leonidas had a shop in Australia. (They seem to be pretty much everywhere else in the world.)

In the search for some Trappiste beet, we hunted down Au Bon Vieux Temps in a little alleyway for Rob to enjoy a Rochefort Trappiste, the place was deserted so we experienced the place, just the two of us, even the woman at the bar left for a while.  They had what looked like old church pews for benches, which I am surprised they could get up the alleyway, and beautiful stained glass windows featuring a number of families coats-of-arms along with that of Bruxelles.

We did deviate from the chocolate and beer route momentarily to do a walking tour of Brussels comic murals. They were pretty amazing even if I didn't know all the comics & bande-desinsées. We also found some other really powerful street art. 

The well-known "Tintin" - Hergé

Perhaps a not-stricly authorised mural

"Yoko Tsuno" - Roger LeLoup

"XIII" - Jean van Hamme

"Monsieur Jean" - Chalres Berberian

"Broussaille" - Frank Pé

Some more thought-provoking and action-inspiring art

"Victor Sackville" - Francis Carin

Gay pride

The damage of labels

We enjoyed a tasty dinner, again sitting outside for the summer weather and people watching. Rob had an amusing encounter with one of the staff when he went to use the bathroom. The man asked if was a customer and despite Rob confirming he was, he accused him of lying and said he couldn't use the bathroom!! Luckily our waitress came in and left the other staff member very red faced. It was understandable and we ended up feeling sorry for the guy who was thenceforth keen to avoid Rob.

Deciding to be even further cliched on our one day in Brussels we located a waffle shop for dessert before heading back to our apartment. Once there Rob virtually pushed me into the shower so he would have the opportunity to lay out 

the last clue of a grand treasure hunt. 

For me, this treasure hunt had begun all the way back in Kampot, Cambodia where I received my first mysterious letter. Since then I had (very) randomly been getting letters and rhymes all along our trip through Vietnam, China, Japan, Mongolia, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.

Finding the last clue, I rushed to locate the previous clues. Putting them all together I had the proposal right there! And luckily I had the answer all ready in the form of an engraved ring. On the outside it read 

The answer lies withinin

and inside had my answer. 

You see, I had somewhat anticipated such a question and had my own sort of proposal ready to go. I did not, however, think it was coming that particular night so the ring that I had "prepared earlier" was across the room in a secret hiding place. I couldn't very well leave Rob waiting for me to rummage through my things so the ring had to wait a few minutes! 

Rob's ring

Treasure clues!

What a way to cap off a lovely day in Brussels! We are both very excited and happy and looking forward to celebrating with family and friends on our return. 




The next day we left lovely Brussels on a bus to Paris. We were quite amused when the bus driver took our tickets and said, "The city of love, you never know, you two might get engaged there."

Celebrations the next day (before the bus)

Hashing and hanging out in Edinburgh

So what did we do in impressive Edinburgh? 

Poor guy, caught in some wind. Haha.

Went hashing
Well, after our hashing adventure in Glasgow, we were told that the Hash House Harriers of Edinburgh were about to have their momentous 1800th run. Why not? We thought. 

It was a tricky city run at some points, for example the Green Mile posed some challenges. "Who are those people? They must be running a marathon?" Nope, no, I don't thinks so: this is not what a marathon looks like! Once we got out into the parks it was a lot easier. 

The great thing about including hashing as part of your trip is that you go places you wouldn't ordinarily go and meet people you wouldn't otherwise meet. I talked to a fellow hasher about the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. Given the results, it was not surprising that she said there was a lot of tension in the community and many people chose not to talk about it to avoid conflict between friends and family. 

Hashers celebrate

Rob and a post-hash beer (brewed 
by the Edinburgh Hash team!)

Just one angle of the castle during the hash

Camped in a garden
No, not just a random garden in old town. We camped in someone's backyard. The first time we entered into the world of Camp In My Garden was not exactly what you would call a raging success. Sure it was a mysterious and eventful but we didn't catch much shut eye. As well as the somewhat odd house dynamics (we never met the actual host), it turned out the house was not only "conveniently placed near the railway station" but it actually BACKED ON TO THE TRACKS. Luckily for us there weren't many trains. No, that's not right, while there were very few scheduled  trains, there were lots of trains running express through the station between the hours of 6am to 1pm that made the most heart-stopping and horrendous noise as they tooted their horns on the way through. We thought they were bearing down on the ten! - we only lasted a few nights before moving to a hostel.

Attended the Jazz and Blues Festival
We saw a great band at the Jazz and Blues Festival: they just happened to be Australian. The Bearded Gypsy Band. They were great! I nearly threw cake in the face of the woman behind me however. She was tapping her foot so loudly and often out of time. (I didn't actually have cake so she was lucky.) We'd definitely see the band again if they came to Melbourne.

Visited a Castle 
We saved our castle visit for quite a few days into our time at Edinburgh. Standing on an extinct volcano, the castle is apparently the most besieged place in Great Britain and the most attacked in the world, over its 1110 year history. When we got there we could see they were setting up for the Military Tattoo which was exciting, even though we would not be there to see it. Inside the castle we jumped on the first introductory tour of the day which was very informative and an excellent starting point to get a sense of which parts you want to see. There are so many exhibitions and we spent a solid 4-5 hours there. The Scottish War Memorial was particularly moving and intricately designed. 

Heading up to the keep (Do you need to post anything?)

St Margaret's Chapel which dates from the early 12th century, making
it the oldest building in Edinburgh 

Coat of arms on the Great Hall 

War Memorial building
(Do Rob a favour and leave your slurpie outside. 
Do Kat a favour and save chatting about your weekend plans for later.)

Detail on the War Memorial
building

Soldiers' Dog Cemetery

Cannon-side view of Edinburgh

In the afternoon we joined the swarm of tourists awaiting the One O'clock Gun. The firing of the cannon was originally used as a time signal for ships in the harbour as it was too foggy to rely on a visual signal alone. We all had waited in position for awhile before 1pm but when we finally heard the sound a number of people (me included) jumped! 

Firing of the cannon

Saw some comedy
In the lead-up to the Fringe Festival we saw a two-act preview show at The Stand Comedy Club. The first comedian, Carl Hutchinson, based his act around a childhood dream to become a wrestler. It was very funny. Some guys in the front row kept getting up for drinks and bathrooms breaks. It was pretty rude and Carl pointed them out early. They still didn't get it though. Tough gig being on stage with that lot. 

The second act was probably better appreciated by the local audience because Vladimir McTavish had a few in-jokes we did not understand. The bits we did understand were good though! 

Toured Parliament

We thought a tour of parliament might be a good way to learn a bit more about Scotland and its history and it turned out we were right. What has actually stuck with me from this particular afternoon is the temporary exhibition in the lobby. (Temporary exhibitions seem to do that a lot!) The World Press Photo exhibition showed prize-winning photographs from across the world. There were some incredible photos on war, ebola, sport and everyday lives in several countries. For me, one of the most powerful photos (and there were many) was taken by an artist who uses drones to take photos of every-day gatherings with the same type of image that we see taken from military targets on the 7 o'clock news. (Explanation from the artist below photograph.)

Photography by Tomas van Houtryve Source: World Press Photo 

People exercising in central Philadelphia. Drone operators may consider such ‘signature behaviors’ as evidence of the existence of a training camp.

Since 2002, the US has used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) to collect intelligence and carry out airstrikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The aircraft are guided via satellite by distant operators. The attacks have resulted in a large number of fatalities, including hundreds of civilians.

The photographer bought a small drone, fitted it with a camera, and flew it in the US over the sorts of gatherings that have become habitual targets for airstrikes abroad—weddings, funerals, groups of people praying or exercising. He also used it to photograph settings in which drones are used to less lethal effect, such as oil fields, prisons, and the US-Mexico border.

Pretty powerful photography. I hope I can see a 2016 exhibition.

Climbed Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags
A highlight of visiting Edinburgh was a walk up the nearby hills. Arthur's Seat, like the rock upon which Edinburgh Castle sits, was formed by an extinct volcano system which was eroded by a glacier. This left behind the Salisbury Crags, cliffs between Arthur's seat and the city of Edinburgh. The Crags are a pretty interesting formation that, from the top of the hills, look a bit like a wave in the ocean. 

In case you were wondering, as I did, Arthur's Seat mountain range on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria WAS named so, due its similar appearance to Edinburgh's Arthurs Seat.

Rob and I with Edinburgh and some crags in the background

Magical Tallinn and the people that gave us Skype

Oliver, Rob and I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn for the weekend. Apart from feeling a bit sea sick on the ferry, it was a fine trip.

We spent a lot of our time in Tallinn simply wandering around. Although it feels like the walls of the old town are there to trap tourists inside it, we did not complain! The streets and buildings were beautiful and it was very interesting to learn about some of the history of the town. 

Town Market

How will our budget last through Europe?!

Walking in the steps of history

We know that man!

On the Saturday we visited the Estonian History Museum which is one of the best museums we have been to on our trip. Different mediums were well integrated to provide the history of the country. (As opposed to other museums that only use digital methods of presentation for the sake of it.) It was incredible how they fit so much history into such a small space and yet presented it in a concise and interesting manner. There was a temporary exhibition on "Children and War". They used curtains to create little booths were you could listen to individual stories and recollections of Estonians caught in conflict.

In the afternoon Oliver found a nice spot at a cafe for lunch. Rob and I, so absorbed in the museum, almost missed the town walking tour we had planned to attend. We made it in time for the tour guide's introductions but had to content our empty stomachs with delicious roasted almonds from a street stall en route. 

Our tour guide really knew her stuff and we learnt a lot from her. I found it especially interesting to find out about Estonia's struggles for independence. Unsurprisingly due to the geographical position of the country, Estonia has been under Danish, Swedish, German and Russian control. During the tour we learnt a little bit about the oppressive forces of the Nazis and the Soviets and the terrible consequences of war for Estonians. The methods the Estonians used to retain their language and what culture they could during these times were a fascination, as was hearing about the Singing Revolution. 

The Russian orthodox cathedral was a city symbol so disliked by that Estonia actually planned to demolish it, except that they didn't have enough money to do so! 

On quite another note, we found out Estonians invented Skype (but had to get the project financed elsewhere) and they lay claim to putting up the first Christmas tree. (However this is a battle of the Baltics with Latvia also purporting to have been the first).

The Russian church (it's a touchy subject)

By the Viru gates

Old Fat Margaret

Kiek in de Kok - Peek in the
Kitchen tower

The "quiet" backstreets

Walking outside the moat and city walls

Tall Hermann by the now parliament -  where the raising and lowering of the country flag is very ceremonial 

St Olaf's Church at dusk

St Olaf's from another angle