What to do in Belgium if you have 8 hours to kill

I got stuck in Europe for a couple extra days. I managed to find my way home by train but I had 8 hours to fill in Brussels. So I contacted Mr & Mrs J (as Mrs J lived in Brussels for a number of years) and they gave me the perfect itinerary for a sunny Sunday.

I dumped my luggage at Gare Midi and went walkabout. Starting out along Rue Engeland (where I did think, 'Where have they sent me?') to Rue Blaes and then onto the flea market to Place du Jeu Balle - busy with antiques, clothing and homeware, it was a great discovery. I then wound my way through all the interior design shops and boutiques around Rue Blaes and Rue Haute to a fab little place called Le Perroquet. This perfectly formed cafe has great salads, stuffed pittas and by 11.30am (after almost 17 hours of travelling overnight) a welcome glass or two of wine. Get there early on a Sunday for a table outside and enjoy the food and people watching.



Just a stones throw away is the Place du Grand Sablon, where I bought some goodies for Mr DBFB. To end the comedy food run, I popped into the two-storey chocolate emporium, Pierre Marcolini for a box of macaroons and a slab of his Carre 2 Chocolate: the limited edition Grand Cru de Propriete Hacienda Chuao from Argua Venezuela 72% cocoa. Homemade and with a hint of fruit in the flavour.

Worth getting stuck in Brussels? Just this once!

Menu funnies from Poland

Whilst in Poland I had some excellent food - pasta, sushi and cheesecake were all noteworthy. And I sampled excellent wild boar at the amazing Folkgospoda (you may want to turn the music off after about 30 seconds). But one of the most endearing things was the little language quirks on the menu that made me laugh.

Some of the best were:

• Pear dip in chocolate mouse
• Alkohole
• Makaroney (pasta)
  
• Cruncly fruit
  

Delicious cupcakes

Miss Joey popped in to see us on Saturday evening. Oh how we miss her! She came bearing gifts too: 4 delectable cupcakes from Butterfly Cupcakes. Red Velvet, Coconut, Banoffee and Banana. Moist, with just the right ratio of sponge to topping, these are winners.

And a great alternative to Miss Bat Baking!

Check out their stores at Westfield, Bluewater (aka Satan's favourite hell mall) and Kensington. But if you don't live close by, they deliver to central London addresses. Perfect for that mid-afternoon office energy slump.

Before WiFi, there was...

BiFi!

I had almost given up hope of ever finding more comedy food in Amsterdam. So it is a good thing I spent most of last week in Poland.

Despite being stranded there longer than anticipated, it did mean I could check out the nearest Carrefour to discover this little gem.



Clearly a rival to Peperami, Mr DBFB declared that it looked like a certain bit of anatomy from a male dog. Brings a slightly different meaning to "it's a bit of an animal."