Took the Eurostar to Brussels on Thursday morning and got there at 11.30. After checking into my 1/2 star hotel, I caught up with my mate Andrea near the Grand Place for a few beers and some excellent carbonnade (A Belgian beef stew). It was great to catch up with him over a few Belgian ales in the baking sun. Yes, it was baking hot so having all those beers wasn’t the greatest idea.
In the afternoon we took the train to Gent, where we caught up with the rest of the troops that had arrived via Charleroi. Went to an Irish pub by the river, very picturesque setting. I bet there must be an Irish pub even at the North Pole. Most of the same old faces were there, more drinks, a great time was had by all. We had about 30-40 guys there, which for a match in the middle of the holiday season isn’t too bad, or is it?!
I have to admit that I was surprised by how beautiful Gent is. All you hear about Belgium (apart from Brussels that is) is Bruges this, Bruges that... but I think Gent can give Bruges a run for its money. Lots of Flemish charm, cobbled streets, pretty little squares, definitely worth a weekend trip.
We decided to make our way to the match by tram as the ground was far too distant, almost out of town on the east side. Got there with very few minutes to spare and little or no bother from the locals. It’s a cosy little ground with the stands almost on top of the players. The final score was 7-1 to AS Roma although the match was virtually over by half-time when the score was 1-0 to us and Gent had a mouthy butcher, pardon a defender, sent off by the ref.
There were a few hairy moments after the match when some of the locals probably weren’t too happy (about the final result??) and were looking for some sort of revenge but all ended well when our contingent made it back into town. Funny how our 40-strong contingent quickly shrank to almost half of that as soon as we heard that the locals were on the warpath!!
Back in Brussels thanks to a car lift from the lads, I woke up this morning and took it pretty easy. Enjoyed more sunshine, taking in all the sights (brunettes, blondes etc...) that Brussels has to offer. No beer for me though as I still felt rather dehydrated so just plenty of water and the occasional Coke.
In the afternoon we took the train to Gent, where we caught up with the rest of the troops that had arrived via Charleroi. Went to an Irish pub by the river, very picturesque setting. I bet there must be an Irish pub even at the North Pole. Most of the same old faces were there, more drinks, a great time was had by all. We had about 30-40 guys there, which for a match in the middle of the holiday season isn’t too bad, or is it?!
I have to admit that I was surprised by how beautiful Gent is. All you hear about Belgium (apart from Brussels that is) is Bruges this, Bruges that... but I think Gent can give Bruges a run for its money. Lots of Flemish charm, cobbled streets, pretty little squares, definitely worth a weekend trip.
We decided to make our way to the match by tram as the ground was far too distant, almost out of town on the east side. Got there with very few minutes to spare and little or no bother from the locals. It’s a cosy little ground with the stands almost on top of the players. The final score was 7-1 to AS Roma although the match was virtually over by half-time when the score was 1-0 to us and Gent had a mouthy butcher, pardon a defender, sent off by the ref.
There were a few hairy moments after the match when some of the locals probably weren’t too happy (about the final result??) and were looking for some sort of revenge but all ended well when our contingent made it back into town. Funny how our 40-strong contingent quickly shrank to almost half of that as soon as we heard that the locals were on the warpath!!
Back in Brussels thanks to a car lift from the lads, I woke up this morning and took it pretty easy. Enjoyed more sunshine, taking in all the sights (brunettes, blondes etc...) that Brussels has to offer. No beer for me though as I still felt rather dehydrated so just plenty of water and the occasional Coke.
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