Below the cut is a map of the EU district in Brussels, showing (in pencil scrawl) the main EU institution buildings and (in red biro) the member states' diplomatic representations (not all of these in precisely the right place - some are a block or two out, and the Greeks have just moved to be beside the Germans).

( map )

9) Charlotte Brontë's Promised Land, by Eric Ruijssenaars

Enthused by my recent reading of Villette, I ordered this little book from the Brontë Society last week and it was waiting for me on my return from Moldova. I must be in the very small minority of readers who bought it more because of Brussels than the Brontës; in my last job, I often went ( Read more... )

4) Villette, by Charlotte Brontë

With my ancestral home being near where the Brontë sisters' father was born, and having trudged through Jane Eyre for my O-level in English Literature (one of my two B grades, along with Religious Education), I have always had a vague interest in them. But this was the first Charlotte Brontë novel I have read as an ( Read more... )

I used to use the dry-cleaners near the office, the Rue de Bailli branch of 5àSec. Until this morning, that is ( Read more... )

F and I had an excursion to Mini-Europe and the newly re-opened Atomium two weeks ago, but I've only just got around to putting the picures on-line here. You can see most of the important bits in the preview version of the gallery apart from one shot of the 25 EU member state flags:
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Long queues, but moving quickly.

On the way back to the office from our last meeting of the day, our taxi driver (and my colleague and I) were alarmed by the behaviour of a car that, just at the Sablon, suddenly pulled out in front of us in the twilight, with no lights on at all, never mind indicators. The next traffic lights were red, and our driver pulled up alongside the ( Read more... )

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