Work trip to Bornem, Belgium - 18th to 19th October 2006

Hot on the heels of a trip to Paris, came a trip to Belgium, an altogether less interesting place. I was staying (and working) in a town called Bornem, somewhere between Brussels and Antwerp. I tried looking it up on a map, and could just about find it on Google Earth. The point of going to a place like that is to get away from it all, so you get more work done. In reality, you become bored quite quickly and want to go home, especially as I was missing a Kooks gig in London to be there. The countryside around the town is nice, and Bornem is a lovely country town, but it is maddeningly dull.

Even saying that places are "near Brussels" (which everywhere in Belgium is, to a pretty large degree), doesn't exactly inspire excitement amongst people you tell about it. That said, the food is great in Belgium, and the beer is a particular highlight - hundreds of different brands, which taste good, and are very, very strong. Hangover-tastic. The landscape is uninteresting and flat, and much of the country is built up, but it strikes me that, with the food and beer, and proximity to other more interesting places, you could probably have yourself a pretty good life here - if you are not looking for too much action.