Brux-jean-stine-ishead-tastic!

Ok Ok, for those of you that are positively aching for pictures of yours-truly, your wish has finally been granted.

Enter stage left: the boisterous, enticing and perpetually snap-happy Christine Estima.



We met in Bruxelles for a few days of strolling and chatting, and ... oh yeah PORTISHEAD.

Upon hearing that I'd been getting slack for not posting any pictures of myself, she sprung into action. In a torrent of giggling and spontaneous vogue-ing she got plenty of smiles and poses so for your viewing pleasure.

I was not immediately receptive...



But I managed to muster some enthusiasm:


Then I learned to just go with it...I can take anything if I have a glass of wine in my hand.


She even captured me taking photos - oh the layers of images, the representational depth...


Before the concert, we walked around for a bit and stopped for dinner in one of the prettiest quarters of Brussels, where waiters chat you up and offer you the moon just to sit at their restaurant.


That's free wine we're drinking.


Why do people make kissy-faces? It always looks ridiculous...case in point:


After our afternoon stroll we were pretty ravenous.



And then...and then:

PORTISHEAD!






She has the most amazing voice. She'll sing quietly, kinda mellow, for a little bit and you forget for an instant what she's capable of, until she hits you with a melody so deep and resounding or so high and clear that it just blows your freakin' mind. God I love Portishead.

This is the beginning of Roads.
And that "Woo kick ass" you hear at the very start - yeah that's Christine ha.



This is a new one - I don't know the name. It's was so cool just to see them rock out like that.



It was so freakin hot in that venue though. Thankfully, the ever-fab Christine had her fan:


Yay! Portishead!


Ok so the next day we wandered, and conversed, and dined and drank, and snapped photos...



The Pissing Boy: apparently a typical Belgian symbol of self-mockery, created in the 17th C.


Beautiful streets...


...and cafes!
Plenty of candid-photo ops:


Like a pilgrim at the gates of Mecca:


In the afternoon we found a shady spot in one of the many many parks and had an extravagant lunch:







A little bit of heat exhaustion propelled us back to the hostel for a 45 minute break.



Then out again! Belgian dark beer is pretty much the best thing on the face of the planet on a hot summer night. Christine cheers' me with her jus de pamplemousse.


The next day we found a great irish pub for lunch - ham melt/veggie melt with fritz and garlic basil mayo.

... and Hoegaarden. Ahhh.


Me in my fabulous Gozitan palm-leaf hat:


And then we were off - Christine back to London, me on to Bruges.

There are more pics and perspectives on Christine's blog.

By the way, I've enabled comments on this blog so feel free (honestly, it just slipped my mind but Christine brought it to my attention).

But where, you may ask, is Brussels? There are a few pictures, yes, but where are the city sights, the landscapes and monuments? This time the city was a backdrop; a sounding board for our endless conversation; a pleasing environment for wayward friends to meet.

Brussels is under my feet, quenching my thirst, caught in my hair and ringing in my ears.