Catch Up Observations:
First destination after southern England was Brussels.  Short visit.  The Bed and Breakfast appeared to be just north of the City Centre.  Oops - No so much.  Follow-on directions involved a "pre-metro" from the bus station to the real Metro to two buses, the first a short run to a suburb shopping Centre.  Finally found and an excellent neighborhood bar/restaurant restored calm and full bellies.  Our 72 year-old hostess told us the forest was only 200 meters from the house!
Only one day for a Brussels walk-around.  Back downtown to main station to stash bags.  Then the tourist sites.  The journey of finding your intended sight is much of the experience, mastering odd maps, traffic hazards and massive columns of lock-step tourists, marching along the sidewalk behind their guide.  National symbol is "manneken pis", a small statue of a naked young boy taking a leak.  Once the streets start to narrow to single lane and the road becomes cobblestone you know you are getting close.  Then a crowd of 30 plus folks squeezed around a fence - all with cameras and cell phones held high and you have found it.  (I can't imagine the mid-summer crush.).  There is an even smaller young girl "jeanneke pis" statue which is harder to find.  It is at the end of a network of pedestrian alleys lined with high-end cafes and funky bars.
Reward for success was Cafe Delirium where the attached bar boasts of 2000 types of beer.  The 25 taps of draft were enough for us.  Miriam tried apple beer, a light 3 per cent with a gentle fizzy genuine apple flavour.  Delirium Tremins is the house special, a 9 per cent smooth strong ale with an undercurrent taste of ginger.  The label and cafe sign feature a pink elephant.
Between the two statue locations is the Main Square with a suitable Grand Place / Palace and fancy Guildhalls.  Extravagance in stone as the statues and baroque encrustagions climb up the face of each building making one think of frozen wedding cake .  The gilt topping strengthens the image.
The surrealist painter Rene Margette is beautifully celebrated in a modern museum, tucked within older facades.  What a trickster with light, ideas and the meaning of spoken language.  His symbols reappear throughout his artistic life giving food for thought.  He is much more than black bowler hats and floating pipes.
Found a large formal park close to the museum.  The broad avenues had humourous constructions of giant brussel sprouts - one being carried by a stork.  Multicultural Brussels symbolized by different legs coming out of a huge cone of frites.
Late afternoon train to Bruges.  ....,