Well, it was very much the morning after the night before in Brussels today, by 10:15 the flower carpet had been almost cleared from the Grand Place and the cobbles were being washed. Time I think, to move on.
Particularly when the next country is less wealthy, railway companies will sometimes use their most decrepit rolling stock on services that go across a border because they are worried their train may get damaged or not returned - This was often the case in the days of the Iron Curtain.
Clearly the Belgians don't trust the Germans to give them their trains back as can be seen by this graffiti covered specimen that was on the cross border service to Aachen today. It's one of the oldest trains in the Belgian fleet.
Aachen is the first city over the border in Germany - indeed it's urban area spills over into both Belgium and The Netherlands making it a truly European place. It is also the city of Charlemagne who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in the year 800. He ruled from Aachen and his remains are in Aachen.
Charlemagne's last resting place is the cathedral. A real mixture of architecture with the inside (which is beautiful) being covered in mosaics rather like an eastern church. It has some fine stained glass most of which is modern due to war damage.
As with a lot of German cities, Aachen also has a rather impressive Rathaus or Town Hall.
Lastly, I think I have discovered what is wrong with the British High Street and why all the shops are closing ........ We don't have shops like this!!
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