Author Archives: Richard

Movie Review: Jane and the Lost City (UK, 1987)

It’s 1940, and the British are in dire need of funds to keep their war effort going. Fortunately, they’ve just received a report of a “Lost City” somewhere in Africa that’s sitting on a fortune in diamonds. Unfortunately, they don’t have information on it’s exact location. Time to call in a crack team of adventurers to find it before the Nazis do!

The “crack team” consists of The Colonel (Robin Bailey), his butler / assistant Tombs (Graham Stark), and our titular heroine Jane (Kirsten Hughes). Opposing them at every step along the way is a team of Nazis, led by Lola Pagola (Maud Adams), with her “muscle” Carl (Ian Roberts), trained assassin Heinrich (Jasper Carrot), and expert on Africa Dr. Schell (John Rapley).

If this sounds like a mashup of Raiders of the Lost Ark and King Solomon’s Mines, you win. I don’t know what you win, but you win something….

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Brussels – 11

OK, let’s wrap this up. Not much more to talk about, anyway.

Belgium doesn’t really have its own culinary style. They’re too close to France. But they do have some “signature” dishes – not just waffles and frites – that are worth trying out.

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Brussels – 10

Like any major city, Brussels has a lot of small but interesting places worth a visit. I stayed in the central city area and didn’t figure out mass transit, so I didn’t get out to see the Atomium. Perhaps next time.

Anyway, you might want to check out the Museum of Illusions. They’ve got a lot of the usual “these lines are really parallel” illusions, an Ames Room, and a few other “fun house” rooms where the visual cues screw up your orientation and induce vertigo. Continue reading →

Brussels – 8

The oldest looking building on the Grand-Place is not actually the oldest one; it just looks that way. The “King’s House” used to be a special residence for government officials; now it’s the museum of the City of Brussels.

Of course it’s worth a look.

There’s the usual stuff about how the original settlement was at the farthest navigable spot on the Senne River, how the town grew to a city, it’s importance in trade, etc. And how the river turned into little more than an open sewer (that flooded on occasion), so it was decided that the best thing to do would be to cover it over.

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Brussels – 5

Right, here it is, the Big One. Or the Big Two, if you want. A walking tour of Brussels, with tastings of chocolate and beer along the way. Thanks to Trip Advisor, I was tipped off to Hungry Mary’s Beer and Chocolate Tour – and it’s well worth your money.

Nina, our host and guide, started us off with a note that it’s better to do some chocolate first, before everyone is tipsy….

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Brussels – 3

Welp, time to take a walking tour and learn about the history of Brussels. I booked a tour online through Viator, but it doesn’t seem like you need to do that. Just get to the Grand-Place / Grote Markt (Brussels’ main square) early enough, and look for someone carrying a brightly colored umbrella with a flag on the top. They’re a tour leader, and the flag indicates the language of the tour. I don’t think they care if you tag along; a lot of the umbrellas say “Free Tour”, and there’s no sign that they check people at the start. Just show up and tag along. At least I didn’t pay much for my tour.

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