The Good Menlcheltian.

Things weren't  looking great in Brussels. My plans were as leaky as the EU accounts, as certain as International law. I had been planning on couch surfing to Beijing but I couldn't find anyone to host me in Brussels. I'd sent about 20 messages and received a handful of replies and of those few, all negative. To be honest, I thought things could turn tricky.

In Brussels I couldn't find a room for less than 55 Europes, which made me grip by wallet and cry "Haowww Machhh aye?!" Like the worst of us, I hate parting with my DOLLAR. And besides I wanted a local to show me around.

So it came as a great relief when I received an invite to visit  Mechelen and to bed down on a study floor. Twenty minutes from Brussels, the Cathedral of  Sint-Romboutskathedraal makes Melechen photo famous, even if its name isn't. The cathedral Tower was meant to be 190 meters tall, but a project started in 1200 and still incomplete by 1520 was always going to scale smaller heights. 

Menechelen itself is a small city, that has lost none of its Medieval grandeur. It reminded me of Italian cities which I presume is because both Belgium, or Flanders, and the North of Italy were a foundation and cornerstone of the Renaissance respectively. The evening I arrived  I was cooked an artery harding feast of Belgium home cooking; Chiccorey, Ham and White Sauce, it was beautiful and something I would never have had if I was being hosted by a local.

My host was a Bio Scientist involved in research and in the evening we and a couple of her colleagues went out for drinks. At home or abroad the conversation is the same Recession. Talk was focused on lay-offs and re-structuring, the Recession bites home across Europe. We talked of taxes in Belgium, predictably, too high and Social security, inevitably regarded as too generous. Wherever you are in Europe, its the same grumbles, not enough money and not enough good politicians. 

Couch surfing is a beacon of light in the global community. Its building relations between states far better and far faster than E.U or the U.N. Based on mutual goodwill, hosts offers floors and couches and guidance in the home city. Individuals are vouched for by others experiences are smelted, and friendships forged. No one had vouched for me. Menchelen was my first stop, so it was act of extreme goodfaith to put me up for the night. 

In the morning, I woke up, it was raining. I wandered around Menchelen for a couple of hours, but the rain was pissing me off so I caught the train to Brussel