On the terraces...

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise 1 - Hasselt 0

Which means that USG will be promoted to the second division of the Belgian league.

To be frank, the first half is unlikely to go viral, but the second half was much better. The USG goal looked set to be followed by a quick second, but it was not to happen. Hasselt mounted a spirited last minute attack, with even their goalkeeper in the USG box.

Great game, great atmosphere - well done USG, and well done Hasselt!

Many thank to Brussels journos Andy and Cillian for the invite. George and I will be back......

One Bela or another......

Quite close to Brussels Central Station, in Place d'Espagne, there stands this statue of Béla Bartok, the Hungarian composer. Its a little sinister, but I like it. It was given as a gift by the Hungarian government to mark the 50th anniversary of Bartok's death. I cannot pass it without smiling, however, as it always brings back a priceless memory.

I think it was in 2006. I was walking through Place d'Espagne with a British MEP, a nice chap who is sadly no longer with us, and a group of visitors from Devon. We were all on our way to dinner near Grand Place.

As we passed, he declared to our small group "And over here is a statue of Bela Lugosi..."

Nice one, Graham!

Birth of a Nation

It is nice to have a favourite statue in the local park, but this is something really special. Make your way to Square Marie Louise, just a few minutes walk away from the European Parliament, and you will find this.

This statue won gold at the Paris exhibition of 1937. The LIFE magazine of August 9 headlined: "US art was represented by this old theme The birth of a nation, by an obscure U.S. sculptor named Marius Vos”

It is superb, and I can walk past it most days.....

When my son was 3, he was caught climbing on it.... There was a bit of a scandal....