It was a cold and breezy 2am when Amanda, Bob, Emily, Emma, G, Hed, Kelv, Baker and Dines left Cardiff en route for London Luton, via Brissle to collect Miss Jess. With Kelv topping up Mr Bob's cup of tea to keep him awake for the drive through the night, we duly arrived at the airport car park ahead of schedule. After negotiating with the barrier intercom ("I've been told to tell you we're big") and being able to hear Amanda's cackling from the opposite end of a looong bendy bus, we got to the terminal with plenty of time for a cuppa and breakfast before our flight.
Priority check-in allowed us onto our Ryanair flight before the rest of the paupers, and bang on departure time... we were still sat at the gate! 45 minutes later, after a large group of footballers finally arrived (would they have waited for us? No chance!) we were off! Day was breaking, and we had a cracking view down the Thames to London town.
A brief nap later, we touched down at Brussels. Well, Brussels according to the gospel of Ryanair, so actually an hours coach ride away from our destination - perfect for nap number 2!
Arriving at the less glamorous end of the Eurostar station, we clumsily navigated our way onto the Brussels underground trams to get up to Grand Place and our hotel. Great delight was evident when the group realised that I'd skilfully booked us a hotel on the same road as a shoe shop, 2 lap dancing clubs, and a kebab shop! Not as seedy as it sounds though, and only 3 mins away from Grand Place - the place to be!
With the rest of the day free, we set off to find ourselves some lunch, and explore Brussels. Good food was had, and we managed to force a glass or two of Belgian beer and waffles down in the evening, at the pis bar, opposite the (in)famous Manequin Pis statue!
Up bright and early in the morning, for breakfast and sunrise on the top floor overlooking the city, we set off on the trams (changing along the way at the delightfully named "Kunst Wet" station!) on our way to Nemo!
Nemo 33 (although it turned out to be 35 metres deep - go figure!) lives in a non descript building, with no indication of the fun to be had within! Although we were booked in for two dives in the evening, we made a nuisance of ourselves and managed to get bumped up to dive straight away!
Each dive at Nemo is an hour slot - the first 10 minutes you spend messing around having a snorkel and peering down into the depths, before jumping out, kitting up (with everything provided!) and getting back into the water in SCUBA gear at 15 minutes past the hour.
Off we went, exploring the pool. There were a series of levels at 6m and 12m, including some overhead sections and air bells! A dark shaft in the corner plunged straight down to 35m and down down down we went...
After getting our heads around the fact we were at 35m, in a pool, in just our swimming costumes (and maybe a little bit narked for some!) we started to play around. See the photos for some of our antics! (Un)surprisingly the bottom of the 35m pit got very dark when full of divers - all the air bubbles blocking out the light. Night dive, in a pool, at 35m, in a swimming costume!! Mask clearing anyone!?
Out of the pool and back into the café, which cunningly is situated below the water level with windows into the pool, so you can watch the next batch of divers underwater!
All bar Hed+Kelv went back in for a 2nd dive, with the two non divers perching themselves by a pool window ready to be accosted! Same drill as before, but me and Jess managed to be the first people in the water in SCUBA gear and sky-dived down to the bottom of the pit - much brighter as we were the first down without all the bubbles. A few minutes later the masses arrived and the darkness fell!
With diving complete, it was back to the hotel for a nap and then out for some grub and a night on the biere blanc! Lets just say that it's best that most of the photographic evidence was deleted, or certainly didn't make it online!! Or an unfortunate incident involving Dinesy and a razor, or 5 in a bed, or Emma waking the entire floor up with her ticklish shrieks!
The following morning, with a few heads slightly the worse for wear, we went for a wander around Brussels in the direction of the European Parliament. The fresh air did us good, although some still couldn't face coffee and pastries in a little café! With time for a final meal of moules et frites, we ventured back for our bus to Brussels-Ryanair, and onto the plane home. A chilly Luton awaited us, and Emma and Baker stepped up to drive us all home.
All in all a good little trip, but definitely a dive to go and do in a group. Wouldn't be as much fun with just a couple of people. Unless it was on your doorstep! Great city to explore, and the biere blanc, moules et frites went down very well! Monday night pool sessions just won't be the same again!
Have a look at our photos / www.nemo33.com
