On Saturday afternoon, I went for a ride around Brussels using Villo! bicycles. I was looking for some street art by Muga. After I had found the piece I was looking for, I continued exploring the back streets by bike. After ending up at Place Jourdain, I decided the best way to get back up to the top of Ixelles was via the European Parliament. Here I found the prow of a beached trawler and was intrigued to see that it was for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign,commonly known as Hugh’s Fish fight. It is the follow up to the Channel 4 TV series, in which he publicised the crazy practices carried out on the seas and oceans around Europe.

As an individual, we often feel powerless to get big political institutions to change their course, but what we buy or refuse to buy has a bigger influence than our vote in many instances. The plight of the oceans is dire, with little projected to thrive in them other than jelly fish by 2030. Hugh’s Fish Fight is a campaign aimed at highlighting the shocking waste caused by the Common Fisheries Policies.

Hugh’s Fish Fight

Signing up for the petition is an easy move, but looking carefully at the fish and seafood we buy at home or on our travels can also make a huge difference. Much of the seafood on sale today is not from sustainable sources. One thing we can do is look for the MSC’s (Marine Stewardship Council) logo, to certify that the fish was from a sustainable fishing process. Even farmed fish are fed on unsustainably fished anchovies and the like.

On a positive note, on the Sunday I was in Diksmuide, Flanders, Belgium. Looking for somewhere to eat our evening meal and we decided to dine on a canal barge . We were pleasantly surprised to find that they took great care to only provide sustainably fished seafood. They did not use tuna and had an excellent vegetarian / vegan choice on their menu.   I’ll probably mention them in future post on Diksmuide, but in the meantime they can be found by the IJzer Tower. They are called Water en vuur (Water and Fire). The point is that some restaurants now do consider how sustainable the food they offer is. Supporting them is doing our bit, for the change we would like to see in the world.

More information on Hugh’s Fish Fight: http://www.fishfight.net/

Between the hours of 9am and 7pm, for one Sunday, each September, cars are banished from within the Brussels Outer Ring Road. All of the buses, trams and metro are free. The only cars allowed are those belonging to the Emergency Services and taxis. A number of events are staged around the city. Including the laying of turf and trees in large pots, on Place Royale in front of the Palace for a large picnic and farmers market and eco exhibition.
This weekend is one of the best to visit Brussels, especially if you wish to hire one of the city’s bicycles from the Villo! Bike share scheme as you will be a lot safer on the road.

I posted this video on YouTube. It gives a some idea of what the day is like.

But then found this video from the 2009 event, of longboarders enjoying a car free Avenue Tervuren, I really enjoyed watching it.

Usually, there are also some Braderies on the streets, where locals (and some traders) spread out anything they want to sell on the street.

Other Car Free Days are staged in cities as diverse as Amsterdam and Bogota. There is campaign to try to get a Car Free Day for London. What is the situation in your city or country?

I went out this afternoon to make an instructional video on using the Brussels Metro system. Unfortunately I forgot my STIB ticket so had to go and film something else. I decided to look at the Cyclocity bicycle hire scheme that I covered in an earlier post. I was shocked to find that the bicycles, docking stations and pay stations had been removed. All that was left were the Maps of the scheme.

A search of the internet reveals that they are to be replaced by a bigger scheme called “Villo!” that will kick off in May this year. Cyclocity only covered the Brussels Pentagone ( the area within the inner ring road, named due to its shape). The new scheme will cover much more of the city.

When I remember my STIB ticket and the new scheme is in place, I will attempt to remake the film. That is of course if I remember the video camera!