Musings From BrusselsThrough June I have mostly been in Brussels. The weekends have seen me all over the place on day trips and excursions, but still I have witnessed a few things that I would like to share. The first was on a Saturday morning. I was out jogging early (it was before 9am!) and I saw, jogging around the parc, Romano Prodi. For those unaware, he is former Prime Minister of Italy, currently head of the European Commission and (if the polls and pundits are to be believed) likely to be running for Prime Ministers office again next year. I have a number of friends that have seen him in local supermarkets and car parks, doing regular things as we all do. I find that reassuring. In a world where President Bush turns up and needs x thousand security staff and every leader needs a bullet proof car, flashing sirens, motorcycle outriders and more, Mr Prodi can go jogging alone. Perhaps we aren't all about to die horribly in an outrage as the news and politicians would have us think. It was actually the morning after the EU summit, so Brussels and the Schuman area had been on high alert for two days. He probably had some stress to work out of his system... Secondly, I found myself walking near the office and saw a crowd. There were a few hundred people lining the street, school children, camera crews and a reporter. I thought it looked interesting so I ambled over to investigate further. About 30 seconds passed before I was thoroughly bored by all this. As I was admiring the architecture of the church we were all stood outside the crowd roared into life and everyone cheered. Rather surprised by this sudden noise I turned to see two people jogging down the street. They were holding the Olympic Flame. It wasn't until a day later and I watched the 'build up' on the BBC that I found out just how rare it is to see this. I now feel privileged and honoured. Since I guess most people on earth will never actually see it, I fancied boasting a little... In case you are wondering, it looks like any other flame and is not very exciting at all I'm afraid to say. But hey, the crowd loved it. And that is what counts. * This was published in July 2004 *
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