Near to here, on the rue Charles Buls, is an enormous Art Nouveau plaque dedicated to the city by a group of artistic citizens. Next, make your way on to the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (20 rue des Sables, 0032 2 219 1980), housed in Horta’s magnificent Magasin Waucquez. Along with the Horta museum and the Hÿtel Hannon, this is one of Brussels’ only three Art Nouveau buildings that are open to the public. Tour the country’s comic-strip culture in airy and uplifting surroundings that also include a bookshop and restaurant (museum open Sat-Sun 10am to 6pm, around £4 for adults, £2.50 for children).

If this inspires you, continue on to the fantastically ornate Maison Cauchie (5 rue des Francs, 0032 2 673 1506). It’s open on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month (£2.50 per person), or by prior appointment for groups.Lunch on the run La Porteuse d’Eau (48 avenue Jean Volders, 0032 2 538 8354) is a somewhat reconstructed Art Nouveau café where you can get a plate of cheeses or cold meats and bread for around £5 and wash it down with a glass of Leffe beer for £1.50. If you turn up in the afternoon, you could opt for a couple of crêpes and a coffee instead for around £2.50 (served from 3-6pm).Take a ride Antwerp is 35 minutes away from Brussels by train, from either Midi, Centrale or Nord stations (two trains per hour at weekends, £4 return). Horta designed Brussels’ Centrale station, but in the later Art Deco period. To make the most of Antwerp’s Art Nouveau architecture, get off the train at Berchem, a suburb in the south of the city, and head for Cogels-Osylei and the neighbouring streets.. We were in The Doghouse when he popped the question. On bended knee, he made a game job of it, shouting above the clamorous hip-hop playing in the cool-for-canines Soho bar.

That was more than six years ago and we never did progress to the ring/invitation/fall-out-with-your-family stage The asking was, somehow, enough That was until we reached Vegas

We were in The Doghouse when he popped the question. On bended knee, he made a game job of it, shouting above the clamorous hip-hop playing in the cool-for-canines Soho bar. That was more than six years ago and we never did progress to the ring/invitation/fall-out-with-your-family stage The asking was, somehow, enough. That was until we reached Vegas.
When gambling was legalised in Nevada in 1931, the state also adopted liberal laws for marriage and divorce. This candid bid to capitalise on couples previously put off tying the knot by the prevalent American prerequisites of blood tests, long waiting periods for licences and interfering in-laws, paid off.

Seven decades later, some 100,000-plus lovers annually come to this pop-up city in the desert to speedily plight their troth. Around $3.5m is spent on marriage licences alone and a bride-boggling number of specialist services have sprung-up. No sooner had we turned off Highway 15 and on to The Strip than we were confronted with a rolling billboard announcing: “Wedding Dreams of Las Vegas CALL TOLL FREE (888) 293-365 to book your wedding and you could WIN your wedding rings!”Along with casinos, a staggering proportion of the city’s hotels have in-house wedding chapels, and the one-arm-bandit alacrity of the Vegas wedding is impossible to avoid. Beyond the hotel compounds the pre-wrapped and ready-to-go temptation increases. The Speedway to Love Wedding Chapel, The Double Happiness Wedding Chapel – as with all the best American services, you don’t realise you want it until you’ve already put your money in the slot.

But like true, reticent Brits (well, one Canadian and a Brit) we cautiously settled for a little wedding window-shopping.First stop, the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. We waded through the foyer of our hotel – a glittering neon jungle Outside, The Strip wobbled in the heat haze. The office, resembling a police station with security doors and a gated front desk, is open 8am-midnight, Monday to Thursday, and 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, and there is still a queue. I fill in a form, submitting about as many details as if I was about to join a library, and wait.Half an hour and $35 later we were in possession of a wedding licence, just in case the mood took us. A convenient hop across the street is the Commissioner of Civil Marriages, where, for another $35, a justice of the peace will unite you in holy matrimony. We stood behind a couple from Kali in Mexico who looked bored and nervous in equal parts. They had obtained the licence in Vegas exactly a year ago andhad until the end of the day until the licence expired.