Last week two of my uni friends came to stay with me in Belgium, one from Friday to Sunday and the other from Sunday to Thursday! It was so nice to see them and catch up, especially as one is on her year abroad currently and won't be in Durham when I go back in a month or so. I was determined to show both of them as much as possible in a short space of time, so it was a pretty hectic week to say the least and I saw more of Brussels in six days than I have in years, especially now I don't live here permanently. It was great to have an excuse to get out and about and go places I wouldn't usually bother to go!

One of those places was actually a secondhand record shop around the Grand Place area, which I'd spotted on Google maps when planning our daily itinerary and really wanted to visit. I have a vinyl player that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago, but I have very few records (just some of my favourite modern albums) so I've been wanting to build up more of a collection including some vintage items and this was the perfect opportunity.

We actually went to two shops in the end and I got two LPs in each. They were all about €7 each  - or maybe slightly more, I can't remember cos I've taken the prices off now - which I think is more or less average for secondhand records.

I actually really like the sound of rock and roll but I don't know much about it so I thought something like this 'Rock and Roll party' record was ideal for me to just get to know the genre a bit more. It just has a collection of hits and even some French songs I think, although I haven't listened to both sides all the way through yet. I also love the cover art, it's so bright and fun and garish and seventies.

It was only after I'd left the shop that I realised the Grease record is actually Grease 2 and not the original which is kind of annoying, as although it's not my favourite thing I do at least know some of the songs from Grease, but I realised that I'm not really that bothered. I've never seen Grease 2 but who knows, maybe I'll find something I like on this one.

OK so if I'm honest, I bought both of these mostly for the cover aesthetic and only partly for the contents. The one on the left is a compilation of 'silver screen favourites' from old movies which seems like the kind of thing one ought to own on vinyl, and from what Google tells me the Marilyn Monroe one is actually a modern release of her singing some tracks from movies. Which is cool. But also just loooook at the cover, I love it. I definitely can imagine both of these playing atmospherically in the background on a rainy night, with a slight crackly fuzz from the record player adding to the ambiance...