| Page Views: 431 Last Visit to Brussels: August, 2006 | Brussels- trips in 2005 & 2006 by edwis - last update: Jun 26, 2007 |
on a Croatia Air flight around 1130 am and find that the temperature is announced to be 15c / or about 55 US degrees! Yikes, this is an August trip and my luggage consisted of mostly shorts and short-sleeved shirts. I had to quickly do a layered cold weather outfit – a tee shirt under my short sleeve shirt and hope for the best. From the airport you can take a $3.00 train ride into the Centraal Station, which was only one block from my hotel and ½ block from the main tourist area attraction, called “Grand Place”.
The hotel which was booked online turns out to be pretty nice place (best of trip). It had a fabric canopy over the bed, two robes, slippers, and a bidet. Of course they had a bed ‘turn-down’ service each evening, but this being Belgium, I was not only served with a piece of chocolate on my pillow, but “Godiva” chocolates….. One day I took an afternoon nap, left for a while, and when I came back and the bed was made!
The largest public square in Europe is ‘Grand Place’ of Brussels. At different times of the year, they plant it with special flower designs, skate on it, or have a wide open area. There was some big rock and roll event coming soon after I left but the big sound stage was being assembled while I was there and I could tell it was going to be a spectacular event. The buildings surrounding the Grand Place are quite ornate, spectacular and large. Some of the trimming is a special gold fleck paint, which plays off the sunlight and creates fantastic views. Even though it was cooler temperatures while I was there, I found hundreds of people always milling about Grand Place square. While there, you can watch the Godiva Chocolatier in action, get portraits done, be amused by street artists, one even had a old dog wearing a hat and sunglasses who carried a little basket from his mouth wandering amongst the tourists collecting tips.
The streets coming directly off Grand Place are mostly restaurants streets. Meaning that there are numerous restaurants, one right after another for the entire block or two. Every one of them was an outdoors eating place with umbrella tables and no cars allowed. Because the tables pushed out onto the streets, there are narrow walkways, resulting in a stream of walkers always parading past all the folks eating. One street was definitely the Chinese /Asian food street, another was the Italian eateries, and there were plenty of Indian and Pakistani places also. Many of them had hawkers out in front trying to lure you in.
Brussels is the capital of the European Union (EU) and damn proud of it. The blue flag with the circle of gold stars is flown everywhere. After my first hour of walking around, I had to ask someone - what the hell language is used here? I was told that there is some local Dutch/Flemish blend used, but 90% of all the important communication is in French. Well, that works for me, with my capable command of the 5 French words I know. Now, I know I could survive.
I discover one of the famous Belgian waffle stands and stop to sample one. The street waffle stores have large open windows with waffle makers wearing chef outfits and hats, creating them for you on the spot.Most of them are served in long narrow Styrofoam trays, which you can carry and eat as you walk. The way I saw it, that no matter what you ordered, it came served with some chocolate on it. A little farther on I find another shop that has Parisian style Panini (baguette) sandwiches, so I have a brie/cucumber/tomato crusty baguette. |
|  | By now I was getting quite thirsty and needed a rest stop, so luckily I found a sidewalk café serving a famous local beer – Stella Artois – which was to be found everywhere.What I discover is that Brussels is very much like a miniature Paris, full of street cafes, street artists, musicians, grand squares, no cars allowed on the mostly too narrow cobblestone streets, monuments everywhere, and it felt very much like the Latin Quarter in Paris. Only it is a smaller, more manageable and friendlier version to deal with. Later I did some reading on Brussels and found that many people feel Brussels is more romantic and more affordable than Paris. I felt quite at home and comfortable there.
Everywhere I wandered there were great corner street signs with directions and actual pictures of all the nearby tourist attractions / monuments embedded in the signs. It was very easy therefore to walk around and keep some sense of direction. Places like the Palais Royale, Parc du Bruxelles, and the Parliament buildings were all enormous and spectacular sites. One place is the famous ‘Galleries of St. Hubert’ - a multi block long covered walk way with over 100 fancy shops and cafes to distract you. The rounded ceiling is made of glass panels so you have a spectacular ambiance. A rest stop for a cappuccino in the beautiful ‘Galeries de la Reine’ (Queen’s Gallery) took over a half hour, due to routine slow service coupled with plenty of people watching time. This coffee shop served a shot glass of a chocolate mousse with my cappuccino. Many local people were drinking a tall glass of warmed milk, mixed with coffee, which is served with a small side-cup of chocolate mousse, and another small cup of liquid chocolate. The local name for this local beverage is a macchiato. They would stir it all up and voila! Chocolate was everywhere in Brussels and some of it was pretty pricey stuff. The chocolate shops were pretty spectacular to visit, and in many of them you can watch the clerks/artists making it by the piece.
Returning to the Royal Windsor Hotel, and then entering the hotel elevator one time, I said very politely “push four please” to a couple also onboard. The guy replies that I must be from “the states”, saying that he can always tell that accent. From my three spoken words? He was from West Palm Beach, Florida which is about an hour north from our Florida home. He says that he now lives in Dublin, and introduces me to his chubby Irish wife. Later I met a couple of young American girls from Chicago in the hotel, who told me they were rushing out to purchase a French language tape so they could learn to communicate here. If only it was that easy, I thought. The mini bar in my hotel room was pretty nice with a complementary water bottle, and it also had a very nice bottle of French Bordeaux, vintage 2001.
Roaming around I find the famous Le Parc Brussels, which is like a smaller version of Paris’ Luxemburg Gardens, having many fountains, statues, pathways and quiet beautiful settings just to enjoy the nature. This parc has one spectacular high shooting fountain that goes out in about 4 different directions. It seemed like every block in the area had several lace shops, outdoor coffee tables/umbrellas, and chocolate houses. So my first stroll to find the ATM included waffle stop, a brie Panini, some beer, and a cappuccino stop. Things were going good so far.About 20 blocks out from the Grand Place area is the Parc du Cinquantenaire - a giant park with a massive old stone Triumphal Arch which is mighty imposing being up on a hill.There on the several hundred acres of this public park property is the Brussels Aviation Museum, a fantastic airplane museum, which has dozens of real aircraft indoors. There is also an automobile museum complex just across the street. Inside the park area is the beautifully designed glass complex known as the ‘Museum of the Armies’ and Military History. |
| | mussels, fries and beer - Lines of tourist buses were always about this area.One of the famous tourist sites is the “Manneken Pis” – a tiny 14 inch statue of a little boy peeing water into a fountain which happens to be on a quiet corner in a neighborhood. Such a stupid big deal I thought, but there must have been 30-40 people (yes, Japanese with cameras) all huddled around it taking this famous photo shot. As I come out of some nice old church building, I contemplate about how is it that while in all these European cities, we always visit at least one church, a basilica, or some cathedral every single day while we are there as a tourist. Some days like being in Rome, it could be four or five in a single day! But, back at home, I can go two years and never be inside a church. Now I wondered if I lived in Europe would I somehow become a more religious person?
I found a cutesy outdoor café and had some of the famous ‘mussels in Brussels’ (moules en Bruxelles). You are served a big black soup pot of steamed mussels in an herbed broth. Certainly more than one person can eat, and you also get another black pot for the empty shells. Of course it was served with French (Belgium?) Fries, and followed with a cold refreshing ‘Stella’. It worked for me.
Belgian Fries
It’s funny how every trip develops its own personality. One year it was finding low cost good quality Italian wines and meals; another was having grilled fish and black risotto almost daily; this Belgium trip became being served French (or is it Belgian?) Fries with everything you ordered. Fries with veal, lamb, steak, fish, mussels, I even ordered fries with the several variety of fish soups I had. In Brussels (and Amsterdam), the fries were served with mayo, if you wanted mayo and ketchup, it was 1 euro extra. Except for the days at the Croatian farm, I think I had fries every day not by a conscious choice, just by circumstance. In spite of that being true, somehow I actually lost a few pounds on this trip with all the walking and light street meals I had. (Thanks to the 2-3 of you who noticed upon my return)
They sold Tee Shirts that said ‘mussels, fries and beer - that’s what makes Brussels famous’. Of course waffles and chocolate could be added to that statement. At one spot, I tried a popular ‘fixed price’ menu - fish soup, mussels, fries, Crème Brule. I was told that in Belgium, every beer has its own specially designed glass. It seems that Belgian beers do not taste good when drunk from a non matching glass. This trip started my European beer glass collection of the beers I now drink regularly at home. If you have a Heineken at my house, you get a Heineken glass with it. And we are told that you never, ever order a frosty mug when drinking a beer; the temperature change when you pour the beer into the frosty mug causes condensation thusly changing the taste of the beer. The more we drink, the more we learn.
One day on my 7 AM morning exercise walk to Le Parc, I find an Apothecary with an open sign, and I needed to secure some much needed sore throat lozenges. The black female attendant on duty only spoke French and I only English, but with hand signals such as coughing and rubbing my throat for descriptive purposes. Somehow after much laughing, I came out with a successful purchase. Later on my way back to the hotel around 800 AM, I walk by an open shop with a sign “Coiffure Messieurs”. I entered and was greeted nicely by a gentleman in a white shirt and tie. Through demonstrative hand signals again, I secured a beard trim, neck shave, and haircut – this was the ‘full works’ treatment being laid back prone in the chair, hot towels, straight edge razor, and dusting perfumes. I finally leave this old time men’s spa at 930 feeling pretty good and tell him he is an artist! I think it cost around $30 US, but I never had a better trim.
By this time I was getting hungry so I stopped for my first authentic ‘Belgian pancakes’ at an outdoor café. I am served a plate of crepes covered with strawberries and cream, and a side cup of chocolate. Hey, you just can’t eat waffles every day. |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
edwis' Brussels Travel Tips
 edwis' Brussels Travelogues | | | |
|
 Comments for edwis about Brussels | | | | |
johngayton Thu Sep 11, 2008 01:43 UTC
Great intro Ed and some great pics. Tips could do with a bit more info tho' if you want to make them rateable. |
|
|
email me
add as friend
