Bountiful Brussels

What's Brussels without some street painting? This is around a metro station near the hotel

When you have not written a post in the first half of the year it's only fair to start with something special. My recent work trip to Brussels definitely qualifies in this category as it was my first trip to Western Europe, hence more so. I'm not much of a city person so to keep me interested in a city work is the best way to entice. I prefer far away places during my breaks. So it was great to be on assignment to stay grounded. For a holiday I would suggest to include Ghent and Bruges to your itinerary for sure to get away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city. This small country has loads to offer and minimum of 4 to 5 nights are needed to do justice. Don't listen to people who travel 12 countries in as many days. You won't get to see or understand much and spend time mostly on trains and walking.

Surprisingly, I wasn't disappointed as I'm an architecture and history buff so the lovely buildings around the city ranging from art - nouveau to the public seating areas with beautiful atriums were a joy to see.

For instance the opening painting on a metro station wall. It's just such joy to see splashes of colour in between the high rises and greens. We even saw the lady who was painting on our way to work in the morning, but as we were in a rush at that time we completely missed the opportunity. While on our way back my colleague thought of clicking a few pictures so thankfully I will have some memories.

Brussels Museum

The hotels, bnbs have very late check in time in Europe. We landed early in the morning and dropped our baggage at the cloak room and headed for the long walk to work. The long walks that one must take in European cities is a well known fact. But I think this also allows one to absorb the rhythm of the place in a way which is unparalleled. At this point I so wanted to catch a tram. as luck would have it I had plenty of tram rides in the following days.

View from Gare Du Norde

All European cities have more than one train station so be careful when you travel. Know exactly which station to board. Otherwise you have a chance of missing your connecting Eurostar or Thalys. Even Interlaken in Switzerland I'm told has two stations. Brussels has three plus one at the airport Zaventum. Four train stations so the last mile connectivity is always a top of the mind thing. Thanks to my travel agent I had to buy all tickets before hand barring a few. I realised later that I saved quite a lot on the fare that way. It's very simple and easy so anyone planning a trip to Europe soon my suggestion would be to buy before hand and have them downloaded on your phone. Easy peasy.

On Day 1 we must have walked close to 10 kms zig zagging the city with couple of metro rides and one train ride thrown in. The capital of European Union and seat of the European Parliament is a melting pot of diverse nationalities. As the traffic is not unruly and people are not honking you can actually hear not only your own voice but also overhear all kinds of languages being spoken around you. And that's a delight. The number of "pardon"s I've heard in the three days, I'm sure Brussels has to be one the most polite cities in Europe if not the most polite! It has a relaxed but bustling sense of aura to it. With best chocolates and good beer that's a given I guess.
But weather wise it's pretty wet. Yes it rains more than London so keep a fold-up handy! I had carried mine so had no trouble. Weather can be pleasant and wet to pleasant and cold. But mostly pleasant during the summer months. Spotting Tin Tin and Captain graffiti of course made my day. There's a comic strip walk around the city which seems charming and also Herge Museum and Museum of Cartoon in Brussels. Alas I'll have to wait till the next trip to do both.

Brussels Square

Brussels Square is the heart of the touristy area. I'm told this is the old trading offices of the guild which is maintained well to keep the medieval character of the trading history alive. Every European town no matter how tiny will definitely have a market square dotted with tented cafes of all sizes.  With a Town Hall thrown in and Church. Weekends are really busy. This photo was taken on a Monday and people thronging were mostly international tourists. A sizable number comprises of Indians but didn't spot any Indian eateries though. You can pick up chocolates and souvenirs here. The alley on the left of the square leads to Europes' oldest shopping Arcade, Galeries Royales Saint -Hubert. One stop arcade for all things beautiful.

Marvel at the tapestry of famous painting and perfect window dressings

However, no trip to Brussels is complete without a visit to Manneken Pis. Manneken Pis is a landmark 61 cm (24 in) bronze sculpture in the centre of Brussels (Belgium), depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain's basin. No idea why it's such a must. Possibly because it's tiny! Apparently there are some new ones added to the series elsewhere in the city. Well, we were ready to give them a miss after a long day. All we could think of was some cold beer after all the walking in the high Sun. And we were not disappointed as draught/draft beer is available every step of the way. We headed for one in the shade and found our first pint to breathe after landing in Belgium.

I loved Brussels as soon as I sipped my first beer! Lol! The best part of Europe or may be the West that for the most part people will leave you to your own device. No judgement, no intrusive questions. Sometimes, they can also be helpful, kind and thoughtful. Which was completely unexpected. I did encounter some minor rudeness but then that's no more than what I encounter from strangers in my own country too.

I immensely enjoyed the beautiful architecture and generosity of Brussels.  It such a pleasure to meet the young and the old who are kind and ready to help you with directions, change and some thoughtful gesture on the way. A young boy helped us with 20 cents when we were falling short to buy metro tickets, one gentleman gave me a free ticket and spoke in very fast French and insisted that I should accept it. The policeman at Gare du Midi escorted me to the tram with details about directions upon stopping. I will always remember Polizei with a smile on my face just for his helpfulness.

Royal Palace, Brussels

The Brussels Palace is where the Belgian Royal family resides. It's open to public viewing from 21st July to 22nd September when they are on summer break. unlike many other royal palaces this one is open to photography and one can go trigger happy while admiring the interiors I'm told.

Like in most countries in Brussels too people usually buy their daily lunch from nearby grocery store. In Bangkok and Japan it's the 7 Eleven and in Brussels it's the Basic Fit. They stay open till 8 p.m. in the evening. Standard lunch fair for the average woman is a bowl of salad or a wrap. However, construction workmen who would start the day as early as us I noticed mostly carried their sandwiches.  I've actually become a fan of the salmon-egg wrap on the go. Unfortunately, both the times I was more focussed on devouring them rather than clicking them so no pictures :D The food is always a big draw when you travel. As we had little time to explore we depended largely on the hotel breakfast which had awesome meat collection, parfaits,waffles, coffee and all kinds of fruits. So will end this post on a aromatic note. We had the most divine chicken tandoori platter at a Pakistani restaurant. Spare Ribs and Leffe was our choice for rounding off the dinner on Day 3.  Bon appetite till we meet again! Have a good evening everyone!