More of Brussels

Dry run

Today is our only whole day in Brussels.  We weren’t too fussed about seeing and doing everything as we had been here 12 years ago.

We started the day with a dry run (or walk) from the hotel to Centraal Station.  The exercise turned out horribly for a few reasons:

• I wasn’t sure if Kim was navigating to the train station called Centraal or the metro station of the same name. We ended up at the latter but could not find the former and went on a bit of a wild good chase.
• It didn’t help that the station was located at the intersection of 7 roads.
• Things were further complicated by road works and barriers preventing us from exploring the area in a more effective manner.

We eventually found the train station in a spot which we had passed some 15 mins ago but had not noticed the entrance hidden away.  We got him a ticket for tomorrow and went our separate ways for a couple of hours.

Back at Grand Place

While he was at Autoworld and the Military Museum (second visit for both), I went to Grand Place to hopefully get photos in better light.

Entering the Town Hall (built 1401) gate, I had forgotten that it has a hollow centre in the form of a courtyard.  The useable space is contained in the rooms that formed part of the four sides.

I then walked into the Museum on the opposite side of the square.  It was my lucky day, being free of charge.  While the building was erected between 1504 and 1536, it was rebuilt in the 19th century in its current neo-Gothic style.  There were 2 floors of reasonably interesting exhibits plus a floor of kinda empty space available for temporary exhibits.

Text continues after this gallery.

Catheral and royalty

At the Cathedral, I found that mass was still in progress inside.  No one stopped visitors entering and seeing the church quietly and respectfully from the back.

I then saw a display of the royalty.  My mind then asked enquiringly (then Googled for answers):

• Are the royal family Flemish or French? It tuned out that they’re neither but or German origins, like many European royal families.
• Are they Catholics or Protestants, thinking about how French and Dutch are aligned to those denominations usually? They’re Catholics and Belgians of both Flemish (Dutch) and French descent are Catholics (if they practice a religion).  The Duch here were not part of the Dutch religious reform.

I made my way past the royal palace before catching the metro to meet Kim at Autoworld for lunch.  As it turned out, there wasn’t much food around there apart from fancy restaurants.  Fortunately, I found a Carrefour Express where we could get some food to eat in the park.

He continued his day with a visit to the Military Museum while I went back to the hotel.  I got back around 1400 and he joined me back less than 2h later.

Text continues after this gallery.

In the evening, we went for a walk through the pedestrian areas of New Street and then back on Anbusch. Kim wanted to buy me dinner for all the work I had put in for the trip.

Neither of us were particularly hungry and we settled for a good sandwich roll and an excellent salad at a shop run by Middle Eastern people, even though it wasn’t a Middle Eastern menu.  The prices were so reasonable, similar to supermarket pre-made food.  That was despite being in an arcade off the main shopping street.

We finished our stay in Brussels with a Lindeman’s cherry lambic beer and some supermarket pastries with our tea in the room. The beer was very rich, and tasted like cherry-flavoured Guiness.