Most days, my blog entries are written 1 or 2 days after-the-fact. They’ve proven a great way to use time on the train. But this evening, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to blog “live” (although I won’t actually upload the material until later). I’m sitting at a café in Brussels Grand Place, having just eaten dinner (the photo is taken from where I am sitting). Brussels is an interesting place, although I really haven’t seen very much of the town. Lots of different languages are being spoken. The only thing that seems to be constant is the number of bags from the local chocolate stores. I estimate there are at least 20 stores selling chocolate (exclusively) within a 2 block radius of my current location. I assure you this is a conservative estimate. In earlier days, I might have been compelled to test many (if not all) of the offerings. But after 12 years since my last dessert, I figured I could keep the streak alive for one more day & pass on the chocolate.
As for my dinner, I would have opted for the local favorite food (mussels and fries) tonight, but my stomach was bothering me earlier, so I went for something simple (a ham omelet). And sadly, I’ve had no Belgian beer to wash down my food. The Belgians do make a very tasty sparkling water, though.
My day started at my canal-side hotel in Bruges. I have to admit that Bruges was somewhat more of a tourist trap than I expected. Don’t misunderstand me, it is still a very nice town and far from a “rip-off”. Yet the whole town seems devoted to the tourist. Nevertheless, I enjoyed wandering the town, taking an opportunity to climb 377 steps to the top of the city hall tour. It was a funny staircase, getting so tight at the top that I had to remove my backpack to get through.
(An aside: The lights just came on in the city hall in Grand Place. I’ve really enjoyed taking photos in Europe at night…tonight looks like no exception).
I also went to a church that has the first Michelangelo statue that left Italy. I’ve seen quite a lot of ornate, Gothic-style churches this trip. This church would be very impressive, had it not been for the many spectacular churches I’ve recently seen.
I also took a 30-minute canal boat trip. The canals of Bruges don’t really compare to say, Amsterdam or Venice. But they add charm to the town, and provide another perspective. The small (20 person) boat had people from France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, England, Canada and the US, a pretty diverse crowd. The tour guide/boat driver offered commentary in Dutch, German, French, and English.
Other than that, I just walked around and saw the town. It’s a nice place. If you are into beer, chocolate, or lace, it’s probably heaven. It’s also good if you like all thing Dutch, but don’t want to travel the extra hour or two to Holland.
I took a mid-afternoon train back to Brussels. Unfortunately, I missed the twice-hourly train by a matter of seconds (thanks in part to the construction at the Bruges train station). I got off at the Brussels Central station (as opposed to the main station called “Brussels-MIDI”). It too was under construction, and finding the luggage lockers was a far from trivial task. Eventually, I prevailed, stowing my luggage and then heading out to see the town. I had to switch languages once again, as Flemish is prevalent in Bruges, but French prevails in Brussels. Let’s see: I went from Hungarian to German (in Austria) (and briefly to Slovakian) to Czech back to German (in Germany) to French (in Luxembourg) to Flemish (in Bruges) back to French (in Brussels). Whew! Thankfully, English (with a little German mixed in) was able to carry me through.
I walked around a shopping district for awhile, at one point running into a large police presence and a loud mob. After getting a safe distance away, I asked a shop keeper what was going on (hoping it wasn’t a railway strike). His reply, “It’s about tonight’s football match.” I figured I must have run into the Irish or possibly Scottish team. Or perhaps it was a repeat from ten years ago in Vicenza, Italy, when the potential hooligans were from Naples? Nope. These loud fans that were being barricaded away from others by a large police presence were from…Vienna. I must admit that revelation came as something of a surprise.
I eventually wandered to the “Mannekin Pis” statue. Today, he was dressed in clothing from Chile (apparently, they are celebrating some sort of anniversary). There was a whole horde of people gawking at a 2 foot tall statue of a boy, well, relieving himself. I walked over to Grand Place (where I am now), a very impressive town square. It’s almost as though it was designed by Hollywood, with the different building lining the square. The restaurants and cafes (all terribly overpriced) were mostly full, on a day where it is approximately 55 degrees. The chocolate stores were doing a healthy business (perhaps that’s a contradiction in terms?). And there are lots of people to watch. People-watching isn’t really my preferred sport, but it is fun to do on occasion. And I can’t imagine a much better place to watch people than Brussels’ Grand Place.
With that, I think I’ll sign off. I plan to have one or two more entries, documenting my travel home and some general thoughts and impressions from the trip. It’s been a fun three weeks; challenging at times (especially with the illness that just won’t go away), but fun. I’ll save other thoughts for later, as now it’s time to get the check and head towards my airport hotel. This time, my flight is at a humane departure time (11:20am), and I don’t have to do much to prepare. This is a very different scenario than my departure, to be sure.
A post script: As I walked between Grand Place and the train station, I got to witness first-hand one of the truly Brussels traditions. A gentleman, probably about 50, dressed in a suit and tie, picked a fairly vacant and dark spot of a nearby square to relieve himself publicly. For a moment, it was like I was back in college. Ah, youth…or Brussels.
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