Day 122 of international places giving smiles – Remembering one night in Brussels –Belgium (chocolates, waffles, beer, diamonds, Tintin, EU headquarters)
After the Schengen Agreement most of the borders of European countries are open. Most of the time, the people are not checked as they enter or leave a European country and we didn’t even realize at which point our coach had entered the country of Belgium.
We generally associate the country of Belgium with fine chocolates (Gadiva brand) or diamonds, other than that I do not know what to expect out of this country. I was told that the French fries were invented not in France but in Belgium and that Tintin the comic character was also invented here. Belgium was witness to World War activity. In the first hour of entering Belgium we noticed that the landscapes were quite flat. The languages spoken here are both Flamish and French and we see signboards in both the languages. The 10.4 million population are basically peaceful in nature. King Albert II is the monarch of Belgium who lives at the Royal Palace in the Upper part of Brussels.
The first impressive sight that we saw from our coach as we entered Brussels was the green dome of the 100 year old Bascillica of Sacred Heart in the Cocalberg district. We also passed by the Cathedral of Micheal Godzilla. The City of Brussels has multiple identities and is divided into the Lower Town and the Upper Town. We drove along both the parts-the lower town consisted of medieval core quarters while the upper town had modern glass buildings. The red brick and stone buildings with its wrought iron balconies were different from the stylish modern buildings in the shopping areas. We could also realise that a lot of Brussels has gone under the demolition ball to make way for boring skyscrapers. We saw many underground tunnels for cars and trams.
Brussels is the headquarters of the NATO (Non-Aligned Treaty Organisation) as well as the EU (European Union). We see a lot of symbols of the EU flag (12 golden stars in a circle on a blue background) on buildings or cars. At present 27 countries are part of the EU and many important decisions are taken in Brussels. In fact our St. Martins hotel is located in the EU district called Quartier Leopald quite close to the huge and spectacular EU Parlement buildings.
The kids room was on the other end of the floor and we helped ourselves to some good hot coffee from the machine near the lift. We then walked in the cold streets to our first sightseeing destination point- the Cinquantenaire. This is an imposing 3 arched structure that honours the unknown soldier. It has 2 museums on either sides-the Automobile museum and the War museum. It was lit up and looked majestic in the midst of the dark night.
We then walked up to the Metro Merode. With great difficulty we got the change to buy tickets for our underground train journey to the City Centre at Metro Gare Centrale.
We asked directions and 3 of the local people actually walked with us right upto the Rue de L’etuve and the Mannekin Pis Fountain. In spite being a national symbol the statue of the little boy cheerfully taking a leak into the pool often disappoints visitors because of its dimunitive size (only 14 inches in height!).
We then walked towards the Grand Place on narrow cobble stoned streets. Each street has something special about it. There are numerous outdoor restaurants and the atmosphere is very colourful. There were many traditional Belgian shops selling chocolates and laces. We did not expect Europe to be so cold in April, in spite of being fully covered it felt as if we were freezing!
Suddenly we found ourselves in front of one of the most beautiful squares of Europe- the Grande Place. Here we found the splendid Gothic styled Hotel de Ville– the only building to escape bombardment by the French in
1695. The merchant guilds had erected majestic Guildhalls which were adorned with statues and symbols. There is also a small Brewery Museum about the A-Z of beer making which was obviously closed at night.
In keeping with the spirit of the times, in Belgium –a specialist for beers- both Girish and Siddharth tried out the local beers. I had mixed-up emotions when for the first time, I saw my son drink alchohol in front of me. Yet the place was so grand that nothing else really mattered!
I was surprised to see a bit of Hindi being spoken especially to us at the souvenir shop, the salesman called out to us as Zeenat Aman, Shahrukh Khan and Rajesh Khanna! For the true Belgian experience we had to try out the steaming hot waffles and strawberries and cream…yummmm.. eating this under the grandeur of the Grand Place in Belgium is one moment that I will never forget!
Just before midnight we walked to the metro. A policeman helped us to punch in our return tickets. We reached our hotel by walking from the nearest station Metro Maalbeek.
There is so much more to see in Brussels but I think we did full justice to our only night out in Brussels!
So what place made you smile today?
Be thankful for the places that make you smile!
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