Damn you Maniken Piss!

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Another Ryan Air holiday bound to be plagued with certain uncomfortable elements; and yet, in the balance between comfort and cost we happily opt for the cheaper and more dangerous route. After enduring the ominously error free flight and bus ride, we arrived in a chilly Brussels, properly decoded another confusing metro system and met our couch surfer host.

Belgium is a symbol of internationalism. They are the capital for the EU's parliament, NATO, and many other global governing entities. They have long had an active role to play in peace keeping, and their former African colonies of Congo and Rwanda have led to a large and well integrated African population. Further, Brussels is a predominantly French speaking city in a Flemish speaking part of the country where German, English, French and Dutch can be heard on every street corner.

My preconcieved notions of Belgium led me to believe that the country was overun with wealthy and well fed locals. I thought that the streets would be spotless and the poverty invisible. These notions were shattered by a certain grittiness that is evidenced in the run down neighborhoods and the 20% unemployment rate.

Our host, Kohn, the administrator at a local language school, was able to shed some light on the source of poverty. In order to be employed in Brussels one must be bilingual, and a large portion of Brussels working class speaks only French. And so, the internationalism, applauded globally, is the source of social problems and hardships locally.

We went for dinner at a traditional Belgian eatery where the quality and variety of Belgian fare was surprising; then, to a local bar where a live rock band was listened to from behind throngs of revelling locals. Kohn then handed us the keys to his apartment, trusting us there alone for two days to finger up his political book collection and play his antique piano. We would not see Kohn again as he would stay with his girlfriend. "You are Canadians," he explained to us prior to handing over infinite trust, "what harm could you do?"

The next two days were spent wondering the streets, marvelling at overpriced choclate displays, eating delicious rich food and attending exhibitions. We went to an exhibition on the history of European maps and went to a good modern art installation. We went to a movie, ate bad movie theatre popcorn, and drank Belgian beer in another working class pub. Brussels- Check. If my description of Belgium seems a bit boring, don't be misguided. Like so many other Europena city destinations, the best things to do don't top must see lists. Instead they are subtle; watching well dressed elderly couples walking arm in arm, noticing the attention to detail the competative Brussels restaurant industry is forced to have to attract costumers, feeling typsy after one glass of strong, delicious Belgian beer. Sometimes, atmosphere and ambiance are enough to justify a vacation.

What was almost a great weekend getaway, was easily forgotten with the occurance of a single unforseen disaster. Brussel's number 1 tourist attraction is a small statue of a boy peeing. 'Maniken Piss', as it is called in Belgium, attracts millions of visitors each year. On holidays and for special events, the boy is dressed in cute outfits to commemorate the occasion, but always, he is peeing. Though clearly not worth a visit, I insisted on our last day in Brussels that prior to boarding the bus for the distant Ryan Air Airport, I must catch a glimpse of this storied disapointment. Reluctantly Dennie agreed, and we spet our morning searching out the diminutive statue.

It's difficult to decipher where exactly things went wrong at this point. Maybe it was the the maniken, or the delayed metro, or the incorrect estimation of time. It became apparent, however, as we rode the bus towards the airport, that we would miss our flight to Valencia. Our dedication as teachers drove us to find a late flight to Barcelona where we would board the metro across town, board a train to Valenica and arrive home at 1 am.

We arrived at work the next morning exhausted, feeling as though we had not had a vacation at all. Damn you Makien Piss.

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Photos

Shoes on a powerline
no trip is complete without a viewing of shoes on a powerline.

Maniken Piss
This little boy eeing is the number one tourist attraction in Brussels.

Modern Art
An exhbit we went to in Brussels.

Comments

[anonymous]

Very cool..and you look great Kris. Miss you1

[randal]

fun
I'm glad you had fun on your trip. One day I will get there. How was your christmas and new years? We all missed you guys but thats life, you'll be back and there will be plenty of holidays to spend with you. have more fun and remember to post them Randal

[Jackie Friesen]

Glad you enjoyed Brussels! I was there last year remember really enjoying the Belgium museum. Did you know that they elected their kind back in the day? Crazy. I also got molested walking down some street where there were a ton of restuarants, with amazing food displays. The men were all over you trying to get you to come into their restuarant. Really interesting experience, and the Manikin Piss was definitely interesting. Love the blog and relating to your stories!!

[blair]

this reminds me of me and Dennie's trip to Denmark; the last day was spent looking for an underwater statue of Posidon and his mer-daughters, located somewhere in the bottom of a canal in downtown Copenhagen. We found it and it was, well, underwhelming, albeit underwater. Then off to see THE little mermaid, an hour's walk out of the city, cite of hundreds, if not thousands of asian couple's honeymoon photos. It's really small.