Christmas market tour - first stop Brussels

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So here we are at Waterloo International station on a grey Thursday morning. Our meticulous planning had paid off: we'd managed to squeeze six days' worth of winter clothing in our tiny wheelie cases. 😊 When we'd first decided to do this trip, I'd briefly toyed with the idea of purchasing a small rucksack - I mean, no interrailing trip is complete without a rucksack, right? Jasmin quickly put paid to *that* plan, when she announced that as far as she was concerned, a wheelie case was the only acceptable mode of trasporting clothes and toiletries from one place to another. So I went out and bought a wee rolling case instead - purple to match my purple jacket (after all, a girl has to be co-ordinated even when interrailing). It was so small I had to put back half the clothes I was planning to take as I couldn't fit them in, even when I shrink-wrapped them, but it looked good and was light enough to carry up and down trains, so it fitted the bill just fine.

You know how when you're really excited your memories are more vivid? Almost a year has passed since we set off on our trip, and I still remember little things, like what we had to eat on the train (yoghurt, hot chocolate and home made cookies - freshly made by my good self that very morning), what we read (an article about train station safety in the Evening Standard - which we discussed at great length) and what London looked like as we were pulling out of Waterloo (glum and wet - OK, that was an easy one).

We arrived in Brussels just as it was getting dark, and headed for the tram. I'd been to Brussels a few times before, so I sort of knew where we were going, but we still had endless fun trying to locate the actual tram stop - I find most foreign train stations confusing, but Brussels has to be one of the worst. Still, I shouldn't complain... when we finally got there, a tram arrived 10 seconds after we bought out tickets. Talk about timing!

Brussels trams are funny vehicles. First of all, in the city centre, they don't run on the street surface but in tunnels, which I suppose is why they're called the pre-metro. That's a good thing, because it means they don't get stuck in traffic. You can get from the Eurostar terminal (Brussels Midi/Zuid, aka Brussels South) to the city centre in something like 5 minutes. Even when, like me, you have a tendency to get lost while looking for the tram stop, you can be at your hotel less than half an hour after your train pulls into Brussels. The other advantage of trams is that they're cheap - way cheaper than a taxi whose driver will take you on the scenic route to your hotel and charge you twice as much as he should (been there, done that - but that's a story for another journal).

The main drawback of trams is that they have tiny doors - I mean really tiny. Suitable for very thin people in a single layer of clothes carrying small bags. Not quite so suitable for two normal-sized girls in thick winter jackets with wheelie cases. Still... it was fun trying to get on and off sideways. Thank God (or rather, thank Jasmin) we'd decided against rucksacks.

Now I must be upfront and tell you I love Brussels. It's one of my favourite European cities. I know it's not quite as impressive as London, Paris or Rome, but it's compact, easy to navigate, very cosmopolitan, the food's fantastic, the chocolate's divine, the beer's plentiful. What's to dislike? OK, some of the buildings in the centre look a bit grim, but there are architectural gems all over the city and the Grand Place is simply stunning. Plus the chocolate's to die for. Did I mention the chocolate?

First we checked in at our hotel. Previously when I'd visited Brussels I'd been for the weekend. That is definitely the way to go, as all the 4* hotels lose their regular business clientele at the weekend, and compensate by reducing their rates to match normal traveller budgets. This time however we were there during the week, so had no choice but to pay for the previlege. We'd booked a room at the Ibis hotel off Grand Place for 129 € 😱 which is more than you can expect to pay at the Marriott or Radisson SAS if you arrive on a Friday evening, but was way cheaper than the 250 € or so we'd pay at one of the better hotels considering it was midweek. So we swallowed our pride and took out our credit cards.

If you've ever stayed at an Ibis, you'll know that they're all pretty much identical and pretty much soulless. Well, let's just say this one was no exception. Our room was big enough to swing a cat in (I've stayed in Ibis bedrooms where you couldn't make the same claim) but that's about as impressive as it got. Still, it was a stone's throw from the Grand Place and close enough to the tram stop, so it had its good points.

We dropped our bags in our room and went out to look for Christmas cheer. After we'd booked our tickets we'd found out that the Brussels Christmas market didn't open until the next day, but we figured it'd be nice to wander round and look at the lights anyway. The lights, she says. What lights? Far from being lit up and sparkling, the Grand Place was bathed in ... darkness! That year's Christmas decor, which was sponsored - wait for it - by an electricity company, consisted of human-sized baubles with Christmas trees in them, each of which was decorated with tiny twinkling lights, as was the large Christmas tree in the middle of the square. The electricity company must have been sponsoring an energy-saving initiative, because it looked as if they'd used about 1/3 of the number of lights necessary to create a festive atmosphere. The overall effect was more sombre than celebratory. Well, we thought, it takes all sorts... different people, different tastes etc. But still - no lights?! Hey Brussels people, it's Christmas, you know?! Festival of light and all that?

Since there wasn't much to admire around the Grand Place we thought we'd walk over to the Place Sainte Catherine where the Marché de Noël was going to take place. We'd hoped there'd be some commotion there - last minute setting up of the huts etc, but no luck. The area was quiet and bathed in darkness (there was a bit of a pattern forming there) and the most exciting thing we saw was a massive inflatable dinosaur which would no doubt look fab with kids excitable climbing in/on/around it, but just then it looked deader than the dodo. Well well. At least there was a bit of excitement in the air - anticipation of the grand opening of the fair the next day? Who knows? Perhaps it was just that Jasmin and I were happy to be on the Continent, and we weren't going to let the lack of light dampen our spirits! After all, there were plenty of other things to see. We came across the best toy shop on the Marché aux Herbes (you've got to love Brussels street names) - it's called The Grasshopper and sells all sorts of toys for children of all ages. What I liked most about it is that the toys aren't neatly arranged on shelves and displays, they're all over the place, on tables, stands, in boxes, and it feels like you're in someone's over-cluttered living room rather in a supermarket-type store. There was a toy shop exactly like that in my hometown when I was a kid and I loved going there, to shop or browse. So when I saw The Grasshopper I was in heaven - like I'd been taken back to my childhood. Jasmin liked it just as much. We spent ages in there, Jasmin buying presents for her little sister and I for my goddaughter, who's 5 (and would totally love it there).

Once the shops closed, and there were no more places to spend our €€€ in, we went to Pitta Street (aka Marché aux Fromages) to find something to eat. This is a pedestrian street full of Greek and middle eastern eateries, hence the nickname. We had some yummy souvlaki there - not quite as good as Greek souvlaki, but way better than what you get in London. By the time we finished dinner it was getting quite chilly, so we stopped at a cafe for a nice steamy mug of hot chocolate. Bliss!

When we left the cafe it was almost midnight and the temperature had dropped to below zero. We had to cross the Grand Place to get back to our hotel, and were pleasantly surprised to finally see some commotion, as the technicians tested huge Christmas-themed projections onto the facade of the Hotel de Ville (aka Brussels town hall, and one of the loveliest buildings in the city). Now that's what I call special! Despite the freezing temperatures we spent the next half hour taking pictures of the various images that made the Hotel de Ville change appearance, from the moderately strange to the positively surreal. It was great fun - our first true festive experience on our Christmas euro-trip. 😊 Our fingers almost dropped off (have you ever tried to handle a tiny camera with gloves on? Not possible) and we had to keep jogging on the spot to keep our circulation working, but it was such fun looking at the Grand Place change shape with every projection, we almost forgave them the miserable twinkling baubles.

Finally, our Christmas trip was off to a truly festive start. We were knackered that night but so very happy - and not just because our next stop was Amsterdam! 😊

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Photos

Grand Place1
The Grand Place in all its festive glory!

Grand Place2
Romantic Grand Place

Grand Place3
The EU flag is projected on the facade of the Hotel de Ville