Blogs from Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium, Europe - page 2

We had an early morning, 6:30 am. 1. We wanted to see the kids before they left for school and 2. Tobias had early morning meetings and Biggie had to work, and 3. We had a long train ride (3 trains) to Brussels. Tobias took us to the station and helped us with our bags, got us pointed in the right direction and we were off. As written in an earlier blog, we were headed to Brussels to visit our foreign exchange family. I must digress here. Pascaline came in the summer of 1979, Clayton was about to turn 2. Pascaline was probably 18 or so. We enjoyed Pascaline and invited she and any family members to visit and they invited us to Belgium. In 1981 we were heading for the middle east and were able ... read more

Brussels Half hour ride from Lille to Brussels. Four stops on Red metro line to Porte de Namur station, right beside Hotel Chambord. Took a walk down Rue de Numar. Coffee in TICH, a vegan cool kids large order-at-the-counter joint. Opposite a similar Café called JAT. Then to the Musical Instruments Museum. ‘Old England’ a Horta building. A riveted cast iron structure with airy feel. Darkened rooms full of the most extensive collection I’ve seen.... way better than Berlin, and broader and better presented than Finlandia Museum in Turku. Not all that much African stuff, it lacked thumbpianos etc. But stunning environs. Brass section dominated by the Sax family’s experiments with trumpet and reed instruments. Saxhorns included a ‘trombone’ with seven bells and six valves. A set of sax-like instruments with oboe style double reeds. Many ... read more

This morning I had some free time in Brussels so I followed Rick Steves’s walk around the Grand Place. The buildings are indeed “grand” but my full appreciation of the square was diminished by the work crews noisily removing tents and paraphernalia from a beer festival over the weekend. I had a little extra time, so I walked to the Belgian Comic Strip Center because it is one of the sights to see in Brussels. Belgium is responsible for Tintin and for the Smurfs and there are many other comics done here, too, apparently. Next I made my way to the Brussels airport and ate lunch while waiting for my flight to board. I had a piece of (square) pizza and my first glass of Belgian beer since I arrived in the country. Better late than ... read more

Today was a pleasant, cool day in Brussels. I started the day with a walk around the “upper town“ including a stop at a little jewel of a church called Notre Dame du Petit Sablon. Then I dived into the Belgium fine arts museums. These include lots of paintings and my favorites were by Jan Bruegel and Jacques-Louis David. Later in the day I passed by one of Brussels’s most famous sites, namely the Manneken Pis. I have read that the best part about this little statue is watching the reactions of the people who come to see it and I agree with that. I took a picture of people taking pictures and then a closer view so you can see him better. Tomorrow I will tour Brussels a little more before flying off to my ... read more

Speed sightseeing in Brussels We ended up in Brussels in Belgium on the way from France to Luxembourg. This wasn't in our original plans but we decided to try to make the most out of it. Going from rural areas in England and France, where we had spent one week, to a major city where thousands of people roam the streets was a bit of a shock for us. We had a bit of a problem adjusting to the crowds of people. We only had a couple of hours in the evening and two hours in the morning to see some fragments of all that Brussels has to offer. We had to rush things a bit to see anything and ended up doing speed sightseeing to see at least a few highlights. Speed sightseeing is not ... read more