Exploring Brussels

The alarm went off at 8am. We went down for breakfast, and the sun was shining through the skylight. Breakfast was Richard’s yummy blend of tea (incl Earl Grey), rolls, cheese, ham, spreads and yoghurt. We left the house at 9am and walked to Chazal bus stop at the end of the park. The area was actually really nice. Got a 64 bus to Place du Luxemburg and had a little wander around the outside of the European Parliament building and nearby park and lake. James took photos of the crows.

We went into the EP reception and met James’s friend Richard. We signed in and had our photos taken for our day passes. He took us into the hemicycle where they were setting up for a Greens presentation. Then through various corridors, into a meeting room, and then into the Mickey Mouse bar, which until recently had mouse-ear-shaped chairs. Richard had some coffee and James had juice. Richard talked about how small the city was and how parliamentary assistants mostly know each other. I kept an eye out for Brian, but didn’t see him. Richard recommended some things to see and arranged to meet us that night.

We left and headed to Cinquantenaire, where we saw the arc and the giraffe catcher trees. We then walked to Place du Frere Orban and went into a lovely church called St Joseph’s. We kept on, across some very busy roads, through Parc de Bruxelles, then to the museum of musical instruments. We checked our coats in, bought a €5 ticket, and went straight up to the top floor to the restaurant, where we got a table with a good view of the city. James ordered a Hoegaarden and wok of the day (scampi – prawns), and I got a Kriek and pasta (pâtes) of the day (tortellini with aubergines). It was reasonably priced, and very good. While we were there, I texted Claire to let her know that I was drinking Kriek, and she replied to let me know that the Reporter editor job was up for grabs.

We worked our way down each floors’ display, seeing and hearing various instruments on our headphones. Highlights were cornetts and massive bassoons and amazingly intricate brass. There was a crystal flute too. Back outside, we headed to Notre Dame du Sablon – an amazing church with gorgeous windows, and petit Sablon across the road with lots of statues. We went to Chapelle, but decided not to go in, because it was chav city and there was a nice pitta van and skate ramp outside (hmmm), so we zig-zagged downhill, past the first of the chocolate shops, in search of the Mannekin-Pis. We found it eventually, and it was thankfully not dressed in silly clothes, but still thronged with tourists and the associated shops. We got a huge waffle from nearby (I had a banana and chocolate for €4) and James bought some postcards. We walked the short distance to the Grand Place, and James saw a man kiss a statue, and he took a photo of it, because apparently it’s good luck to touch it. The buildings in the Grand Place were beautiful, particularly the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), though we couldn’t climb the tower on a Friday. James did a talk on all the buildings from his guide book. It was very informative.

After we’d seen enough, we found a supermarket and stocked up on snacks and chocolate, and then walked around the nearby streets, looking for St Nicholas church. We went in briefly, but they were about to start a service, so left fairly quickly. We then went in search of the Jeanneke-Pis, finding the touristy restaurant street on the way, and not getting harangued too much. The Jeanneke-Pis was very amusing, and just a little obscene. It was about 5pm by now, so we walked uphill to Brussels cathedral, and reclined on the long seats in the sun, looking at the York Minster-esque cathedral front, and strange cow structure, and listening to the very interesting bell melodies every 15 minutes. It got a little cold, so we went up into the cathedral and sat in the warm for a while, admiring the glass and listening to the organist practise. We moved on again, walking to a war memorial with an eternal flame and a column commemorating the establishment/independence of Belgium. We walked the short distance on to the botanical gardens, but they were closed, and what we could see of the gardens from the street was not in flower anyway.

Because we were so close to the B&B, we chose to walk back along Avenue Rogier. It was like Little Turkey, and James was a little bit uneasy. I went online at the B&B to look at the Reporter job, learnt little, so emailed the contact, but, being Friday evening, I didn’t expect anything back until Monday morning. I also spoke to Dan briefly to see how he was.

We headed out again to Chazal bus stop, but no bus came, so we walked to Vaderland to get a tram to near the Chapelle. It was 9.30 p.m. by this time, and thankfully a tram came relatively quickly. We got off and started our search for a restaurant. There were some nice-looking ones there, but expensive, so James got out his guide and found the recommended list, which led us to La Grande Porte – it was just beside us, literally, and the prices were good too. The service and the food were great. I had a glass of house red and lamb skewers with Roquefort sauce and chocolate mousse for afters. Delicious!

We were supposed to be meeting Richard for drinks, but he was running late and we were running late anyway. James and I paid the bill at about 11pm, and decided to head straight back to the B&B. We found a bus stop and got a bus to Place du Luxemburg, and changed buses there to get back to Chazal. Bed at about midnight.