Cassie's Series of Adventures: Belgium & Netherlands, part 2. Brussels.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I hope you enjoyed my last post about Ghent, Belgium. I know I did. Or almost did. There is a room for improvement. Why? 

To be honest with you, yesterday I was reaching peaks of frustration - after uploading my post, all my formatting randomly changed without any sense of inner logic (for example, to make picture captions smaller, I had to make them bigger in post editor), I had to play with blog's overall post-body HTML to change my line spacing, had to do some HTTPS stuff to make my blog link work... Who would have thought that Blogger, one of the most popular blog-publishing services, can be so tricky? I won't give up though. If you have any advice connected to using this platform, let me know. I mean it. Really, let me know. 

Now that we have it sorted, let me take you for another trip. This time, to the capital of Belgium as well as the very capital of European Union (and NATO!). 

Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert/Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen

From the moment I left the train station (Gare de Bruxelles-Central), I instantly became surrounded by smells of delicious food, exciting sounds, beautiful buildings and, as it turned out, lots of freebies. What kind of freebies you ask? Keep reading to find out 😉

But let's start from the very beginning. One of the first major places I accidentally found myself in on my way from train station was Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert / Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen - a glazed shopping arcade which for me could probably be best described as the chocoholic's heaven.

Surrealist figures 

The passage is divided into three parts: Galerie du Roi (King's Gallery), Galerie de la Reine (Queen's Gallery) and a side Galerie des Princes. Besides chocolates and macarons, you can buy there some surrealist bits and bobs. I really liked the little figure of The Son of Man by Rene Magritte. 

Now, if you read the caption under the first Galeries Royales picture, you have already spotted something quite interesting, Namely, the bilingual nature of Brussels/Bruxelles. Here, both French and Dutch/Flemish are officially recognised, thus the majority of places (whether they are streets, modern institutions or historic buildings) operates under two names. The photos below, for instance, were taken at the main square which is called both la Grand Place and de Grote Markt → the second name naturally made me think of Christmas markets around Germany. 

The facades at la Grand Place/ de Grote Markt. 

Musée de la ville de Bruxelles/Maison du Roi/Broodhuis

While admiring the 300 years old grand architecture of the Grand Place, I discovered a nearby tourist office where I got a free map of comic strips around the city as well as I learnt that on 1st Wednesday of each month many of museums are free!!! What a lucky coincidence ;) 

Town Hall 

The Maison du Roi/Broodhuis translates into King's House or Breadhouse and currently houses the Brussels' City Museum which I unfortunately haven't visited during this stay. It differs from the architecture of the neighhbouring colourful houses - this is because the previously wooden/stony building suffered damage in the bombardment in 1695 and was rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style by architect Victor Jamear in 1869 or 1873 (I found confusing information on different sites). It was once a bread-selling hall (Broodhuis) and after that an administrative residence of Duke who (it just so happens) later became the Spanish king. Hence the name Maison du Roi. One other of Grand Place's gems is the city's Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville/Stadhuis), the square's last medieval building with a gothic tower. This is where I found the tourist office. In addition to medieval gothic style and Gothic Revival style, the rich facades of the buildings around are built in accordance to Italian Baroque, of course with Flemish influences. Also, every two years in August, a giant flower carpet is set up here, at La Grand Place. I think I may have just missed my chance to see it this year but with August approaching, you can still do it! Lastly, apparently at the beginning of July La Grand Place is also turned into one of the largest historical re-enactment stages in Europe. It's a shame, because I have been there at the beginning of July, but except a sitting area nothing was indicating that the Ommegang is coming. To conclude, I will just note that La Grand Place/ De Grote Markt in Brussels is considered UNESCO World Heritage site ;) And not without reason. It's a must see even if just like me you hate crowds of tourists. 

I won't lie to you. At times I wish I wasn't so greedy and I stayed in Brussels till the evening. In the same time I am happy that I left earlier because this way I could see Antwerp before reaching Rotterdam. However, I was informed that during the evenings the whole main square in Brussels changes and reveals its full beauty. Moreover, apparently sometimes the buildings are used as a sort of canvas for the light shows. I have seen something like that in Graz, Austria, when I was visiting my parabatai in May. I would love to check out the one in Brussels as well. 

For some reason I also found Romulus and Remus sculpture nearby. 

Because I didn't have too much time, I quickly took some photos of the square (photos didn't turn out too well due to incredibly strong sunlight) and I moved towards a less crowded area where I began my Comic Strip walk. You should know that Belgium takes its comics very seriously. If you have time, I definitely recommend that you take this walk with a local as then you can learn tons of stuff about the city, about its comic strips and about Dutch culture in general, for free, however with a need to reserve your spot. I didn't do it due to limited time but if you want, this is one of the websites that offers such walking tours: https://visit.brussels/en/sites/greeters/ 

Comic Strip Walk with Town Hall's gothic tower in the background. 

More comic strips.

Quite nearby you can also find the famous Mannekin Pis, the world's most recognisable peeing boy with an impressive wardrobe that has its own museum (not a joke). In Brussels you can also find Zinneke Pis, a dog counterpart of Mannekin Pis, at the corner of  Rue des Chartreux and Rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains (don't ask, I didn't invent these names). There also exists a fountain called Jeanneke Pis that is basically a female version of Mannekin Pis. So why is Brussels obsessed with the peeing statues? I don't know. But the story my friend Lena told me indicated that the little boy was a spy during the siege of Brussels. He urinated on the explosives to save the city from a bomb. It has also been said a vicious witch turned the little boy into a stone for peeing on her property. However, many stories exist about this particular statue and none is definitely true. One thing is certain - it holds a special place in the hearts of Brussels' citizens and it doesn't look like it could loose its importance any time soon. 

Mannekin Pis - the world's most famous peeing statue. 

In case you want to take one home

Waffles

After this, I became too distracted by the ubiquitous smell of waffles, so after seeing a couple more comic strips, I escaped the area. Next thing I remember I was climbling stairs on Mont des Arts surrounded by palaces and museums. I passed the Librarium and stopped somewhere close to L'oreille Tourbillonante - a statue of an ear that, at least in my opinion, looks nothing like an ear. But the panoramic views here are amazing. 

Little corners of Brussels

Then I started the second part of my Brussels' trip by delving into art and culture. Museums in Brussels are so big that at some point I got lost: level -5&-6, Museum of Fin-du-siecle; levels 2,1,-1? Rene Magritte! On the opposite side of the street? Museum of Instruments (MIM)! It took me hours and hours to go through all of them! (My swollen ankle didn't make things easier) This one was just in a lobby of Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts:

I was honestly admiring this painting. 

Fin-du-siecle: I felt like something was lacking in the composition so I joined. 

I can recommend all three of these museums to everybody. Remember, first Wednesday of the month is free! For the Museum of Instruments, I recommend taking the audio-guide. You can still get amazed by the collections without it (just as I did) but you get much better experience when the sound is involved. After all that's what the museum is all about. 

Statues in the lobby of Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts.

My favourite instrument in MIM.

After my walk through the three and a half of museums, I turned towards the Parc du Bruxelles, passing on my way Place Royale, Coudenbergpaleis and Palais de Bruxelles (Royal Palace of Brussels with the green Heaven of Delight chandielier by Jan Gabre), from where I had a view on both Palais des Beaux-Arts and Palais Des Académies. 

Heaven of Delight by Jan Gabre. This photo is not mine. Courtesy of Pinterest. 

Once I entered the park, I came upon another lucky coincidence. Namely, even though I didn't get to see the historical re-enactment at La Grand Place, I have been fortunate enough to take part in the medieval festival (Ommegang) in the park itself where I observed the horses and dressed up people, visited themed tents, took part in activities, looked at some tournaments, lances, giant sculptures and ate some amazing food.

There I finally got myself some dark chocolate & orange waffles which weren't called waffles but goefres or so. They were delicious and quite filling so I still had two to take with me to the train. 

Now, however I have not personally gone there, Atomium is another famous spot in Brussels. If you have less time, it probably demands from you to use some sort of public transport. The construction was built for the world exhibition in 1958. According to Visit Brussels's page "the nine spheres represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times" (and so) "the faith one had in the power of  science and moreover in nuclear power." The construction is close to Brussels' planetarium and Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. All of these are definitely on my list of places to visit the next time I'm in Brussels.

Again, I didn't do this one but apparently it's also worth to go to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (nearby Parc du Bruxelles and Gare Central) at night because it glows. Just an idea. 

Quite nearby there are also Museum of Natural Sciences, Parc du Cinquantenaire (with its Grand Mosque of Brusseles and various museums) as well as Parlamentarium where you can learn things about European Union and Parliament. 

I wasn't quite expecting this reaction...

Streets of Brussels 

Some additional information: 

There are many free magazines distributed in tourist offices and cafés that can tell you what's going on in the city, e.g., Zone 02 or Agenda. 

Many themed tours and activities are offered within Brussels in addition to the Comic Strip Walk - for instance: Bike Tours, Chocolate Tours, Chocolate/Waffle Workshops and Architectural tours. Horse carriages are also a mode of transportation around the city. 

The Case of Trains: The distances between the cities I have visited were quite small and so even if you do not take Thalys - the high speed train - the duration of train journeys between all the major cities in Belgium and Netherlands is not too long. These are more or less the durations of my own journeys*: 

Ghent-Brussels: 35 minutes

Brussels-Antwerp: 50 minutes

Antwerp-Rotterdam: 32 minutes-1h

Rotterdam-Amsterdam: 40-58 minutes

Amsterdam-Alkmaar: 31-39 minutes

Rotterdam-Alkmaar: 1 h 26 min-2 hours

Amsterdam-Zaanse Schans: 30 minutes

*Having said that, my last train journey was a pure nightmare. I assumed it would take me around 4 hours to get from Amsterdam to Ghent as that's how it more or less worked on my journey up north but because all the evening trains towards Brussels were for some reason cancelled (as well as the ones stopping at Antwerp), I had to take a detour from Breda (where I waited two and half hours for some connection to Antwerp that never happened) to Roosendaal and from Roosendaal to Essen and from Essen to Antwerp-Centraal (through all small villages naturally) and from there towards Ghent-Dampoort. Took me ages. Not to mention I must have taken the longest train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, also stopping at all the tiniest villages on the way. Some footage documenting my despair:

Moral: Just because something works smoothly one way, you shouldn't assume it will work the same way in all cases. Be prepared for the unexpected. 

After this digression, let me just say I really loved Brussels and I wish I could have spent more time in there. While a couple of hours may work in Bruges or Ghent, for Brussels it is definitely too little. For those of you travelling there, you want at least one full day, preferably two or three. The reason why I am suggesting this is because I'm sure that this capital city has many more faces, most of which I haven't heard about yet. I am looking forward discovering them all one day. Meanwhile, what awaits us tomorrow is a blog post on Antwerp! 

Yours, 

-A.