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Chocolate, Mussels and
Beer...
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Palais Royale Square at night |
I had a vacation opportunity in Belgium in conjunction
with a business trip to Maastricht in southern
Netherlands. This trip was originally planned starting
September 12th, but was canceled due to the
9/11 attack.
December did not hold the same promise of good weather I
had anticipated for September, however, I got sunny 45ºF
days which did not impede my sightseeing a bit. The
Belgian franc was in its last weeks of existence prior
to Euro deployment, and was weak against the dollar
(45BF=$1US), making most everything inexpensive.
Although the official languages of Belgium are French
and Flemish, people were helpful and I had no trouble
anywhere communicating in English. |
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Saturday
December 8th - Brussels
I arrived in Brussels in the early morning and took the
Airport line #12 bus headed for the
Renaissance Brussels, just south of the ring road near the
EU Parliament. The bus cost under $3 US and dropped me a
couple of blocks from the hotel. The hotel allowed me to check
in early, so I was sightseeing by 9am. I bought a
one
day metro pass for about $4 US and jumped on the subway to
the center of town, metro Bourse. The Bourse is the Belgian
stock exchange, shown in the first picture below. It is a
short walk from there to the
Grand Place, a beautiful square with outdoor cafes and
impressive buildings (second through fourth pictures below). |
Brugge Market Square |
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Eating in and around the Grand Place
presented a variety of options. Belgium is known for its beer,
chocolates and mussels ("eat mussels in Brussels"). The
first picture below shows a typical street just off the Grand
Place. The second picture below shows a crowded outdoor cafe
on the square. In the late morning when this picture was taken
it was around 35ºF - hardy folks. I ate mussels (best I've
ever had) and beer just off the square inside at Leon's, which
was recommended in travel books. The Manneken Pis, a few
blocks off the Grand Place, is a small statue with
significance to Brussels' attitude of defiance (third picture
below). Travel books warned to be disappointed and they were
right. |
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Sunday December 9th - Brugge
Most
travel books agree that Brugge is the jewel of Belgium,
and it didn't disappoint. I met a former client, Les Stewart,
who was on assignment in Europe and we drove the 50 miles from
Brussels to Brugge. Brugge is the picture of a well preserved
thriving medieval city, even though most buildings were
actually rebuilt more recently. The streets of Brugge (fourth
picture above) were touristy, but quaint, leading to the
squares and sights of the city. Market Square (first picture
below and large picture above right), gives a sense of the
fairy tale castle atmosphere. We ate lunch (mussels and a
really big beer) on the square and headed to Burg Square
(second picture below) a few blocks away which has six
centuries of architecture standing side by side. From Burg
Square we walked along Brugge's beautiful canals (third and
fourth pictures below) to the
Groeninge Museum, which had an interesting collection of
Flemish art spanning the past five centuries. |
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We then walked down to the
Begijnhof (first picture below), a cluster of white washed
houses built to house war maidens and other women who did not
take a nun's vows, but were without husbands. Heading back to
the car we stopped for a beer at the Straffe Hendrick brewery
and to pick up some chocolates at
Leonidas. On the walk,
I snapped sunset and after dark canal pictures (second and
third below). |
                       
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