“I’ve noticed the phrase ‘Now I’ve seen it all’ has become scarce in modern culture. That’s good, because with as much as I’ve seen, I’m still startled and reluctantly bewildered daily.” – Old Sean
Thoughts Around Belgium
After a one-day weekend in Bruges, I got back to work by visiting Brussels, Belgium
Between Antwerp, Bruges and Brussels, I now realize I love Belgian cities. They have a certain amount of “grit” that locks them into reality. They have a flavor of authenticity I find sharper than most other Western countries.
Cities in Belgium have a dichotomy of practical-reality and windmill-and-tower fantasy which is hard to match anywhere else.
Day One Visiting Brussels
As soon as I arrived in Brussels, I walked towards my hostel which sat in front of several street fountains. Since I arrived in the morning, I had plenty of time to begin explorations.
I threw on my day-bag after I I dropped off my stuff at my balconied hostel.
The more unique aspects of Brussels includes the street-wide and building-side artworks. Brussels has comic-book-painted walls dotting numerous buildings (part of the Comic Strip Route). These comic strips can be found throuhgout the city. Following the Comic Strip Route reveals the majority of them while also visiting Brussel’s major locations.
Starting from my hostel, this was the route I took throughout the city.
The most famous landmark to visit is a cheeky, famous statue of a young boy peeing into a fountain fondly known as “Manneken Pis.” The humorous figure is usually dressed in a gift from one dignitary or another, so his outfits change dramatically at odd intervals throughout the year.
Nearby Manneken Pis is the enormous Grand Palace downtown plaza areas. The Grand Palace area has a half dozen gorgeous buildings decorated with intricate gold blooms across the façade. Also nearby is the Courthouse Palais de Justice with a commanding view overlooking the city. Many buildings in this zone are beautiful and stately constructs, settled firmly in a classical architectural style. I also got to view a building covered in enormous rotating pinwheels and a tapestry/web of t-shirts hung up to catch wind.
Other Features of Downtown Belgium
Like most areas in Europe, the central portion of the city has a wide range of things to do and see in the city. For work purposes, I walked rapidly from one point to another. I visited the tall, light-strung hallways of the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert shopping arcade, walked past the impressively imposing St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, walked through the strange network of brick undergrounds chambers underneath the royal Palais du Coudenberg, strode the large cobblestone plazas of Brussels Park and saw the humorous Het Zinneke statue. This statue is in the same theme as Manneken Pis, but it’s a metal dog marking a metal pole instead.
Afterwards, I made another loop through the city, this time visiting the various museums found in the downtown area. The Comic Art Museum stood out strongly. This museum is dedicated to Belgium’s influence on classic comic artworks, with the Smurfs and The Adventures of Tintin featuring prominently.
The nearby, small Musée du Jouet Toy Museum was also a nice spot to swing through (though I probably could’ve afforded skipping it) and the Musical Instruments Museum was surprisingly gorgeous.
Naked Parades
While walking around the downtown area, I was suddenly introduced to an entire parade of naked men and women riding bicycles through the tourist zones.
Apparently, once a year in June, The Naked Bike Ride or Cyclonudista’s Day is celebrated as dozens of people peddle freely though the city unconstrained by things like attire. Many figures had paint on their limbs. Others did wear clothes, but only articles which enhanced nakedness rather than covered it. I saw a few scarfs, top hats, gloves and grippy-socks.
The display is dedicated towards raising awareness of cyclist safety in the city. Part of the parade is tied into environmentalism, as more and more people move towards clean methods of transportation for getting around.
It was an unexpected feature of my day.
However, I can safely say me my quota for pale, nude individuals if filled for the day.
An Islam Holiday
I actually arrived in Brussels on the day after the Muslim Holiday Eid.
I spent the afternoon shopping at the Espace Market near my hotel. While making my dinner purchases (apples, apple juice, assorted nuts and Oreos), someone gifted me a treat from the holiday.
I’m unsure of the name but it looks a bit like brown calamari, but it’s made with ginger, sesame seeds, honey and rosewater. It was quite sweet and has a texture similar to gingerbread. I learned much later that is was Chebakia, fondly known as The Ramadan Cookie.
If the parade of naked bikes didn’t make my day, this certainly did.
Final Days Visiting Brussels
My last day visiting Belgium included another walk around the city. At this point, I seemed to lose the ability to eat healthy.
I visited the Old Town area for a breakfast of chocolate ice cream before heading up to see the Atomium (a giant orb-and-pillar reflective structure). Apparently the Atomium was supposed to be a temporary exhibition for the World’s Fair Expo of 1958, but it’s popularity made it a permanent tourist attraction.
The superstructure is near the beautiful Parc de Laeken Royal Parc. The oddest thing I saw in this area was a red-coated marching band with brass instruments all riding a single 6-seated bike.
At this point, I stopped for some French fries then visited the Bois de la Cambre Public Park for pastries.
Anyway, that about sums up Belgium for me. I had two interviews prior to leaving, but then doggedly hopped on yet another bus.
I’m off to Luxembourg next.
Until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written June 17th 2018
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Skog Å Kust Watertight Day Bag
Everyone should have a day bag. My favorite is the Skog Å Kust Watertight Bag. It’s easy to sling over my shoulders and lets me walk without fear of m devices getting damaged in the rain. Better yet, I can go swimming with electronics whenever I need to. It was handy when I was dodging rainstorms while visiting Brussels.
