brussels ' 01
From the airport the train ride takes approximately 15 minutes and drops you off at Gare Midi, right in the heart of Brussels. We walked straight out the station, down a slightly winding road, made a left after a few hundred metres and the street opened up into the Grote Markt !! Without even looking for it!!
This certainly is a magnificent square, hailed as many as the most beautiful square in europe i would find few arguments to offer them. The square is surrounded on all sides by magnificent architecture, almost every building has its own beauty and one can spend an afternoon looking at all the detail on these houses. The square itself was rather crowded when we arrived as there was a "bird market"...which was exactly that......lots of cages with small birds looking for new homes in the eyes of impressionable children.
We spent the remainder of the day walking the side streets, finding the best bar in brussels, theatre toone, which is smuggled inbetween the grote markt and the restaurant district to the right. The toone theatre is one of the only places in the world that serves the belgian beer "quak" on tap. It is definately one to try, although a tad too sweet for my taste. The pub is decorated with puppets from the shows they have their once or twice a month. The overall atmosphere is fantastic and you don't have the feeling that just down the alleyway are streets full of waiters screaming prices and offers at everyone who walks past. This was a haven.
The manneken pis was a waste of energy to walk to, although its barely a few hundred metres from the square. It was so pointless that we left after a second. The rest of the day was spent exploring, drinking chimay on the streets, eating baguettes with cheese and enjoying the weather when the rain ceased. In the evening we managed to find an Indian Restaurant wÃthout exhorbitant prices and settled in for a damn good curry while it rained outside, on those streets we had trodden the whole day.
The sleep was bad, no money to spend on hotels mean't that we took the train back to the airport and slept on the marble floor without even a sweater or blanket. It was cold and not comfortable.. but it was free.....that counts for something.
The last day was spent up on the hill, looking at the palace and the park infront of it, then wandering around the muslim district near Gare Noord. We ate some great shawarma's there and bought some beer glasses for our friends back home who would appreciate that. After another final drink at Toone Theatre we made our way back to the airport and flew home that night.....brussels was nice....just a little too small for my liking.
ben sand
september 2000
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