In memory of those who lost their lives and all those who were in one way or another affected in the recent Brussels attacks, I would like to share with you once again, our memorable arrival in 2009 to the gateway into Europe.
By the time we landed in Brussels, we were ravenous; but not so much as to keep us from taking in our surroundings. As we exited the train terminal and stepped out in
the cool Brussels air, I inhaled a deep, cleansing breath. I was in seventh heaven at finding myself
in Europe again.
My sense of direction was not the
sharpest that early in the day, so Emily assumed navigating duties as she normally did. Armed with a map of the city we had picked up
at the airport information booth, one of those that are especially hard to read, we were off. In no time, we were
centered with a definite plan of action.
Ha, if only it were that easy!
When one exits the Gare de Bruxelles Centrale train station, either onto the Rue des Colonies or the Rue des Paroissiens, the first thing
one is faced with are the huge and impressively ornate buildings of rare design—they were totally unexpected.
Having exited into a “V” cobble-stoned street, we tossed a
coin and took the left street, the Rue de Paroissiens, which in no time became
steep and somewhat winding as it led up to the Cathedral.
The magnificence and the architecture of the buildings we passed is astonishing. Walking
from the train station to the gothic St. Michael St. Gudula, one passes some
rather interesting, so as not to say in some cases, 'ugly' buildings.
“The worst insult is probably the modern
building right next to the Cathedral, tastelessly ‘echoing’ the two towers,” as one
native Brusselier put it.
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| The St Michael St Gudula, where all Belgium royalty have tied the knot... |
After two or three very long blocks, the
majestic Cathedral appeared smacking us with its magnificence. Now here is one ethereal place! The place where all of Belgium royalty have
tied the knot, it is so sacred and so steeped in history, it makes the haughtiest tear
at its vision. There was a sprinkling of visitors inside the magnificent building. For those looking for grand oil paintings, there are no such masterpieces in this 13th century church. That day happened to be somewhat cloudy, but we understand that on bright sunny days when the rays shine through the stained glass windows, it makes for a spectacular sight.
We ooh'ed and aah'ed, as we humbly took in the sacred interiors of
the holy walls. Then pausing to reflect and pray, we knelt before the altar. We had entered the church through one of the side doors, but exited quietly through the front entrance, then descended the innumerable but clean wide
steps reaching the street below.
We paused before crossing—a bus had
stopped to let off passengers.
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| The Cathedral in the background with one of the side entrances through which we entered |
From the Cathedral, we contined our sojourn, until we came upon the iconic landmark of the city—the Grand Place is considered to be
one of Europe’s most beautiful squares.
Composed of a series of decorative guild houses, it has
something to offer everyone. There's the baker’s guild, the boatmen’s guild, and
Town Hall, among other important buildings, including many cafes. But at six in the morning, we decided to do some sightseeing instead of having breakfast. We would later come to regret that decision.
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| At the Grand Place |
Several hours later, or about ten in the morning, we had already done quite a bit of sightseeing. By now the meals we had been served on the airplane had long left our tummys. And hunger had slowly crept up on us. With each passing second we were getting more and more ravenous.
We left the square and continued to walk up further. As most tourists often are, we were filled with the sights
and the excitement of un-chartered territory, as well as the feeling of being transformed
into genteel Europeans—a people so seemingly laid-back and so easy-going, even in
this worldly metropolis and financial hubbub. Although everyone seemed to be hurrying
along, supposedly to work, there was still a certain sense of serenity in the
air.
We had a total of eight hours to
spend in Brussels before returning to the airport to board our plane to Madrid.
After several blocks of seemingly going
around in circles, we stopped in the middle of one of the famous avenues in hopes
of situating ourselves on the map, to take a breather, and to bask in our surroundings. We were downtown in the business part
of the city, but as I mentioned before, hunger had slowly been creeping up on us. And now we were seriously
looking for any place to eat something before passing out. Problem was there was not a single eatery opened for business in the area.
So we did the only thing we could—we continued to trudge up and down one of the busiest avenues, in hopes of finding any
place to eat breakfast?
Because the
map wasn’t very clear to us, we'd still not been able to situate ourselves. We stopped again. This time to really concentrate and get our bearings. Cristina had plumb given up by now. And she is
the master of urban navigation! Just
goes to show how hungry, sleep-deprived, and displaced we both were. I was not at all able to help. At a loss as to what direction to
take next because the map was in French we were at a standstill. The map also did not show restaurants. And there was nary a person we could ask directions. And if there were, they were racing along.
I was exhausted from following Cristina up and down the many long streets. The tryst through the city, felt more like drudgery now.
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| the Grand Place from another angle.... |
By then, Cristina had altogether given up, and had handed the
map over to me. Just as I myself was about ready to drop from lack of sleep, hunger, and displacement, I miraculously spotted a young woman walk out of a nearby
building and quickly start up the street.
Not caring that I was leaving Cristina behind to possibly pass out from
hunger, I picked up speed and literally chased the young woman down until I caught up with her. Sneaking up from behind and once
alongside her, I asked her if she knew of any place where we could get a quick
and relatively cheap meal.
Fortunately for me, the young woman knew English. She explained that the
area we were in was the business center,
and as such, shops and restaurants
tended to open much later. Then she pointed me in the direction of a few cafes
still several blocks away, With no time for chatter, I kindly
thanked the young woman, then assuming an “Okay-Now-I-know-where-I’m-heading!” attitude, returned to Cristina and led the near-starving girl down a new path. After a couple of blocks of yet more office
buildings and no sign of any place remotely resembling a restaurant, I thought, “As long as Cristina doesn’t pick up on the fact that I’m more lost now than
ever and have no idea where I’m headed, then we’re okay!”
The lack of sleep obviously factored in
keeping us lost.
“Keep the
faith,” I told myself.
Hallelujah!
Could it be?
As we turned a
corner, the aroma of freshly brewed java and sweet waffles lured us into a
small hole of an eatery. Finally!
We dragged ourselves into the restaurant
and grabbed the first available table.
After scanning the menu, I decided on
scrambled eggs and toast, while Cristina settled on a Belgian waffle with
strawberries. The food was good, but given
how ravenous we were, the portions were not exactly generous. I would have gladly downed another serving
of eggs and toast, in addition to a helping of waffles. But unfortunately we had not had time to
change dollars to euros, and the restaurant did not accept any other form of
payment.
This was definitely not the IHOP we were so accustomed to frequenting back home.
Hallelujah! What a little food will do for the psyche. After our modest breakfast, we hit the
streets again, this time in the direction of the Royal Palace. And what a treat that was! The palace overlooks the Brussels Park. We still had a little time left, to do a bit more sightseeing before heading back to the airport for our flight to Madrid. Up and down cobble-stoned streets and
alleyways we went, up long boulevards and down wide avenues, and I relished
every second of our jaunt through the center of the city.
And as we did, I pulled out my camera and clicked or taped, our tryst through
one of Europe’s most interesting cities, because leave it to me to make lemonade out of lemons.
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| the interior of the Cathedral |
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| another view of the inside of the Cathedral... |
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| on the steep steps of the Cathedral... |
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| before starting off on our never-ending sojourn through the city.... |
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| later in the day.... |
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| the cosmopolitan girl |
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| beautiful place the Grand Place |
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