Brush with Belgian greatness

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Just one of hundred of photos I took of the Grand Place, the main square
And yet another..




A theater known for its puppet shows




I couldn't leave without seeing this guy.



The Sablon church




Detail from the exterior of the Sablon church
The Atomium







The two Belgian specialties: Chocolate and Beer, all in one bottle


Busy circumstances and an infuriatingly spotty internet connection have kept me from sharing my latest adventures, but the stars have aligned just so tonight, my connection is looking strong and I am jumping at the chance to try to catch up on this blogging thing.

So.....on Wednesday, June 4th, I took a bus over to Brussels. It was only 3 1/2 hours from Amsterdam and it was crazy cheap (18 euro round-trip!!), so even though I had talked to some people who were not too impressed with the city, I felt I had to see it for myself. To cut to the proverbial chase, I don't know if it was a case of low expections, randon luck, or what, but I have to say, I heartily disagree with the nay-sayers. I really, truly did like Brussels. It is a capital city, but in miniature. It is very walkable, it seems like there are art galleries on every other corner, the town square is probably one of the most beautiful in all of Europe, the beer and chocolate (two main staples of my diet) are too-die-for and their principal attraction is a wee pissing boy. What's not to love about that? During my stay, I visited the EU Parliment and got to sit in on a session relating to immigration (which they euphamistically kept referring to as the "Mediterranean situation"), where I enjoyed trying to match the translators to all the possible channels offered on the headphones. I went to the Atomium, a relic of the 1958 World's Fair, which now houses an exhibit relating to, what else, the 1958 World's Fair. I hopped on and hopped off of a double-decker tourist bus which seemed totally out of scale with the size of the city, but was still pretty darn entertaining. And even more wonderfully, I had a celebrity sighting that I never thought I would be excited about, but man, oh, man, was I ever. Let me re-create the scene. It was about 7pm and I was walking from my hostel, looking for a place to grab a quick dinner and a possibly another Belgian beer, when I saw a small crowd gathering. I started to walk away, but decided to ask a nearby cop for details. He very proudly informed me that the crowd was awaiting the premiere of the film "JCVD" starring none other than Jean Claude Van Damme. Once again, I started to walk away. That was until the voices in my head had the following conversation: "Urgh. Jean Claude, that's lame. Let's look for that beer now. Wait! Hold on. Isn't...? Yes, I think it is... Jean Claude Van Damme is the Muscles from Brussels. I am, in fact, in Brussels. How can I not stay for Jean Claude (or "JC" as his more ardent fans would say)?" So with that, I opted to wait through about a half hour of sadly lacking red carpet fashions (track suits were pretty prevalent, yet nothing topped the guy who strolled the entire carpet while munching on a very juicy red apple). When the Muscles did arrive, he was surprisingly short, more so because, despite the fact that there was a photo of him posted directly in front of me, I had confused him with Steven Seagal and was thus expecting a taller pony-tailed tubby in a robe. That did not stop me from trying to get a the ultimate souvenir, a photo with him but I had to settle for photos of him posing with his more devoted fans in the crowd. Still, I could not complain. I had not only seen one Belgian icon, the incontinent kid, I had also stood on the same sidewalk as JCVD himself. Not a bad return for an 18 Euro investment, me thinks.

Comments

  1. L@ur@June 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM

    It seems you had a great trip, true Bussel is nice, beer is good and chocolate is great ;))
    I cant belive that this was your first time in this city ;))but you have to recognize that Amsterdam is better :)) totally different!!
    How long will you be in Asterdam?? On 22 june to 1 july I will be in Paris, will you have time to visit? we rented an apartment in Montmartre so we have space...waiting for you to join the patry !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RamblingRolandJune 16, 2008 at 9:31 AM

    Pretty cool adventure, I must say. Didn't recognize JCVD until I read the article, but he somehow looked familiar. Ha has changed. The only time I was in Brussels was as a teenager, traveling through Europe. Stayed at a youth hostel for the night. The next morning found our car had been broken in, and my camera stolen aaargh... Police were not helpful at all. Major disappointment on account of the film I had in the camera.

    ReplyDelete

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