This past weekend, I took a trip to the Netherlands for some business-related needs, then moved on to Brussels to see a friend whom I had met in Detroit three years ago. Later we made a stop to Ghent and met up with my friend's friend who lived there. It was a fantastic weekend of reuniting with an old friend and making some new friendly acquaintances!
It was such a wonderful weekend that made me so happy. It made me think of the saying that it "made my heart swell with joy." That is a really cheesy saying, I think, but that's how awesome it felt. Well, until I started dissecting the statement; I was thinking that if one's heart were swelling, it might indicate a build-up of fluid and heart failure...then I told myself to stop being so dang literal.
Regardless, it was a fantastic weekend. I love how small the world can be; after all, I was able to reconnect with a friend I had met thousands of miles away and years before. We now live and hour and a half from each other but reconnected in Brussels. I made plans to meet with the couple from Paris when I'll be visiting the city soon for other reasons.
There is more to say, but that's it for now as it's late.
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
December's Adventure: Day 7, Part 2: Brussels
If I had to sum up the apparent theme of Brussels, I would use this word: peeing. No, it's not that I've seen people relieving themselves in inappropriate places. Instead, it is the Belgian city's odd fascination with sculptures of mammals relieving themselves that has made an impression on me.
The oldest, of course, is Manneken Pis, the statue of the small peeing boy put in place in the early 17th century. In 1987, Manneken got a little sister named Jeanneke-Pis, who also is relieving herself at Impasse de la Fidélité 10 (across from Delirium Cafe, for those who want to drink some beers and get the feeling she's having). She was dressed up for Christmas in a festive outfit as she squatted.
To complete the happy little family of children relieving themselves, in 1998 the city added their pet dog, Zinneke Pis, at Rue de Chartreux 31H.
In addition to the awkward sculptures, we saw the city's interesting emblem on trash cans: St. Michael is trampling the devil.
We then saw the city's Official Santa Transport mammal. Okay, maybe it's not official, but it's a restaurant's take on holiday decoration. I think it was some sort of...topiary (?) wrapped up with fabric and then Santa was given a leg up to ride the odd beast. There were Christmas lights, so it was very...festive.
The oldest, of course, is Manneken Pis, the statue of the small peeing boy put in place in the early 17th century. In 1987, Manneken got a little sister named Jeanneke-Pis, who also is relieving herself at Impasse de la Fidélité 10 (across from Delirium Cafe, for those who want to drink some beers and get the feeling she's having). She was dressed up for Christmas in a festive outfit as she squatted.
To complete the happy little family of children relieving themselves, in 1998 the city added their pet dog, Zinneke Pis, at Rue de Chartreux 31H.
In addition to the awkward sculptures, we saw the city's interesting emblem on trash cans: St. Michael is trampling the devil.
We then saw the city's Official Santa Transport mammal. Okay, maybe it's not official, but it's a restaurant's take on holiday decoration. I think it was some sort of...topiary (?) wrapped up with fabric and then Santa was given a leg up to ride the odd beast. There were Christmas lights, so it was very...festive.
Things that make me say "hmm..."
Thursday, January 23, 2014
December's Adventure: Day 7, Brussels
We enjoyed a pleasant night at our Brussels hotel and woke up refreshed on Friday morning. On our way downtown we stopped at the Carrefour grocery store two blocks from our hotel. To save money on my trips, I like to buy my drinks (if not filling up from the hotel tap) and some things to eat at the grocery store. Plus it's a great way to try out food that the locals eat daily! I was happy to find a couscous for breakfast, which was a slightly more healthful option than the various Christmas market foods I'd eaten. After some basic French by my cousins and some pantomiming by me, we convinced the helpful store clerk to give me a plastic spoon so I could eat the couscous.
Our first official stop was the City Museum of Brussels, or the Maison du Roi, on the site of the previous bread market hall located in the Grand Place. It covers the history of Brussels, including its art, architecture, design, culture, and...best of all, Manneken Pis! There is a silly and cute documentary about the little statue. My favorite quote from the documentary is people, in many different languages, saying, "he is so small! I thought he'd be bigger." At two feet tall, he definitely not the towering "personality" that one would assume for a sculpture who has become the unofficial mascot of the city. In addition to the documentary, visitors can see many of M.P's costumes from different countries. There is even a computer where one can view a catalog of the costumes with more information.
I enjoyed the museum and would suggest if for those curious to learn more about the history of Brussels. The city itself has an interesting history and has been subject to many architectural changes. Also, it's fun to see the costumes of a "world famous" little peeing dude.
I did sit for a bit at the museum. After a week of extensive travel and walking at least 10 miles a day, my feet, even clad in my expensive and comfortable Christmas gift boots, were quite sore. We didn't take any public transport in the towns we visited after dumping the car; it was all walking. I love walking but after about 60 miles of it up to that point, my feet were saying they wanted a rest.
I was able to rouse myself for more sights and walking. Using the super handy and free Use-It Guide for Brussels, I had identified some things I'd like to see, do, and eat. My cousins very kindly obliged.
On the way we saw some interesting sights not on the list. For example, we found a small Christmas market tucked into a square. My cousins enjoyed some macaroons while I oohed and ahhed over a steampunk carousel. As vintage as it looked, it was built in 1999. How cool is it though? Many of the seats did interesting things, like the Pegasus that "flew." Here is an article about this magical contraption and its builders.
My cousins wanted to eat some more delicious quiches from a vendor they had found the night before in Place Sainte-Catherine, a nearby square. As they ordered, I stopped by the Brussels Use-It Guide location, also in the square. This was the first time that I actually went in-person to a Use-It office; normally I just print the guides from the internet. The office in Brussels is really neat; there is free wifi, friendly locals to meet, and free Use-It Guides, including other cities. I stopped by and told the volunteers how awesome I think that the guides are. And, just to be clear, I don't get anything other than the pleasure of recommending a good, free guide out of this :) I'm super impressed with the guides and the quality, non-commerical information written by locals. The volunteers at the office were pleased by my input and even offered me some guides that weren't on the general racks. As I left the office and looked at the Brussels guide, I realized that some of the people I talked to were pictured on the guide itself. It was a fun experience and great to meet some of the folks who made the guide happen.
One stop from the Brussels guide that I felt was a must-eat location was the Comus et Gasteria ice cream shop at Quai aux Briques 86 (in St. Catherine's Square). Oh. My. Goodness. That ice cream was divine! I ordered the salted caramel that the guide recommended. I also ordered lavender ice cream. It was fragrant and delicious. The guy who ran the place was a bit grumpy but I didn't even care. The artesian ice cream was fabulous. Ignore the proprietor's surly demeanor and make a trip there.
I decided to follow dessert with a lunch/dinner from the Christmas market at the square. I chose "poylee savoyarde," which looked similar to German käsespätzle. I'm not sure if the blobs in it were potatoes or egg noodle* based like the German version, but the cheesy dish was was delicious.
This entry is getting long so I'll finish up the details of our Brussels day in another post.
*hehe. I'm getting quite Germanified here because when I first type the word "noodle," I wrote it with the German spelling. I'm finding myself doing that sometimes with other words too.
Our first official stop was the City Museum of Brussels, or the Maison du Roi, on the site of the previous bread market hall located in the Grand Place. It covers the history of Brussels, including its art, architecture, design, culture, and...best of all, Manneken Pis! There is a silly and cute documentary about the little statue. My favorite quote from the documentary is people, in many different languages, saying, "he is so small! I thought he'd be bigger." At two feet tall, he definitely not the towering "personality" that one would assume for a sculpture who has become the unofficial mascot of the city. In addition to the documentary, visitors can see many of M.P's costumes from different countries. There is even a computer where one can view a catalog of the costumes with more information.
I enjoyed the museum and would suggest if for those curious to learn more about the history of Brussels. The city itself has an interesting history and has been subject to many architectural changes. Also, it's fun to see the costumes of a "world famous" little peeing dude.
I did sit for a bit at the museum. After a week of extensive travel and walking at least 10 miles a day, my feet, even clad in my expensive and comfortable Christmas gift boots, were quite sore. We didn't take any public transport in the towns we visited after dumping the car; it was all walking. I love walking but after about 60 miles of it up to that point, my feet were saying they wanted a rest.
I was able to rouse myself for more sights and walking. Using the super handy and free Use-It Guide for Brussels, I had identified some things I'd like to see, do, and eat. My cousins very kindly obliged.
On the way we saw some interesting sights not on the list. For example, we found a small Christmas market tucked into a square. My cousins enjoyed some macaroons while I oohed and ahhed over a steampunk carousel. As vintage as it looked, it was built in 1999. How cool is it though? Many of the seats did interesting things, like the Pegasus that "flew." Here is an article about this magical contraption and its builders.
My cousins wanted to eat some more delicious quiches from a vendor they had found the night before in Place Sainte-Catherine, a nearby square. As they ordered, I stopped by the Brussels Use-It Guide location, also in the square. This was the first time that I actually went in-person to a Use-It office; normally I just print the guides from the internet. The office in Brussels is really neat; there is free wifi, friendly locals to meet, and free Use-It Guides, including other cities. I stopped by and told the volunteers how awesome I think that the guides are. And, just to be clear, I don't get anything other than the pleasure of recommending a good, free guide out of this :) I'm super impressed with the guides and the quality, non-commerical information written by locals. The volunteers at the office were pleased by my input and even offered me some guides that weren't on the general racks. As I left the office and looked at the Brussels guide, I realized that some of the people I talked to were pictured on the guide itself. It was a fun experience and great to meet some of the folks who made the guide happen.
One stop from the Brussels guide that I felt was a must-eat location was the Comus et Gasteria ice cream shop at Quai aux Briques 86 (in St. Catherine's Square). Oh. My. Goodness. That ice cream was divine! I ordered the salted caramel that the guide recommended. I also ordered lavender ice cream. It was fragrant and delicious. The guy who ran the place was a bit grumpy but I didn't even care. The artesian ice cream was fabulous. Ignore the proprietor's surly demeanor and make a trip there.
I decided to follow dessert with a lunch/dinner from the Christmas market at the square. I chose "poylee savoyarde," which looked similar to German käsespätzle. I'm not sure if the blobs in it were potatoes or egg noodle* based like the German version, but the cheesy dish was was delicious.
This entry is getting long so I'll finish up the details of our Brussels day in another post.
*hehe. I'm getting quite Germanified here because when I first type the word "noodle," I wrote it with the German spelling. I'm finding myself doing that sometimes with other words too.
Monday, January 20, 2014
December's Adventure: Day 6 Continued, Brussels
We left Valkenburg in the Netherlands on Thursday evening and drove to Brussels in Belgium. I purposefully arranged the schedule so we would arrive past rush hour; in this case, it was 7 p.m. However, it was still a mess with congestion and driving lanes that would converge with no warning then spread out again. The government in Brussels is actually considering closing down parts of the city to auto traffic because of congestion problems. It's recommended to take public transportation in Brussels and not drive, for sure!
We finally found our hotel and dumped the car at the underground parking at the hotel across the street. The parking was 23 euros per day, which seemed a bit steep after being in the other cities, but I was feeling so tired and frazzled by that time that I just wanted to be rid of the car so it was worth the convenience.
We checked in at the Hotel Villa Royale (more detailed review to follow, at some point). It was freshly decorated with small but comfortable rooms. Since it was still somewhat early, we headed out to the main part of downtown, the Grand Place. It took us about 20 minutes to walk downtown. Once we arrived at Grand Place, we enjoyed the Christmas light and music show. It's quite pretty.
Our next stop was to buy some chocolates. I've been to Brussels before so I suggested my favorite store: Corné Port-Royal. We each bought some delicious chocolates and enjoyed the rich, fresh taste, as good as I remembered it from my visit in 2008. The other wonderful thing about the store is where it is located, in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a beautiful 19th century shopping arcade.
We then went to visit Brussels's famous statue: Manneken Pis (literally "Little Man Pee). There are so many legends surrounding this small statue who is also a fountain, but the residents mostly love him (or roll their eyes). The funny thing is that the statue is quite small at about two feet tall. He was naked when we saw him but he does have a huge collection of fancy costumes to wear and even a city employee to dress him. To find him, Wikipedia.org instructs the curious to find him at "...Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the left lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the famous Grand Place and walks a few hundred metres southwest via Rue Charles Buls/Karel Bulsstraat." Getting tired after our Brussels fun, we walked back to the hotel.
We finally found our hotel and dumped the car at the underground parking at the hotel across the street. The parking was 23 euros per day, which seemed a bit steep after being in the other cities, but I was feeling so tired and frazzled by that time that I just wanted to be rid of the car so it was worth the convenience.
We checked in at the Hotel Villa Royale (more detailed review to follow, at some point). It was freshly decorated with small but comfortable rooms. Since it was still somewhat early, we headed out to the main part of downtown, the Grand Place. It took us about 20 minutes to walk downtown. Once we arrived at Grand Place, we enjoyed the Christmas light and music show. It's quite pretty.
Our next stop was to buy some chocolates. I've been to Brussels before so I suggested my favorite store: Corné Port-Royal. We each bought some delicious chocolates and enjoyed the rich, fresh taste, as good as I remembered it from my visit in 2008. The other wonderful thing about the store is where it is located, in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a beautiful 19th century shopping arcade.
We then went to visit Brussels's famous statue: Manneken Pis (literally "Little Man Pee). There are so many legends surrounding this small statue who is also a fountain, but the residents mostly love him (or roll their eyes). The funny thing is that the statue is quite small at about two feet tall. He was naked when we saw him but he does have a huge collection of fancy costumes to wear and even a city employee to dress him. To find him, Wikipedia.org instructs the curious to find him at "...Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the left lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the famous Grand Place and walks a few hundred metres southwest via Rue Charles Buls/Karel Bulsstraat." Getting tired after our Brussels fun, we walked back to the hotel.
Delicious chocolates in a gorgeous 19th century shopping arcade? Check!
Cheesy tourist attraction? Manneken Pis: check.
My astute cousin D. pointed out this Cactguy after I told her the disconcerting story about the Cactguy I know.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
When in Paris/Brussels/Amesterdam
From December 14, 2008
I recently returned home from my week-long trip to Europe with my friend K. We had a great time and saw many interesting things, including many, many hookers, a church in the attic, a crazy flea/antiques market (puces!), chestnuts roasting over an open shopping cart, "coffee" shops, Post-Impressionist paintings, a statue of a little boy peeing that is supposedly world-renowned (um, I hadn't heard of it before), a huge atom sculpture with a restaurant inside, etc.
Plus, I now have a potential husband in every port that we visited, it appears. In Paris at the flea market, I was grabbed by the hand, kissed on it, and kissed on the cheek by a pseudo-French dude (I doubt that he had legal resident status there) who wanted me to take him home to America with me. He also kissed K's hand, too, so she didn't feel left out (he probably wanted to cover all of his bases). I declined to pack him in my suitcase and bring him home with me, but I did buy a pretty freakin' cool hooded sweatshirt there so I could fondly remember my "husband" (actually, I had planned to buy it anyway).
In Brussels, we were walking through an obnoxious restaurant quarter where the servers try to sweet talk people into the restaurants. We were just passing through to get to the other side of the road (just like the chicken jokes go) and a waiter opened his mouth to start his spiel. I didn't want him to waste his breath and I didn't want to hear it anyway, so I told him, "no thanks, we're not hungry." He cried out, "No, that's not what I want; I'm single!" K and I laughed really hard at that one.
Finally, in Amsterdam, K and I were walking around the Red Light District, which also conveniently hosts Chinatown. We were in search of rangoons for her because she had a mighty fierce craving for them. There were two really loud, rambunctious dudes walking in front of us. They were ebullient, exclaiming something and singing. One of the guys leaped into the air, grabbed my arm, and said something very happy. I hypothesized that he either had just experienced some very good luck (if you know what I mean) or was pleasantly surprised by the amount and variety of ladies of the night in that quarter. Either way, I really wanted no part of it as I am not part of the selection, but whatever.
In other words, it was an odd, but interesting trip.
I recently returned home from my week-long trip to Europe with my friend K. We had a great time and saw many interesting things, including many, many hookers, a church in the attic, a crazy flea/antiques market (puces!), chestnuts roasting over an open shopping cart, "coffee" shops, Post-Impressionist paintings, a statue of a little boy peeing that is supposedly world-renowned (um, I hadn't heard of it before), a huge atom sculpture with a restaurant inside, etc.
Plus, I now have a potential husband in every port that we visited, it appears. In Paris at the flea market, I was grabbed by the hand, kissed on it, and kissed on the cheek by a pseudo-French dude (I doubt that he had legal resident status there) who wanted me to take him home to America with me. He also kissed K's hand, too, so she didn't feel left out (he probably wanted to cover all of his bases). I declined to pack him in my suitcase and bring him home with me, but I did buy a pretty freakin' cool hooded sweatshirt there so I could fondly remember my "husband" (actually, I had planned to buy it anyway).
In Brussels, we were walking through an obnoxious restaurant quarter where the servers try to sweet talk people into the restaurants. We were just passing through to get to the other side of the road (just like the chicken jokes go) and a waiter opened his mouth to start his spiel. I didn't want him to waste his breath and I didn't want to hear it anyway, so I told him, "no thanks, we're not hungry." He cried out, "No, that's not what I want; I'm single!" K and I laughed really hard at that one.
Finally, in Amsterdam, K and I were walking around the Red Light District, which also conveniently hosts Chinatown. We were in search of rangoons for her because she had a mighty fierce craving for them. There were two really loud, rambunctious dudes walking in front of us. They were ebullient, exclaiming something and singing. One of the guys leaped into the air, grabbed my arm, and said something very happy. I hypothesized that he either had just experienced some very good luck (if you know what I mean) or was pleasantly surprised by the amount and variety of ladies of the night in that quarter. Either way, I really wanted no part of it as I am not part of the selection, but whatever.
In other words, it was an odd, but interesting trip.
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