Our trip to Brussels was meant to be a relaxed 2 day break with absolutely no agenda. We had thought about going somewhere in Europe over the weekend considering Manish had a full week off and may not have any more time off on a new job in the near future, but our bookings were only done 10 days in advance. Though 10 days is a long time to plan for a trip, somehow we had decided that we will just get ourselves the hop-on/hop-off bus tour tickets of the city and do whatever we feel like it once we get there. We were unable to cover Bruges in this trip, but I knew Brussels would have some effect of the famous Belgian comic, so covering Tintin was definitely on my agenda.
I had taken Friday off from work and we were booked on the 8am Eurostar train from London St Pancreas to Brussels Midi. Catching the 8am train meant we had to be at St Pancreas at 7am, which meant we had to leave our place at 6:15am. And, leaving at 6:15am meant I had to wake up atleast by 4:45am to get ready in time. I don’t think I slept very well just thinking about waking up that early in the morning…(so not a morning person!)
We thankfully made it to the station on time, finished the immigration formalities and got on our train. We were booked in the 18th carriage which is the last/first carriage in the Eurostar train. The train has 2 pantry cars in the 6th and 11th carriage. As we had woken up so early, there was no time for tea or breakfast, so the moment we took off from London St Pancreas station, I made my way to carriage 11 for some coffee and breakfast!
What I had not realized by then, though there were talks about it with over the week was that the particular weekend we were headed to Brussels, the Belgium Beer Festival was also taking place. On my way to the pantry car, I had to pass an entire carriage filled with college students who at 8:30 in the morning were drinking away beer merrily and making so much noise that they could be heard an entire carriage away.
Anyways, our 2 hour 15 min ride to Brussels was quite uneventful. We reached Midi station around 11am CET and then made our way to the hotel. What was surprising was that thru-out the way to our hotel, we felt as if we were in a modern Moroccan or Turkish city. There were men sitting outside in those Kaftan/nightie like outfit sipping on mint tea/coffee and having baklavas/bread. The hotel was a cosy boutique hotel with very decent rooms and quite near to the touristy spots. Check-in was not till 3pm so we just left our bag there and made our way to the Grand Place.
The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels and is considered as one of the most beautiful places of the world. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft) and was registered as a World Heritage site in 1998. There are numerous festivals and cultural events that are organized at the square of the Grand Place and the weekend we were there…it was the time of the year for the Belgian Beer Weekend. This is a weekend dedicated to Belgian beers; small and big breweries present their best beer at the Grand Place. There are approximately 90,000 breweries in Belgium (ranging from international giants to microbreweries). It's also stated that almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass and supposedly, using the correct glass is considered to improve its flavour.
After the Grand Place, we decided to make our way to our to the Brussels Central station from where we were going to get our hop-on/off tour bus. We passed the ‘Beer Temple’ on the way…. And...made our way thru very quaint streets with the typical European outside seating arrangement before finally reaching Brussels Central station.
We thankfully made it to the station on time, finished the immigration formalities and got on our train. We were booked in the 18th carriage which is the last/first carriage in the Eurostar train. The train has 2 pantry cars in the 6th and 11th carriage. As we had woken up so early, there was no time for tea or breakfast, so the moment we took off from London St Pancreas station, I made my way to carriage 11 for some coffee and breakfast!
What I had not realized by then, though there were talks about it with over the week was that the particular weekend we were headed to Brussels, the Belgium Beer Festival was also taking place. On my way to the pantry car, I had to pass an entire carriage filled with college students who at 8:30 in the morning were drinking away beer merrily and making so much noise that they could be heard an entire carriage away.
Anyways, our 2 hour 15 min ride to Brussels was quite uneventful. We reached Midi station around 11am CET and then made our way to the hotel. What was surprising was that thru-out the way to our hotel, we felt as if we were in a modern Moroccan or Turkish city. There were men sitting outside in those Kaftan/nightie like outfit sipping on mint tea/coffee and having baklavas/bread. The hotel was a cosy boutique hotel with very decent rooms and quite near to the touristy spots. Check-in was not till 3pm so we just left our bag there and made our way to the Grand Place.
The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels and is considered as one of the most beautiful places of the world. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 361 ft) and was registered as a World Heritage site in 1998. There are numerous festivals and cultural events that are organized at the square of the Grand Place and the weekend we were there…it was the time of the year for the Belgian Beer Weekend. This is a weekend dedicated to Belgian beers; small and big breweries present their best beer at the Grand Place. There are approximately 90,000 breweries in Belgium (ranging from international giants to microbreweries). It's also stated that almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass and supposedly, using the correct glass is considered to improve its flavour.
After the Grand Place, we decided to make our way to our to the Brussels Central station from where we were going to get our hop-on/off tour bus. We passed the ‘Beer Temple’ on the way…. And...made our way thru very quaint streets with the typical European outside seating arrangement before finally reaching Brussels Central station.
Oh! And I met the Smurfs on the way – I had no idea before this trip that the Smurfs cartoon was actually Belgian!!!
Our first and only stop on Friday’s tour was the Atomium. The Atomium was constructed for the World Expo in 1958. It has these spheres that are connected to form the shape of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. One gets the best panoramic view of Brussels from atop the Atomium.
From the Atomium we made our way down to Mini Europe - a one stop shop to go around Europe in a couple of hours. They've actually done up and maintained the place very nicely. Mini Europe has reproductions of famous monuments across the European Union at a 1:25 scale. There are around 80 cities and 350 monuments on display.
By the time we made our way out of Mini-Europe, we had missed the last bus back to the city centre. To Manish’s delight that meant only one thing…exploring the train/underground system of Brussels. The city is pretty well connected by their Metro and Tram system and though not much can be said about the trains…the stations are a delight. Each station that we passed was unique in its own way with some featuring the World War theme.
We were back in our hotel around 6pm and decided to relax a bit before heading out for dinner. One of our ex-colleague who was originally from Brussels had recommended places to eat and we decided to go for a Lebanese joint. This was the oldest Lebanese joint in the city opened more than 40 years ago. The food definitely lived up to the recommendation and was superb!!!
We walked around the city centre a bit before calling it a night – completely exhausted as we had walked close to 12 miles during the day we were sound asleep as soon as we hit the bed.
There was no agenda for the next morning. We woke up, had breakfast and checked out of our hotel around 10am. The only place that we really wanted to see on our last day was the European Parliament. Our hop on/off bus tour tickets were still valid and we made our way to where all the decisions for Europe is made.
The European Parliament building has a separate exhibit which is free for all to visit called the Parlimentarium. This was a superb exhibition, providing the history of the formation of Europe post World War II as well as detailing how rules/laws/regulations are made in present day. They provide each visitor with an iPod like device which provides audio/video guide for the tour. We spent nearly 3 hours there, but it was not enough!!! There were people taking pictures on the tour, but for some reason neither Manish nor I ended up clicking any photos.
By the time we made our way out of Mini-Europe, we had missed the last bus back to the city centre. To Manish’s delight that meant only one thing…exploring the train/underground system of Brussels. The city is pretty well connected by their Metro and Tram system and though not much can be said about the trains…the stations are a delight. Each station that we passed was unique in its own way with some featuring the World War theme.
We were back in our hotel around 6pm and decided to relax a bit before heading out for dinner. One of our ex-colleague who was originally from Brussels had recommended places to eat and we decided to go for a Lebanese joint. This was the oldest Lebanese joint in the city opened more than 40 years ago. The food definitely lived up to the recommendation and was superb!!!
We walked around the city centre a bit before calling it a night – completely exhausted as we had walked close to 12 miles during the day we were sound asleep as soon as we hit the bed.
There was no agenda for the next morning. We woke up, had breakfast and checked out of our hotel around 10am. The only place that we really wanted to see on our last day was the European Parliament. Our hop on/off bus tour tickets were still valid and we made our way to where all the decisions for Europe is made.
The European Parliament building has a separate exhibit which is free for all to visit called the Parlimentarium. This was a superb exhibition, providing the history of the formation of Europe post World War II as well as detailing how rules/laws/regulations are made in present day. They provide each visitor with an iPod like device which provides audio/video guide for the tour. We spent nearly 3 hours there, but it was not enough!!! There were people taking pictures on the tour, but for some reason neither Manish nor I ended up clicking any photos.
All in all, a wonderful weekend in a wonderful city. I just realized, that I completely forgot to mention the Belgian waffles that we ate – best waffles in the world!!! Also, we did go to the Tintin boutique, but it was completely disappointing. The Tintin figurines in the shop, along with the frescos they had on the building at the street crossing were much better! Oh…and the chocolates!!! Rows and rows of shops just for chocolates!!!
And…to end this travelogue…the one thing that frustrated Manish and me the most during our trip….Mannequin Pis!!! This is a famous bronze statue of small boy urinating in a fountain. We knew this statue was somewhere between our hotel and the Grand Place, but it took AGES for us to finally locate it. Once we did find it…it was the most disappointing and over hyped tourist attraction ever! It’s a tiny little statue with hordes of people gathered around it taking photos!