Brussels Day 1

Morning flight was canceled.   The response from this sequence of events was rather comical, in that United Airways suggested we call the 1800 number and rebook the flight ourselves…  Customer service without serving the customer.

Anyway, the World Affairs people (Amiena) scrambled and got us on a different flight out of Pittsburgh to a different Washington airport.    Just changed where and how we sat around through the day I guess.   Lunch was with Peter & David, a nice discussion, and then off to shop the airmall, or rather look at all the overpriced Pittsburgh souvenir tourist trappings.

We flew out to National airport in Washington, only to have to hitch a 45 minute ride on a taxi bus to Dulles.  We arrived at our transcontinental gate with 10-15 minutes to spare.  Good thing we had a 6 hour gap between our original bookings.  This saved us from missing an entire day of the trip.

Like most trans-Atlantic flights, the food is horrible, planes are crowded, babies cry the whole time, and trying to sleep is a challenge.  I don’t think it really constitutes sleep, as what we end up getting is something that resembles more like a ‘zombie’ type effect.   5 minutes you snooze, 5 minutes you are awake, repeat.

Upon arriving in Brussels, we met the President of World Affairs Council, Steve Sokol,  and Dr. Alyson Lowe.  They helped us board a train, and we headed out of the airport, (west) into the city center.   Our hotel is right in the heart of the city.  There is a cool flea-market type square across from our lodgings.  Lots of little shops, boutiques, chocolate stores, etc.   Seems waffles are the national snack!   Can’t wait to try a few out.

Next we went on a walking tour of the city with Steve.  He showed us all around, as we took in the various sites.   We stopped at a bakery house for breakfast.  The meal consisted of various forms of hearty breads, mixed with various spreads (Nutella-like) and also consisted of meat & cheese, which is a standard or typical type of a European breakfast combo.   Steve ordered up various mixtures for us and we passed the platters around the room.  The espresso coffee was to die for!

Across the street from the bakery was a massive Chappel, which Alyson said was Brussel’s Notre Dame.   The work inside was exquisite.  Here are just a few pictures of what we say.  Note the Pipe Organ and Stain glass windows.   The priest’s pulpit was also an amazing piece of work.   After the Cathedral, we strolled through a fountain/park dedicated to Belgium’s greatest son’s,  then took a walk through a Flea Market which seemed to have some nice wares.  

We then climbed the top of the hill, where King Leopold’s grand palace once stood.  Today it and the various palace buildings have been turned into Art Museums.   A lot of these were badly damaged during WW2, and so had to be restored after the war.  Due to the war damage, much of Brussel’s architecture around the city is ‘post modern’,  many town houses look like 1950’s patch work.  Allyson says the Belgian people were horribly affected by both World Wars, and having been neutral, perhaps this might have played a role in why they wished to be the host of the EU capital.

We finished up our walking tour by visiting a grand overlook of the city, and then walked on a pedestrian street which was full of shops and renowned as the ‘mannequin piss’, which is a statue of a little boy peeing.  It seems to be a big deal for this street, because all sorts of statues in store windows mimic this silly tribute.

Anyway, we checked into the room, and are heading out tonight for dinner.