Europe Trip 2011 Brussels (Day 6 & 7)

     It took about and an hour and a half for the Thalys train to take us from Paris to Brussels. There was no border check because both France and Belgium belong to Schengen Nations. For those who do not already know, Brussels is not only the capital city of Brussels, it is also the de facto capital of the European Union, and people wearing suits could be seen walking around the east side of the inner city, where most of the EU buildings are located. The other thing that I thought would be interesting in Brussels is that even though it is within the Flanders region, but French is predominately spoken, because it is a status symbol for the nobles to speak French and the citizens of Brussels followed suit. Bilingual is also seen everywhere because there are more Flemish speakers than French speakers in Belgium and the Flemish probably wanted representation on the capital city. German is also an official language in Belgium but only a very small region is German native.

     The Thalys train stops at Bruxelle-Midi/Brussel-Zuid/South Station, unlike the last two trips, our hostel this time, Youth Hostel van Gogh (CHAB), is not close enough to the main station. Instead, it is located 3 minute walk from the Botanique/Kruidtuin station, named after the Botanical Garden of Brussels. Most of the locals I saw were brown and black skin people. Later I found out Belgium has many Congolese and Morocco immigrants and there are racial tensions among people from different races

     We dropped off our luggage at the Hostel. Our accommodation experience was improving, we now have an semi-attached room in the garden section of the hostel, and there was free Internet use by the guest. The staff were also very friendly, because they work in youth hostel. We got a map that depicts the subculture of Brussels and apparently comic is big thing in the city. The map also listed out the better fry stands (Belgium is well-known for their twice fried thick cuts).

     The first thing we were to do was to try out the fries at the fry stand for lunch near the Madou Station, it was closed enough to YH van Gogh so we walked there. I was greedy and ordered the large size and it was LOTS of fries. Also, mayonnaise is the way to go for the Flemish, according to the tourist guide so I had that on the side. Many fry stands now offer different kinds of sauces as well.

     We did not what was really interesting in Brussels. Even tourist books said people stop in Brussels because of its convenient intermediate location between Paris and Amsterdam/Cologne. We took the metro to the Atomium, a unique structure built for Expo 58 at an area north of the old city wall of Brussels. Atomium was one of the few structures left and since it been used as a tourist attraction. It was designed as a unit cell of an iron atom and hence it was called Atomium. The ticket for Atomium alone was 15 Euro, so we bought a bundled ticket that admits us to Atomium and the planetarium. It is also where the water park Oceano, Royal Palace and Garden, Mini-Europe, and the national stadium located.

Atomium, the unit cell of an iron element

The skyline of Brussels from the Atomium

Parabola shaped pavilion and it did not last very long after the Expo

   

The surreal escalator of the 'bond' part of the Atomium

     We took a nice view of the city at the top of Atomium via a very fast elevator, the diagonal 'bonds' had escalator inside that connects from one atom to another. We saw some exhibitions including the pavilions that were built for the Expos from various countries, as well as how people in Brussels are living in a mulicultural society. I really liked the decor of the 'bonding' parts between the atoms. It had a surreal feelings into it. I also looked at the King Baudouin Stadium and imagined the Heysel Stadium disasters that was caused by drunk Liverpool fans in the European Final 1985 between Juventus and Liverpool. England was banned for participating European competition for five years after that happened. What were ironic that the Juventus player Michel Platini who scored the only goal in the match had became the president of UEFA, and less than 4 years the similar incident happened in a match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
     After heading the Atomium, we took the Metro back to the closest station to Grand Place/Grote Markt and head to the Number One tourist attraction in Brussels. It is the old market square and has overpriced restaurants catering tourists. However, some administrative buildings, such as the City Hall, We took enough pictures and headed to the most cliche tourist attraction of Belgium - Manneken Pis (later I found out there is a female equivalent version called Jeanneke Pis) but it never achieve popularity of Manneken Pis and it is within the proximity of both attractions.

Dog unleashed on the street!

Grand Place/Grote Markt

The restored facade of structures in
Grand Place/Grote Markt

   
We were hungry and walked to the Chinatown part of  Brussels. There are several Chinese and

The breakfast at the hostel with cheeselike wax

Vietnamese restaurants on one single street nearby and we had zero interest in Asian food in Europe. We should have tried Belgian food but they were pricey so we ended up in a Doner Kabab place. It was the first time I went into one and I thought it was exotic (later I found out there are all over the place in Europe, especially in Germany). I ordered a falafel plate and it comes with fries (fries to Belgian is like rice to Southeast Asians). Then we headed back to hostel and discussed our plans.

     Jeffrey decided to venture on his own with his photography at the forested park on the following day, so Fred and I decided to explore Brussels on our own. After our breakfast, we took the Metro to Court of Justice, a magnificent building we saw from the Atomium the day before. It was a great spot for photographic as it situates on a small hill. Unfortunately, part of the facade is under renovation so we continued to walk a few blocks until we reached the Marolles Flea Market.

Le chat/een kat in the street

     Marolles Flea Market at Place du Jeu de Balle is a gem if one wants to find old treasures and
antique. It opens and closes early during the day so Fred and I spent some time to walk around to look at the old antique stuff. I bought some cool postcards and old dolls (unfortunately I lost them before I left the Netherlands). There were also a lot of old electronics but they are not anything interesting compared to handcrafted stuff.

The amazing fruity Lambic beer sampled during the brewery tour 

   
     After that we walked to Cantillon Brewery at 11. I have researched before the trip and there is a brewery near the old city and it is called Cantillon Brewery. Belgium is very well-known for their beer. All kinds of beer are available in Belgium and there are many fruity beer as well (They also have many corporate beer, as InBev is headquartered in Belgium). Unlike many other breweries which controls the condition during the brewing process, Cantillon claimed that the brewery process is spontaneous, so the flavour of the brew differs depends on the time, season, and conditions of the surrounding. Also, the fermentation process is much longer than the normal brewery so the taste of the beer was very rich.

     The tour was self guided with two samples at the end. Those who participated the tours are also offered to buy beer Cantillon beer at a discount price. I tried all three flavours and I thought the Geueze were the best. It had a slight beer palate but very rich taste and I never thought beer could be that good. The fruity beer were very good too but to me it was a cross between beer and wine. I bought the Geueze and I decided to bring it with me on my journey.
 

Morocco-style fast food at Anderlecht district

     I got slightly tipsy after the beer tour so it was time for food. We went to have lunch at another Moroccan place and headed to AutoWorld at Parc du Cinquantenaire. I personally do not like cars but I liked the history of it so it was a good museum for me to go to.

I really like the interior design of the Metro where different people can hold the different parts of the pole

The gate at Parc du Cinquantanaire/Jubelpark

     I liked the design and the arrangement of the museum. The cars were displayed chronologically, with major innovations noted on the signs. I am not going through the details here but I saw many manufacturers from different countries during the first thirty years of the twentieth century. After WWII, many automobile manufacturers were bought out by larger automobile companies.

     After the visit of the AutoWorld, it was the time for chocolate hunting. Chocolate is a big thing in Brussels so even though I have no interest to visit the Big 3 - Godiva, Neuhaus, and Leonidas, Fred and I went to the factory shop at Godiva. To be honest there was not anything special about the factory store so we walked out pretty quickly and took the picture of the palace. We took shots of the Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg near by and it was a gorgeous shot.

By far my favourite shot of Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur à Koekelberg near the Godiva factory store

A nice walk at the Botanical Garden right before the evening

The beautiful street scene at sunset

     Fred had an appointment with a online-game friend from Shanghai and he invited me to have dinner with him. He picked us up from YH van Gogh and drove us to the the outside of Brussels to Flanders (which was short drive) where most people I saw around that neighbourhood. He worked at a Casino on the outskirt of Brussels. He explained in his opinion of how Brussels claim itself as a multi-cultural city in Europe but it is not successful and politicians that are taking the advantages of being 'multi-culture'. He also miss Shanghai but he did not trust the education system in China either but he said he would eventually live in China again someday. We ended up in a crowed tavern and since I could not drink any alcohol, I had a freshly squeezed orange juice in the tavern. I like how that tavern in takes their non-alcoholic drinks seriously.

     Jeffrey was also in the hostel by the time we got back, and there was the end of Brussels and the last three days of hanging out with my old high school friends. The next stop would be Amsterdam and it would be the last stop for Jeffrey and Fred before they return to Hong Kong.