Belgium's clever play on their national URL
domain extension. Sadly, be.welcome is
not a real website.
This was what every Belgian would say to us when we told them we were traveling from the US. I wound up asking one of them why that was, and his reply was "I like my country, but there just isn't much to do."
And when it comes to Things To Do, Belgium does in fact sort of fall short. All it has is hundreds of castles to see, the Basilica of the Holy Blood (a Roman Catholic minor basilica), Délirium Café (which holds the record for the most beer offered), the Atomium (which you just have to see, below), Brosella (a fantastic jazz festival), world famous flea markets, and probably the best chocolate shops in the world.
And that's it.
Upon landing we went straight to our host's home in Uccle, just south of Brussels. Aliean Vergean (which we pronounced "Allen") is a 60-something year old nearly-retired scientist who's had a very colorful history, and has a very colorful vocabulary as well. To say the least, we had an interesting experience with him, which I prefer not to publish here.
Our lovely guides, Martina and Melissa.
So let's talk about the exploration!
When I was in Chicago a couple years ago, I met a couple Belgian gals named Melissa and Evelien with whom we explored much of the city. We exchanged contact info and have kept in touch. Evelien was on an excursion, but Melissa and the three of us were able to meet up in Brussels, which was awesome. Melissa brought her two lovely friends, Anna and Martina. Together, the three of them showed us around the city of Brussels...
Just before breakfast near the famous flea-market, of which I did not get a picture.
In front of notable government building X, I'm pretty sure. You don't even care. Look how pretty it is though.
EDIT: It's a church, integrated into a royal building
Whatever this is I found it significant.
Gorgeous plaza in the center of Brussels.
The most legit alley I've ever gone down. Delirium cafe was this way. That's
the bar that has the world-record number of beers available.
A unique and completely not strange statue right next to Delirium cafe.
Wyatt felt mystique overtake him as we entered.
The kind and generous Melissa who led the way around town.
The quiet but entertaining Martina, Melissa's friend from the Czech Republic.
Anna, another of Melissa's friends, who brought with her some very interesting conversation and liveliness...
Which had an impact on Wyatt's ness.
And elicited some thoughtful expressions from Aryan.
No we didn't go in. But what even why did they what is this name for.
One of the zillions of ridiculously gorgeous stone churches.
This one's for you, Mum.
Aryan again tapping into his supa hot fyre, as he gets excited about the trees.
In front of yet another amazing piece of architecture.
Martina and Melissa were so nice to show us around.
Heading down through a gorgeous tunnel, wondering why
I'm taking so long to get that photo.
In one of the many delicious chocolate shops, we found a tiger-size tiger. So did that lady.
One ongoing quest of mine during the trip has been to acquire chocolate from everyplace I visit, for Ayumi. I think it's going to be hard in Ireland—maybe I'll get her whiskey ("Irish chocolate") instead. Pardon my racism. Cough.
As we rode the metro, we started running into some financial problems: Belgian ticket machines don't take some cards! Luckily, Aryan had given his bank some hell, and they wound up assigning a PIN to his card. Then this happened...
Our train took us to the Atonium. Nearby waited Brosella, our next destination. But first we took a look at the structure itself.
Cool reflective sculpture at the base of the Atonium. Taken by Anna.
We had some group photos in front of the Atonium, but honestly
this one's better.
We were, in fact, quite welcome, at the base of the Atonium. It was originally constructed for the world fair in 1958
to be a 165,000,000,000-times magnified iron crystal. Interestingly, it's not made out of iron.
After we had our fill, we moved on to the park to find Brosella. There we did two things. First, we took in that inescapable soul of Jazz, whose enveloping spirit has clung to us like a cologne—we're so used to it that we only remember it's there occasionally, and everyone we run into can tell right away.
Brosella.
Listen to this passage from the fantastic band we heard (apologies about the abrupt cutoff):
Second, we experienced true Belgian weather: utterly unpredictable. Like Portland, the schizophrenic rain comes and goes without warning. Unlike Portland, the rain is almost invariably downpour, and every Belgian carries an umbrella:
Initial view from the Brosella stage. I spy with my little eye, an Aryan and some Belgian guides.
The rain started instantly and the umbrellas whipped out. That gray bit on the ground is a new river, I think.
Another shot by Anna. Trying to brave the downpour. Notice Wyatt's intensity. And mine.
Taking refuge under the stage, after we finally gave up.
The rain let up after a few minutes, and we made our way back to down. First, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant. Also known as the Belgian interpretation of a Mexican restaurant, complete with tigers and Cuban cars.
Enjoying Tacos Del Carne and some good ol' Mexican beer: Corona. Taken by Anna.
Still another one from Anna's camera phone. All of us!
But that's okay. Not like we get it right here in the states.
We found this big red dog on the way out. Like Clifford, but a bulldog.
Finally, we headed back to the middle of the city to watch the world cup final match: Germany versus Argentina.
Hopefully you saw how that game went.
Go Germany! They replayed Mario Götze's shot about 100 times.
Then we went home to Ailean's place, having to hoof it the last couple miles due to the lack of night buses in Brussels. It was a relaxing walk in the safe streets of Belgium.
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