Brussels, Belgium: The Grand Place

The driver for this trip: A return to Europe to check out Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the HQ for the European Union. A country I have only seen previously through the window of a train en route to Amsterdam. Languages: Flemish and French & English for the tourists. Beer: Long a standard for the world’s brewers, Pubs are on my list of attractions. Also on the list: The Grand Place, the various P statues (boy, girl & dog), the  Museums, Atomium and whatever else weather and time will allow. I have also scheduled a day trip to Amsterdam, a day trip to Paris and, if time allows, a trip to Bruges.  I also am interested in any obvious affects from the current political and terrorism climate that has engulfed societies worldwide.

2.4 mile walkabout 

I am traveling from Denver, Colorado via Lufthansa on a direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Flying in a B747, which is slowly being retired from carriers around the world, but more quickly from the USA fleet. I have a connection in Frankfurt with a 2:20pm arrival into Brussels. I purchased RT train tickets on line between BRU airport and the Luxembourg Station, which is very close to the EU Parliament and the Renaissance Brussels Hotel which will be my base for the 7 days 6 nights of this journey.

3.6 mile walkabout 

10:00am

Set my watch for Europe. We have started our descent into Frankfurt.. Our flight path is directly over Brussels. 9 degrees C and fog in Frankfurt, 35min out.

10:21am

The internet came up so sent some postcards from the Lufthansa FlyNet portal. Regular messaging not working. We are crossing the Rhine River. Arrival gate is B22A. Next flight is LH1012 to Brussels which boards at 12:55pm.

10:29am

91 miles to Frankfurt. Short flight compared to trips to Asia. Leaving in the afternoon from Denver creates a false but somewhat effective sleep cycle.

Making the turn south for our landing. The last time in Frankfurt was 3 years ago making connections for Prague, Czech Republic.

10:44am

On the ground. Good views of the foggy city on the approach.

We have an on time arrival to gate B22A at 11:00am

Quick passage thru passport control which dumps me out post security. Long walk and then a long line at terminal A security. Tight security check with everything electronic out of my back pack for screening.  Easy boarding for the 55min flight to BRU. Small towns dot the green rolling hills and valleys as we pass over the Rhine River backtracking the path to Brussels. The airport control tower appears framed by a small village. Quite a contrast in airport size and traffic to Frankfurt.

No passport control and after a short wait my bag rolls out on carousel 1 and I head for the train. I scan the barcode of my paper ticket print out to enter the station and head to platform 2 with minutes to spare before the arrival of the direct train to the Brussels-Luxembourg station. An 18min ride and I am walking out of the station. A two minute walk to the Renaissance.  Check in goes well, they had my reservation, and I end up in Room 641 which overlooks a courtyard. Long travel day.  I had a snack and a Leffe Bruin

in the lounge and headed out at dusk for a walkabout in search of Maison Antoine.

  After a short walk past some of the EU buildings I came into a square lined on all sides with shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and a Frites Truck sat at one end, Maison Antoine. I was surprised to find it wasn’t a bricks and mortar establishment, but instead a food truck with two ordering positions and lines of 8-10 people at each one. Their specialty is chips in various quantities with a choice of sauces. Messy, Good.  This area,  Jourdanplein, has numerous bars nearby with signs indicating it was OK to enjoy your frites at one of their tables and the area was very busy.  I took a walk around the square as I wiped the chip sauce off my hands then circled back to the hotel for the night.

walkabout 6.9 miles

Day to check out Brussels. Sun and clouds this morning. Breakfast in the lounge then a quick walk to the Trone Metro station. 5 stops later out at Gare du Midi.  A few levels up to the main station where I locate the Thalys platform for my day trips tomorrow and Sunday. While at the station I get signed up for Brussels wifi which advertises as a beta network for the Metro system. Some fits and starts while my new account is stabilized, but works great for mail and messaging whenever at a Metro station or at select sites in the city.

Exited the station and decide to go for it and headed North/East in search of the Grand Place, the center of old town Brussels. Some twists and turns and I am at the Manneken Pis.

A short walk leads me into the Grand Place and it is awesome!

A large square surrounded by impressive gold tinted buildings dating back to the 1600’s. Primarily Guildhalls and the City Hall, now Museums, Shops and Restaurants. Amazing, probably no good way to quickly describe this, just circle and take in the view. And then do it again. A treasure that has survived world wars. And the Brussels WiFi I subscribed to at the train station earlier works here!

I am able to get on my maps app and find my next destination, Chez Leon’s. Recommended as a good fish house and it lives up to its reputation. Comfortable multi level restaurant with great food and service. Mussels and Belgian beer. Wonderful.

Just a short walk away is the Delirium compound. 3 main beer halls in their campus, atmosphere, BEER, and Internet. Delirium Tremens 8.5% is my go to and is excellent!

After a very good beer “moment” ( really a few hours…) I headed back to the Grand Place and started the walk back to the hotel, very slowly.

Heading east there is the entrance to the Galleries Royales St. Hubert shopping area, on the left. High glass ceilings and a great assortment of high end shops it’s reputed to be the first enclosed market in Brussels.

Walking uphill brings the Museum District into view. The Old England building hosts the MIM, musical instrument museum. To the south is the museum complex which includes the Magritte Museum.

Further up hill I reach the Porte de Namur metro station. A short walk northeast along Avenue Marnix I reach the Trone Metro where I turn right/east down Rue du Luxembourg towards the European Parliament for the short walk back to the hotel.

9.9 mile walkabout 

Amsterdam Day Trip.

Cloudy and cooler. There has been some rain overnight and it is sprinkling and misty as I head for the Trone Metro. 5 stops to Gare du Midi. I am early so I look for the Thalys lounge. I follow signage which leads me in circles. It turns out that the lounge is down the street in a separate building. Inside is WiFi, a coffee machine, rest rooms and a comfortable place to wait. It took me so long to find the lounge that my stay is short and I make my way to platform 4 for the arrival of the train.

The familiar red slope nosed engine creeps quietly into the station and passengers disembark and new passengers load quickly and we are underway.  Raining slightly as we head north at a high rate of speed rapidly overtaking the vehicular traffic on the highway to the west.   The weather is cloudy and windy with periods of rain for the entire route. As we pull into the Schiphol Airport stop there is an announcement that the train can go no further. We are all to disembark and take a local train into Amsterdam Central. No explanation is given and a few minutes later a train pulls up on the opposite track and we all board for the short trip to Amsterdam Centraal. By now the on and off rain has turned on and into a steady down pour. They have remodeled the train station and added shops and restaurants and deleted restrooms since my last visit. There is now one WC location at the north west end of the station where you can pay 50 cents to use the facilities.

I head out the south side of the station and I am instantly soaked. My waterproof shoes get tested for the first time and prove to be as advertised. My rain jacket does its job, however my pants and ball cap become saturated. A large Ferris wheel and other amusement rides have taken over Dam Square. I head down to the Leidesplein as the rain lets up a bit and a left turn at the Singelgracht leads me towards the Van Gogh museum.

I wait outdoors in the line for 30 min through some mild rain and ticket finally purchased (17 euro) I enter the museum. I check my back pack and head to the cafeteria for a beer and regroup. They have added WiFi, but you are no longer allowed to take photographs. My wet clothing has dried to a damp level as I walk up to the top floor and work around the galleries from top to bottom. Good to see the work by this great artist. Having seen the Hokusai collection in Boston I could now better appreciate his influence on Van Goghs Japanese paintings, especially his “Bridge in the Rain” painting.

And all too quickly my time in Amsterdam was running out. I had planned to walk through the Red Light district and then over to the Sea Dragon floating restaurant for dinner, however the rain had renewed making it not the best walkabout experience.

Whatever had been the issue with the Thalys train reaching Amsterdam Centraal was resolved and it was an uneventful ride back to Brussels. Metro back to Trone station and the short walk back to the hotel. Long day crummy weather good museum visit.

walkabout 6.5 miles

Another day to tour Brussels.  It rained heavily during the early morning hours, but the weather was clearing as I headed out to see Atomium, the featured remnant from the Brussels 1958 Worlds Fair.

Easy ride on the Metro from Trone to Heysel station. The station is to the North of the Atomium attraction and about a 5min walk gave me this view.

The line for tickets was long and then the line to get in was even longer. I thought I would check it out after a walk in nearby Parc d’Osseghem Laeken . Beautiful fall views so I took some time to enjoy and stretch my legs.

On my return the line was still long so I put it on the list for Monday if there was time and headed back to town.

My next stop was the Magritte museum and on the way was a BMW showroom so I stopped in to check out the cars one of which was the i8. For the balance of the day I enjoyed the Magritte Museum and re-visited the Grand Place and Delirium.  Just up the street from the Delerium is the Jeanneken Pis.  I got some frites for the walk home and worked out my plans for tomorrow’s trip to Paris.

8.9 mile walkabout

Paris Day Trip

Weather is cool and cloudy as I head back to the Gare du Midi to catch the Thalys train to Paris Gare du Nord.  I have not visited Europe since my November 2015 visit to Paris. during which the Bataclan massacre brought the town to a standstill and the Tour Eiffel went dark. (See my Paris Blog) Good ride into Paris and I catch the RER B train to the St. Michel / Notre-Dame station. Busy in Paris and I take a walk over to Notre Dame then head to the D’Orsay Museum to see the impressionist works.  Very short line into the museum.  The security has increased and checking bags is now mandatory, however photographs are still allowed. After checking my backpack, I head up to the 5th level and wander through the Impressionist wing then down to the main level to see the Van Goghs.

Nice short visit and I exit headed out along the Seine in the direction of the Tour Eiffel. Many people are out enjoying the day and I cross the river on one of the pedestrian bridges and head towards the Tuillerie Gardens and the Louvre Museum.

The Ferris Wheel in the Place de la Concorde by the entrance to the Gardens has gone since my last visit and there are new sculptures in the Tuilleries as the day gets colder and the little sunlight disappears into the darkening sky. I walk by the Louvre and continue along the Seine towards St Germaine. I end up at Corcoran’s, a pub by the St. Michel fountains.

This has been a regular stop over the years and I enjoy the ambiance and some refreshments before heading back to the RER B station and take the short ride up to Gare du Nord.

  The station is busy and there is a long line of travelers waiting to board the Thalys train to Amsterdam which is also my train as far as Brussels Midi. I stand to the side until the flow decreases then find my carriage and seat. Easy fast trip to my stop where I take the Metro to the Trone stop and walk back to the hotel.

6.7 mile walkabout 

I checked out the train schedule to Bruges from Brussels Luxembourg on line.

Looks like it will work with a change of trains at the Midi station both ways. Easy walk to the Luxembourg Station. Overcast chilly morning in the low 50’s. The ticket machine doesn’t take cash and my card is refused for a “technical problem” so queued up at the ticket window.  I had 20min until my first train, plenty of time I thought. After a short wait I requested a ticket only to find that the agents computer wouldn’t dispense a ticket. After the Agent made some phone calls, did some head scratching and made several system re-boots, plus another failed try with the ticket machine, a final re-boot brought the ticket system up and I got a ticket and got to platform 1 with a few minutes to spare. And of course the train was running 5 min late. Slow ride with multiple stops and now 12 minutes late I disembark on platform 13 at Midi only to miss my connection to Bruges. A check of the schedule display showed the next Bruges train was at 11:22am from platform 8 so I headed there.  Crowded platform but only a short wait and I boarded and found a seat.  Stopped in Ghent then Bruges. We arrived around 12:30pm. Short walk into the historic tourist area through a beautiful park.

Very crowded cobblestone streets and sidewalks.  I was aiming for the Markt Square, however missed it by a block or two and ended up on the north end of town by a canal where I ran into a “you are here” map which redirected me back the way I came for a few blocks and then I was in the square.

 Reminded me of the square in Haarlem, Netherlands with its restaurants and church and shops. Again extremely busy so I headed for the fish market area in search of a recommended restaurant.  Found it, but it was closed so I headed to the art museum but it was closed, (Monday) so headed back to the train station as it started to rain. Checked the screens for the next Brussels train.  There was a 14:57 on platform 9 and the train pulled in as I reached the platform.  Plenty of seats.

 

I got off at Brussels Centraal and walked into old town one more time.

The Centraal station is indeed central to the old town, very convenient. I had walked by the station several times and never noticed it. Walked into the Grand Place and enjoyed a vocal/instrumental group, some 30 strong college age musicians, playing and singing. Strong army presence in the square. Found some chocolate for folks back home and had a beer at the Delirium Cafe. Walked back to the hotel, enjoyed the lounge snacks and beer then headed to the room and started packing.

2 mile walkabout

I am up at 6 and having breakfast by 7. Checking out at 8 and headed to the Luxemborg train station.

As what seems to be the norm when you think you are in a hurry, the train is running late, but still out to the airport by 9 and checked in, through security and in the Brussels Airlines Loft Lounge near gate A42 by 9:30. Good WiFi.  LH 1009 to Frankfurt is scheduled for a 10:35 boarding from gate A45.  My connection, LH0446 from Frankfurt to Denver, is showing an on time departure from gate Z69.

A Polish Airlines plane has just pulled out of the A45 gate and there is no Lufthansa plane in sight so guessing the 10:35 boarding time will push.

We have a plane! I watch from the lounge as it pulls in. Misty rain and low clouds this chilly morning. We don’t board until departure time and we are off the ground at 11:30.

Cloudy all the way as we fly in a clear space between cloud layers. Once on the ground at Frankfurt we taxi to a spot on the field, no gate, and load into a bus for a ride to the terminal. We arrived late and at this point it is the scheduled boarding time for the Denver flight and I am a long way from LH0446 at gate Z69, the furthest international gate. I know I still need to clear passport control and there could be a security screening in the mix. I follow the signage for Z and reach a ticket checkpoint which leads to a passport control point which moves quickly and I follow the winding Z path through the inevitable duty free shopping and I reach the Z concourse at gate 50. It is 1:00pm and with only 19 gates to go I can slow down my pace as others run by me on the mechanical walkway, late comers for a Boston flight. The boarding has not begun and the lines are well defined and long so I grab a seat. Boarding starts and goes quickly and I join the end of the line. Security check is conducted near the entrance to the plane, a passport/ticket match up and then I am in my seat. The plane pushes back at 1:50 and we start to taxi a few minutes later. Advertised flight time is 9hrs 30min. Off the ground at 2:05, 5275 miles to Denver. Beer please!

 It was a great trip.  All of the transportation worked well.  I really enjoyed the Lufthansa flights between Denver and Frankfurt. Trains in Belgium are for the most part on time, clean and comfortable.  The Thalys train seats are starting to show some wear, however the trains are quick and a great way to travel between the cities they serve. The people in European cities I have visited are gracious and friendly, and Belgium proved to not be the exception.  The Renaissance Hotel was very comfortable and the staff, especially at the front desk and lounge, were very professional, supporting and friendly.  The European Parliament area of town is very conveniently located to transportation and it was easily walkable for me into the Old Town from the hotel.

 Old Town, especially the Grand Place and the surrounding area was very interesting and certainly full of historic architectural treasures.  And then there was the beer, outstanding!

 Bruges was too crowded for me to thoroughly enjoy, but was well preserved and certainly worth another look.  I was surprised it was as busy as it was given I visited on a Monday. Next time in this area of the world I will also spend some time in Ghent and Dunkirk.

 All areas had heightened security checks and there was an obviously higher level of armed military/police patrols at transportation hubs, tourist sites and government building locations such as the EU Parliament. I was more vigilant as to my surroundings, but had no sense of alarm or experienced any safety issues. And the people in Europe have a great spirit and just carry on despite the efforts of others to de-rail the status quo via fear, bravado or their ignorance.