As opposed to our days in Luxembourg, our time in Brussels was action-packed with more things to do than we had ever imagined. After a pleasant train ride in, we had a picnic lunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches in a laundromat, of all places, before we were able to check in to our hostel and walk over to USE-IT, arguably the most awesome invention known to backpackers. They have free internet, free hot drinks, free waffles (if you're nice), and even free, really cool maps with lots of fun suggestions. After we made contact with our families, we walked out to see the Christmas market of Brussels.
This one was even larger and more intricate than that of Frankfurt. In addition to the many stalls of good food and fascinating wares, they also had an ice rink and a huge inflated ice monster that actually breathed sitting outside a cathedral. In the Grand Place, arguably the most beautiful square in all Europe, my breath was stolen away by a spectacular show of lights and Christmas music playing across the facades of the already intricately gorgeous buildings of the square. It was indescribably lovely, especially at the end where they released bubbles from the brightly-lit, sparkling Christmas tree. It was like something from one of my dreams.
The next morning, we took the metro out to the bright, shiny Atonium, then admired the many intricate models in Mini-Europe at its base. I was amazed at the detail on these, but my favorite was Mt. Vesuvius, because there was a button we could push to make it explode, heehee. Afterward, we tracked down that famous little statue, Mannequin Pis, before having lunch to revive ourselves a bit from all this walking. We went from there to a museum of the city of Brussels. Although it features many interesting exhibits on the history of Brussels, the one that stood out was on the wardrobe of Mannequin Pis. I can't believe that something as inocuous as a statue of a peeing boy can mean so much to a city. Or how many outfits the thing has--some supermodels don't have that many outfits. And it's been knighted!
After that, we made some very noble but fruitless attempts at finding the cheap art cinemas referred to on our map, and encountered instead a wonderful sundown view of one of the cathedrals. I do love the sound of all those bells. . . We also saw a chocolate museum. Wow, it's hard to describe the incredibly intoxicating aroma of the chocolate in there. They actually showed the chemical breakdown of chocolate, and all the good theobromine, tannens, and antioxidants it has to offer. There was, naturally, lots of chocolate in our picnic meal at the hostel later on.
On our way to the flea market the next morning, we stopped at two cathedrals. The first one, St. Michael's, featured an intricately carved pulpit showing the story of the Fall and the plan of salvation--the theme of the resurrection was alluded to by two phoenixes perched on one side. I was mesmerized by the sound of the violin and the beautiful nativities lining the cathedral. The other one was equally lovely, set up for a wedding with callilillies lining the aisles. What was startling about this Brussels Notre Dame, though, was its location right next to a graffitti-filled skate park.
From the flea market (where I talked myself into buying a new hat), we went to the museum of musical instruments. The building itself was an Art Nouveau masterpiece with all of its exciting green ironwork, and the interior of the mueum lived up to its facade. To see so many ancient, modern, and exotic instruments and to hear their sounds was inspiring. It made me homesick for Dad, having flashbacks of him teaching my classmates and I music history when I was little. It also made me miss my oboe with an unexpected dull, throbbing ache. I've never gone this long without playing it.
Our last night in Brussels was spent in the Christmas market, enjoying whatever untasted delight of Brussels we had missed. To my profound irritation, a homeless man flicked a bottle of wine at my friend Cassy and I, spotting my cream scarf and new hat with dots of color. However, I did try a real Belgian waffle--that was amazing. Where I really went crazy was in buying lace--small portions of that mesmerizing little heaven of red, gold, and silver are now mine. I could hardly believe my luck in finding the only store in Brussels that sells red lace. Coming out of it to see the Grand Place for the last time truly made me sad.
All we had time for on our last day in Brussels was the Comics Museum. I hadn't realized what a European art this was, or how both the Smurfs and TinTin come from Belgium. It really is an art, like animation--a bit of a predecessor to it, actually. The building, though, was almost more impressive than the museum. It was a glorious Art Nouveau construction of curvy steel and airy glass. I loved it. We had one large meal in the hostel of pasta and vegetables before taking off on our long walk through the city to get to the airport shuttle. This walk took us through the Moroccan section of town, with all of its robe makers, and through the Sunday Market with all of its good. Tristinn and I said goodbye to Cassy, and got ready for the next leg of our adventure.
I know this post is really long, but Brussels truly is an amazing city. Although I knew almost nothing about it before I went, it became my favorite city of the trip. On the blog is just a sampling of some of the incredibly cool sights and sounds of Brussels, and I hope you will take the time to look at it--because more than any other city on the trip, I found myself wishing I could share it with all the people I love back at home, and that includes you.
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