Day Trip: Brussels

Until now, one of the gaping holes in my travel log has been the two weeks I spent backpacking through Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, and other parts of Germany. With the exception of my recent post about Berlin, these stories have not been told. In my brief pause between epic domestic road trips, I will remedy that.

In May 2010 I met my friend Marc at the airport outside of Paris. Together we traveled for thirteen days through four countries with France-Germany-Benelux Eurail passes. A Eurail pass is a train pass that allows the holder to make an unlimited number of train journeys within a certain country or period of time. The type of pass is chosen based on the number of days of travel and the countries in which it is valid. My friend and I chose the [5 Day - 3 Country] combination pass. We planned to use it to travel from Paris to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Berlin, and then around Germany before heading to the airport in Frankfurt.

To get the most out of our passes, we decided to extend our layover in Belgium between Paris and Amsterdam. As soon as the train pulled into Midi station, we threw our suitcases into a locker (6€ for the day) and wandered unburdened into the streets of Brussels. We got off to a great start, walking twenty minutes in the wrong direction. We were deeply into a residential district before checking our map and realizing our mistake. False start aside, we still had a full visit and saw many major sights in Brussels in less than half a day.

Our first task was to find the one thing that would eliminate the stress of getting lost in a foreign city: Belgian beer. Le Grand Café on Anspachlaan in Bourse Beurs was just the place. Outdoor seating in Old Brussels, goblets of monastery-brewed beer, and bright sunlight. Ahhh, perfection.

Stress free! By the end of the day, I had a two tan lines on from these beer maiden braids...

Those were two-hand chalices, all right.

Suitably fortified, we made the uphill walk to the beautiful and impeccably kept church of the patron saints of Brussels: St. Michael and St. Gudula. 

The St. Michael and St. Gudula Church at Treurenberg hill

At this point, we hit the far end of our circular path through the heart of Brussels: Warandepark. Strolling alongside the Rue Royale to the Palace, past the Palais Royale to the Mont-des-Arts... 

The Jacquemart Carillon clock on the Mont des Arts

The ornate guildhalls on la Grand Place/Grote Markt, the central square of Brussels

We did the usual things, everything you would expect in Belgium. We ate french fries, bought Belgian chocolate, and I, at least, admired the delicate lacework on display. Our afternoon ended in the 

Grand Place, or in Dutch, the Grote Markt. This is the central square in Brussels, crammed with golden-accented buildings and facades so full of windows that you can barely see the front walls. 

The one landmark we did not see was Manneken Pis, the statue of the peeing boy. Just another reason to go back someday.