Brussels

And as if to outshine Paris, Brussels dazzled me with all its might.

Although the journey from Amstelveen to Brussels was broken and back breaking….changing numerous trains and running around to find out which platform etc.

We also met a Pestering Lecherous Paki on the train who happened to sit right opposite so I slouched in my seat to avoid his stare. He then came over as soon as CK left for the restroom and asked how come we spoke ‘urdu’? I said ‘hindi, we are from ‘hindustan’. I don’t know why I said almost arrogantly. I am hoping because he was slimy and not because somewhere deep inside I am a racist too.

He made several attempts to chat up passing off slimy smiles but I completely ignored and had to constantly look out of the window for 2.5 hours. I almost sprained my neck.

This was the first non-sissy attempt at travel where there were no agendas and nothing booked/reserved waiting for us. Therefore, I walked from the station holding the head up and my breath….and found the magnificent buildings and lovely architecture waiting for all with all its glory.

Saw the Saint Michael and Saint Goedle cathedral. Huge and very inviting somehow.

That's Saint Michael - in all its golden glory

The best part was the baroque pulpit…haven’t seen anything like that before. A whole monument in itself. Impressive. And so firkin ancient…1699 and preserved so well.

The Baroque

Then we walked to the Grand Place…the central market area…and I made me feel” wow…this is the Europe of my dreams…”


It is not much but a big huge cobbled ground surrounded by ornate like buildings. But I think it was very sexy and mystic. You could just sit there and stare at the intricate work on the buildings. It had a nice aura to it. But the aura couldn’t shoo away the cold

There’s a cigarette excellently hidden in my hand. Remembered how to hide a ciggarette from a conversation with SC. Thanks! :-P

We were just thinking of moving our butts to see the ‘peeing boy statue’ – the Manneken Piss when a loud drum roll was heard passing right through the Grand Place. A huge bunch of people wearing maroon robes sorta looking like priests or maybe ministers or something…walked with a mannekin piss statue and a guy in front playing a drum and someone else singing.

Suddenly it seemed all at Grand Place started to follow these maroon –robed fellas. We joined them too and although we had no firkin clue where and why, it somehow seemed like a right and happy thing to do. The enthusiasm was contagious.

This may not seem like a "big procession" from the picture but it was!

Finally, we reached the actual Manneken Piss statue and we realized it was one of the special days when he wears a costume (there are hundreds of costumes of that one statue in some King’s Museum…pampered lil pissing statue). That day he wore the same maroon robe which the people in procession were wearing. Then, after some speech in a foreign language and very uptight non-fun looking guy help up a plastic glass to the lil statue’s willy and it pissed beer.

Check out the guy holding the glass...he seems disgusted like it is real piss...it BEER you moron!

And everyone cheered and clapped and made jokes. I couldn’t find out what the occasion was…everyone seemed to be asking everyone around…I asked a lady at a shop…she said something in French and I said ‘is it a special day today?’ She vigorously shook her head and said exasperatedly ‘No no…no special day, beer, clothes, clothes, beer’. Which was not helpful at all and I felt if she has to tell me one more time she will die on me or something. She looked really old and frail. So, I left the shop and m curiosity behind.

Sadly, for lunch we could manage to find places with Greek cuisine than Belgian! Loads of Falafel and Shoarma places in row, rows and rows.

We then wanted to see the comic strip museum where the divine ‘Tintin’ was created. But instead, dilly-dallied like this:






Saw the two other famous things of Belgium:

Yep - Zee chocolates - not really cheap OR that great

The Lace - I dint know this before. Quite nice!

And it was time to leave. Had a glass of Belgian beer, which is quite famous and was highly recommended by RNSG. So, we had to try. Its nice, dark and sweet. CK was tipsy on one glass and I had a sore throat so we dropped idea of another one and instead tried Belgian waffle, which I think was better in Amsterdam’s Ben and Jerry.

We had not planned on staying so we left Brussels. But I think I would like to go back…someday.

Barcelona is where we go this weekend.

PS: This photo business is really taxing...!! I am lagging behind by a week! This week I shud have posted about Barcelona. Damn!

Note to self: Must write with more dedication!