One of our all-time favourite cities is only two
hours away by car. Travelling on a group ticket and catching the train just
inside the Belgian border makes the trip quite cheap, albeit somewhat longer as
we appeared to stop at every village along the way. Hence we found ourselves at
the Arlon railway station, a jewel of a building trying to shine in the bitter
damp cold of an absurdly early Saturday morning. On arrival in Brussels, we
booked in to our hotel in the centre of the old town and together with several
hundred other tourists and a shower of rain, we headed to the Grand Place.
Despite the weather and the crowds, this unique
square is forever impressive. Visiting with our American friend, Joni, a
Brussels neophyte, guaranteed the ever-present camera and frequent OMG’s !! To
dodge the rain we continued on to one of our favourite locations, the Galeries
St Hubert with its over–the-top chocolate shops and quaint book stores.
Despite a wave of demolitions in the mid-20th
century, Brussels still boasts a plethora of Art Nouveau architectural gems,
many of them created by the great Victor Horta. Armed with a walking trail map,
I attempted to guide Ingrid and Joni on tour of some examples still found
nestling among the rest of the inner city’s varied architecture. The cold and
abundance or warm shops and cafes eventually put paid to this.
On our way back to our hotel we could here a booming
brass band in the backstreets around the Grand Place. Then we were witness to
an astounding, non-politically correct display of about sixty local burghers
and children blacked up and all sporting an outlandish uniform of top hat,
tails, neck ruffles and brilliant
scarlet breeches. These were the “Noirauds” of the traditional local
children’s’ charity of the Berceaux de Princesse Paola.
We had a lovely dinner of Belgian specialties at the
Le Paon restaurant. Ingrid booked a window table as this authentic 400 year old
building overlooks the Grand Place opposite the town hall.
Sunday morning dawned even wetter, so it was
destined to be a museum day. But firstly, we dashed over to the Galeries St
Hubert to fill up on hot chocolate and waffles at Ingrid’s favourite breakfast
place.
I have always been fascinated by Crystal Palace
style structures and will take any opportunity to visit one. In the Parc du Cinquantenaire
there are two such structures erected in 1880 – one houses the Autoworld car museum
and the other the aircraft museum of the Musee Royale de l’Armee et d’Histoire
Militaire. Ingrid very kindly appeared enthused.
Autoworld houses an eclectic collection of
magnificent machines, with a major part witnessing the considerable home grown
automotive industry which flourished before WWII. Of course, my favourite
display was of the competition vehicles including a Renault Alpine A110. Ahh ..
memories of the Monte Carlo poster on our bedroom wall.
Across the square is the Musee Royale de l’Armee et
d’Histoire. As there was no heating in the hangar-like interior, I was left to
my own devices. I had a quick look around as it appeared that much of the
display was closed off for maintenance. This is another of the many places on
the list to return to in the warmer weather. Still, being up close to something
like an F-16 Falcon is quite impressive, if a little frightening.
