Brussels, the capital of Belgium, was my next
stop, and with Ali still in tow, we headed back across the English Channel in
search of warmer weather, cheaper coffee, and after two weeks of taking it easy
– another foreign language to deal with! Brussels is a big, bustling capital
city – and with a central location within Europe, it also the capital of the
European Union (EU), and home to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
We arrived in Brussels late in the afternoon,
and with no accommodation booked, no idea how to get into the city, and no
plans for what we were to achieve in the next couple of days, we let chance and
luck play a big role in determining our adventures. Taking refuge from the rain
in a sandwich shop (the warm weather plan wasn’t so successful yet), I made the
most of the free internet, booking a hotel in the city (living it up!), and
once the rain had calmed its onslaught, set out in search of our accommodation.
Of course, I don’t want to talk myself up too much, however sometimes… I am
bloody good!!! With absolutely no knowledge of the city, no planning, and no
idea what I was doing, I had miraculously managed to book a room at the hotel
directly across the street from the sandwich shop, just 20m from where we were
sitting!
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| Waffles!!! |
Of course, the word ‘hotel’ hasn’t appeared
too much in this blog, or in my life in the last few months, and I had no
intention of wasting the opportunity to enjoy a private room, a clean ensuite
and a comfortable bed! Within minutes of walking in the room, Ali and I had
both begun some kind of territorial ritual, completely upending and emptying
our bags of all of their filthy well-worn clothes, rank, wet-dog smelling
bath-towel (okay, that was only me…), and various other items we have picked up
along the way, completely covering every available surface, and leaving the
room resembling some sort of Indian laundry, strewn with our clothes in varying
states of filth and revulsion. With this initial ritual now complete, it was
time to move on to phase two of our moving-in process, and still surrounded by
our laundry and possessions, we settled down for a couple of rounds of
‘Crappy-Joe’ and ‘Bush-Rummy’ – and thanks to the recent arrival of a ‘Survival
Pack’ from my mum back home – a packet of much longed for Fruchocs!!!
Heading out later in the night (it was time
to walk-off the Fruchocs, and I swear Ali was cheating at cards… she kept
winning!), we made our way through the very affluent shopping malls and
boutiques of the city, window-shopping the latest fashions and trends (way out
of my price range!), and made the first of quite a few visits to a Belgian
chocolate shop – just to help wash the Fruchocs down!!! The history of the city
dates back to the 6th century, and remains of the 14th
century city walls can still be seen around the city today. It’s central
location within Europe, and location on the (now covered) River Senne made
Brussels a major European trading city, and today the city offers a great mix
of old and new, with bustling malls, parks and gardens, and more chocolate
shops than I can even begin to count!
The next morning, luck was on our side yet
again, and while the weather was still looking quite dreary, and our laundry
situation looking the same, I managed to get in touch with Amy (aka Olga’s bunk
mate on the Trans Mongolian), who lives in Brussels, and I am sure had
absolutely nothing better to do than have two Aussies sleep on her floor for
the next couple of nights. Amy, who originally comes from Canada, has lived in
French-speaking Brussels for over two years now, working in a job she has
explained to me multiple times, and no matter how hard I try, I can never
explain as well as she does. Pretty much she works really hard all week, rubs
twitter-shoulders with all the famous world photographers and visionaries, and
then spends her weekends no doubt hoping weary backpackers will knock on her
door, make the most of her hospitality and French language skills, and then eat
delicious, fatty, amazing, gooey Belgian waffles and chocolate together. How
very lucky Amy is that I decided to drop in!!!
After a rather dramatic Laundromat
experience, in which the police were called in to take away ‘Louis’, the
charming Belgian man who had decided Ali’s washing machine (with her clothes
already inside…) was the perfect place to publicly display his incontinence
issues, we met up with Amy on our second afternoon in Brussels. Dropping our
luggage off at her place, she wasted no time introducing us to the European
drinking culture, taking us straight to a public park, where the antics of the
night began. In what must be one of the only European parks where you are
actually allowed to sit on the grass, we spent the next couple of hours
catching up on our post-Olga lives, marvelling at both Ali and Amy’s educational
achievements (I wasn’t so involved in this part… hmm…), and the wonderful,
always-pleasant weather in Brussels. Having reinforced our classy image with
the public park drinking, we headed off into the city to further improve the
Australian image with street-vendor waffles (which Ali spilt on the ground, and
I spilt all over my face), where we walked the city streets and saw the famous Manneken Pis statue, before heading out
for an midnight dinner La Regence –
Amy’s local eatery.
 |
| Ali gets into breakfast! |
The next morning Ali and I ventured out to
see the city, enjoying an ‘interesting’ Belgian breakfast, walking the quaint
streets and marketplaces of the city, and getting lost in the particularly
attractive industrial/transport area – obviously a highlight of our time. After
an ‘antipasto crepe’ lunch, we explored the old city district, visiting yet
more chocolate shops, biscuit shops and coffee shops, before Ali worked her
medical-magic, accompanying me to a selection of pharmacies in search of the
perfect concoction of medications to ensure the success of my upcoming flight
back to Australia. What a girl! The afternoon took a rather exciting turn when
a leisurely stroll through the old town was briefly interrupted by a pack of
naked cyclists, riding through the city in all their glory, many of perched
atop the seat of the readily available ‘Public Hire’ bikes… something to note
if you ever intend to hire a bike in Brussels!
Yet again luck (for us at least!) was on our
side on our second night with Amy, and as the good house guests we are, Amy was
off to dinner with her friend Anders… so we invited ourselves along! The dinner
was held at a local community-centre/inner-city-shop
front/organic-vege-garden/whatever, and is run roughly every month as a casual
community event, in an effort to bring people together, and showcase organic,
vegetarian food and cooking. The whole event was simply amazing!
 |
| Amy and Anders - thanks for having us to dinner!!! |
The community centre is in an old retail
shop-front, which has been converted into a cosy dining area which overlooks
the rear vegetable garden, and is filled with mismatched furniture, artwork,
and information on everything permaculture and organi-culture related (I made
that word up!). The back garden is not only used to grow a selection of fruits
and vegetables, but also serves as the men’s restroom – why pay for fertiliser
when you can get it for free???
The dinner started off with hors d’œuvres; aubergine, courgette, paprika and parmesan bruschetta, topped with sesame
seeds and swimming in the most glorious huile
de sésame known to mankind, before we moved onto fresh bread and organique salade, and washed it all down
with a glass or two of local vino. Already
full, but keen to continue gorging myself, main course was served – sauteéd haloumi on a bed of betterave and quino, with radish salade and baked polenta, drizzled with a rouille to make any MasterChef
contestant proud! A dessert of poire and framboise crisp with rosemary ensured I was well and truly
full, and after demonstrating my deli-standard dishwashing skills, it was time
to hit the Portuguese dance party, and shake some of the calories off!
While we had a great few days in Brussels, I
am disappointed to report our visit ended up smuggler-free (it’s a real bonding
experience for all involved!). Up early the next morning, it was time to once
again say goodbye to Amy. Heading to the bus station, and after one final Boulangerie breakfast, it was time for
Ali and I to go our separate ways too, as I made my way to Frankfurt for a
midnight flight to Australia, and Ali set off to Wimbeldon up the rest of her
European adventure in London!
 |
| Dinner is served! |
"Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart."
Emma Bombeck
We arrived in Brussels late in the afternoon,
and with no accommodation booked, no idea how to get into the city, and no
plans for what we were to achieve in the next couple of days, we let chance and
luck play a big role in determining our adventures. Taking refuge from the rain
in a sandwich shop (the warm weather plan wasn’t so successful yet), I made the
most of the free internet, booking a hotel in the city (living it up!), and
once the rain had calmed its onslaught, set out in search of our accommodation.
Of course, I don’t want to talk myself up too much, however sometimes… I am
bloody good!!! With absolutely no knowledge of the city, no planning, and no
idea what I was doing, I had miraculously managed to book a room at the hotel
directly across the street from the sandwich shop, just 20m from where we were
sitting! 
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