Brussels - Day 3

Breakfast is a slight variation from yesterdays - croissant and strawberry jam and a vanilla yoghurt - I decide to skip the meat and cheese.

I set off just after 10, making a quick pass by Manneken-Pis to get some snaps of the (tacky) quality tourist merchandise.



The streets were surprisingly deserted except for anywhere around the leaky boy. It was unfortunate but little Manneken seemed to be having some problems - I'm not sure if they call a plumber or a urologist but two men with beer bottles were taking samples.



On the way to my first real stop of the day I go past the Tour D'Angle. This is a segment of orginal 11th-12th century fortifications.


My destination is the Grand Sablon (Grote Zaval). This area is known for it's upmarket boutiques, antiques and famous antique market, chocolatiers, cafes and restaurants.

At the head of the Place du Grand Sablon is a statue of Minerva - a gift to the city in 1751.


The antique market, which is reportedly one of Europe's best is held every weekend under the shadow of the Notre-Dame du Sablon.

I just really liked the look of this table.

Pierre Marcolini Chocolatier can be found in the neighbourhood - The window displays are to die for, though to my chagrin I failed to actually try any of the products. For shame!

Maybe I could have bought that box of 127 pieces of truffles for €58 - I'm sure it would last until november, umm, october...umm tomorrow.

I haven't seen this before - work is currently taking place on the facade of the Notre-Dame du Sablon but the scaffolding is covered with cloth that has been printed with the churchs facade. What an excellent idea.

From the second photo you can see that the renovation work has been completed on the side facing the Rue de la Régence and they are now doing the entrance (on the Rue de Sablons) and the side facing the market.

I wasn't able to get any photos of the inside due to wedding preparations taking place.

Across the road is the Petit Sablon - this park was formed when the Grand Sablon was dissected when they made the Rue de La Régence. Le Petit Sablon (Klein Zavel) was designed by Henri Beyaert in 1890 and is dedicated to the memory of Counts Egmont and Hornes.


Their statues form the centrepoint of this park - they were excecuted in 1568 for treason, by the order of Philip II, the King of Spain.


The gardens are fenced and surrounded by 48 statues each representing a medievel guild. Within the gardens there are another 18 statues of important figures in the history of Belgium.



Now I'm sure by this stage you might be thinking that this sounds like a lovely little park and indeed it is. It's quite beautiful and peaceful. It's also a place where I had the opportunity to sit for a while as I'd filled up the SD cards and needed to download them onto the Ipod. Imagine my surprise when I heard some rustling coming from the bushes to one side of me. More surprising was to see a woman emerging having, from the state of her clothing, taken the opportunity to "spend a penny or two." Without going into too many details, the dribble marks kind of gave it away.

Suitably disgusted it wasn't the end of this scatalogical adventure. A few minutes or so later an older couple came meandering down the path towards me - the male veering off into the bushes for some relief as his wife milled around. Memo to the citizens of brussels - umm, have you heard a thing called a toilet? No, I am not referring to trees, okay?

If you'd like to see more pictures of the Grand Sablon (promise there's no candid camera shots) you can click on this link Grand/Petit Sablon Set.

A short walk down the Rue de la Régence leads you straight to the Palais de Justice.

Built by Joseph Poelaert between 1866-1883 it was considered to be the biggest building constructed in the 19th century. It's the home to the Supreme Court of Belgium. Since it's located at the top of a hill, it's the perfect spot to get a sweeping view of the city.


One of the things you can see from here is the Atomium - a site I've had to postpone visiting since it is currently undergoing restoration. The Atomium was built for the 1958 World's Fair and is a model of a cystalline metal molecule magnified 150 billion times.

On Poelaert Place, in front of the Palais de Justice you'll also see two war memorials - the photo to the left, is the Infantry Memorial (dedicated to the memory of Belgium foot soldiers) and the one on the right is the British War Memorial (dedicated to the memory of British soldiers that died in WWI)



Having taking in the views I headed back following a different route. This would lead to the next stop of the Eglise Saints Jean et Etienne aux Minimes (The Church of St Jean & Etienne on Mimiemenstratt).


This is a mix of 17th century Baroque and 18th century Neo-Classicism.



If you'd like to see more photos just click on the link Eglise Saints Jean et Etienne

Before reaching my next destination I took the opportunity to stop for what is one of Brussels most famous dishes - frites! Swades of cyber forests have been chopped down so people from one end of the universe to the other can wax lyrical on the virtues of these frites. "Worlds best", "National pride", "Must experience" and "Incredible" are just some of the ridiculous words people will use to describe what are essentially...chips. Chips with tartare sauce! Armed with my little blue plastic fork (just that alone should tell you how special they are), I sat and nibbled, as only a conisseur like myself (or Paalo) could possibly do. Yes, these were in fact....chips with tartare sauce. You can call them frites, you can say you invented them but mate, they are chips. I hear the cyber drums beating..but but, the tartare...the tartare is special they are saying. Yes, indeed it is...I thought it was very special as it was squirted out of it's 4 litre container.


Where I stopped for this gastronomic highpoint was the Place de la Chapelle by the truely gorgeous Notre-Dame de la Chapelle.


It is romanesque gothic in style and contains some beautiful stained glass windows.



If you'd like to see more photos just click on the link Notre-Dame de la Chapelle

Last, but not least, and yes it's another church, I visited Cathédrale des Sts-Michel et Gudule/Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral.

It's a 13th century Gothic church - it's facade follows the French Gothic style and was completed in 1490.

If I thought the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle had wonderful stained glass, then this was nirvana. They were donated by the 16th century Habsburg Emperor Charles V. The whole building is in fantastic condition, though I should mention it's last restoration work was completed in 1999. There's a lot of work going on outside in the gardens below the Cathedral.



If you'd like to see more photos, you know the drill, click on the link Cathédrale Sts-Michel et Gudule

Having completed a sizeable loop of the city I returned to the Grote Markt. Though I should have tweaked that something was up by the music that was filling the streets and the odd costumed pedestrians.


In fact when I came into the square itself all was made clear. I'd come upon a festival - huge mannekins were being carried around followed by their respective bands or fraternities.



Even little Manneken was being carted around - every so often he'd stop to pee on the crowd. No-one's as wacky as those belgium folks.

It's here as I stood and watched the festivities that a smiling Rene approached me and said hello. I smiled and being the polite person that I am, said hello back. Obvious that was all the encouragement he needed and he proceeded in very bad english to see if I wanted to have a drink with him - just a coffee - just 5 minutes. Umm, no. Okay, how about a drink, you like wine, let's have some wine, it will just take 15 minutes. Umm, no. Okay, okay, how about dinner, half an hour, make it an hour tops. Umm, no. He was a most persistant fellow but with a few concerned looks at my watch and "i'll be running late" I finally managed to get away.

I don't know he could have been genuine or perhaps he was looking for someone to finish his human skin sofa - either way I wasn't going to risk it. Unfortunately it kinda put a damper on my plans of lingering in the square and continuing to watch the festivities. I'll just have to do that tomorrow!

For more photos from the festival just click on the following Brussels Festival
For more general photos from today you can see view the following Brussels Set

Brussels - Day 2

Breakfast is served downstairs - it's a strange combination. There are assorted pastries, conserves and yoghurt but then you are also given salami and cheese! I'm don't normally have cheese and salami for breakfast but then again this blog is called "Eat anything at least once" so I dig in. Coffee is fresh filter but the milk is from those little capsules. I'll need a hearty breakfast to cope with heading back up those stairs.

First stop this morning is on my street, Rue du Marché au Charbon and it's the Notre-Dame du Bon Secours (Kerk van Onze-Lieve-Vroux van Goede Bijstand for those that speak flemish) or Our Lady of Good Hope for those english speakers out there.


This church has seen better days - it was designed by Jan Cortvrindt and Pieter-Paul Merckx and built from 1664-1695. The French bombed most of Brussels in 1695 and this church was partially destroyed (it was rebuilt between 1696-1699). Baroque in style it is based on a circle not a latin cross.


The Main Altar - the statue "Vierge du Bon Secours (Virgin of Good Hope)" is oak and from the 14th century. The Lateral altars are 20th century, St James on the right and St Joseph on the left.


You'll notice a lot of murals in Brussels - most of them are from comic strips - this one, located at the corner of Rue du Marché au Charbon and Plattesteen, is Broussaile (by Frank Pé) who first appeared in Spirou magazine.


This is the aptly named "Den SPAUWER" and yes it does look like its vomiting.

I'm just including a few pics of the Grote Markt so you can get a rough idea of it's appearance.




An attempt to take a side view of the King's House was thawthed by a man having a wee against it's wall, people strolled past without a second glance. He wasn't in a hurry. A check some 5 minutes later saw him still facing the wall - there was just now a much longer stream running along the footpath.

If you want to see more photos of the Grote Markt (there's none with the man weeing) just click on the following link
Grote Markt/Grand Place Set

Belgium and chocolate go together...and this chocolatier in the Godiva shop busily mates plump strawberries with white chocolate


Belgium also is synonomous with Tin Tin and you can find a Tin Tin Boutique just off from the Grote Markt


This shop had me a little confused..It's called Australian Home Made Ice Cream but you see "Australian" is a registered trademark. I had contemplated testing out their "'straylia-ness" by walking in and asking "for some piss"...but in light of that sign near the B&B I shudder to think what I would have got.


There is an interesting article on Wikipedia on the true origin of "Australian Homemade™" More proof of identity theft can be found on the Australian Homemade website. I'm probably coming over a bit strong but there's nothing australian about this company and it's appalling how they just claim a country and turn it into a trademark - don't get me started on what I think of the Ugg company.

Back to the travelogue, I spent a bit of time wandering around the streets surrounding the Grote Markt - you'll find a street market in the area called "Ilot Sacré." In fact my stay in Brussels is coinciding with the "Festival of Ilot Sacré" - that is a most pleasant and unexpected bonus.

My next stop was the wonderful Bourse (site of the Brussels Stock Exchange) - Designed by Léon Suys, construction took place between 1869-1873. It's exterior is a delight of sculptural and decorative carvings by artists such as De Groot, De Haen, Carrier-Belleuse, Van Rasbourgh and the Jacquet Brothers. It's rumoured that Rodin also completed some sculptures for the building but no documents exist to back up the claim.



From here, I travelled to Place Sainte-Catherine.
You'll find Francisican ruins...


the Black Tower...


and the Eglise Sainte Catherine (Church of Saint Catherine/Sint Katelijne) - a 19th century gothic church


It's in quite poor condition but is still a wonderfully proportioned structure. Even in it's faded state, it still has its charm.

You can find more photos by following this link: Eglise Sainte Catherine Set


My last stop of the day before returning to the Grote Markt was at the Eglise Sainte-Marie-Madeleine/Church of St Mary Magdalene. A 13th century church, also damaged by the French in 1695 and subsequently rebuilt.


For more photos from today visit the following link: Brussels Set


Tapas Locas


Perhaps it's the half a litre of Sangria talking but I've just enjoyed some delicious tapas.

Having spent an hour and a half catching the setting suns effect at Grote Markt I felt a little peckish. While walking back to my room, I spied an interesting eatery - the board outside informed the passer by that tapas was €3 a plate - regardless of what you ordered. The only condition was that a minimum of 3 dishes had to be ordered. It sounded fair enough and I filed the information away as I continued on. Pausing to obtain 2 litres of eau - the tap water is okay but I prefer to stick with something reliable.

Discretion being the better part of valour, well, I really didn't want to climb up those stairs of death any more than I had to, I left the water in the kitchen and headed back to find out more about the tapas.

A second condition became apparent as I returned, the place in question only accepted cash, a quick count of the euros, a little mental arithmetic, and presto, I had more than enough

The place is situated at the end of a corridor, it's almost cave like in appearance, dim lighting, a large curved bar to one side, small square tables dot the dining area that is overlooked by an open plan kitchen.

Having managed to ask for a table for one I was seated at the front (or is it the back), giving me a perfect view of the entire restaurant.

The important part - a peruse of the menu. The tapas were divided into three catagories: Tapas Chaud (Hot), Tapas Froid(Cold) and Tapas Desert (you know that one.)

I settled on three dishes: Gambas (prawns) in a garlic butter sauce; Melon Serrano and Pomme Dauphinous. There really was only one thing to drink (for me anyway since I don't drink beer) - so "une mez litre de sangria s'il vous plaiz"

The Pomme Dauphinous was a large dish that came to the table piping hot - the bubbling mix of spiced cream, stock and cheese surrounding the thick slices of soft potato - the crusty cheese top crunching as you cut through it. Bliss.

Melon Serrano was 3 thick slices of ripe cantalope wrapped in Serrano ham - the melon refreshing, the ham soft and succulent.

Five crispy-skinned prawns bathed in a simple sauce of butter and garlic - the crusty sourdough bread accompanying the meal was perfect for dipping into this morish sauce. Paalo will be pleased to know I consumed the prawns, shell and all!

The only problem with the sangria is that it was way too easy to drink and I should have ordered the full litre.

It's certainly a place I'll be returning to.

You can find Tapas Locas at 74 Rue du Marché au Charbon

Brussels - Day 1

I was greeted outside by Marc (one of the owners) who was in the middle of helping one of his neighbour. It gave me time to look at the sign and chuckle to myself and then get disgusted at the whole idea.

Soon enough Marc showed me inside and as it happens, my room is on the 3rd floor (or is it 4th just depends on how you count floors). Leaving my bags at the ground floor I begin my trek up the "stairs."



The stairs are more ladder like in appearance, steep and narrow with varying heights and widths. I'm not too fond of stairs at the best of times but I'm going to have to take these ones carefully. Marc and Theo very kindly lug my bags up to my room - I hope they don't get hernias - I'm just really pleased that I didn't have to do it!

My room is quite swish - but it has one of the tiniest bathrooms I've ever seen. There are two double doors that open up and overlook the cobbled road.




The best part of this room is it's wireless internet and it's working wonderfully - oh how I have missed my internet. At last I'm able to have some longer chats (using Apple Ichat) and also begin to upload the photos onto my home computer. It's really nice to be able to share the experience of what I've been doing and seeing.


Unfortunately I encounter one problem, it seems that the power points are different in brussels and as such, I can't use the adapters I've brought along with me. At this point it also decides to rain and rain heavily - so I get absolutely soaked. I do manage to find one, though I had to ask at the tourist information centre to find out where they are sold. Naturally enough, it also stops raining when I return from my trip.

From my brief trips outside today I have to say that the Grote Markt or Grand Place (it's the market square) has got to be one of the most beautiful squares I've ever seen. It's in such magnificent condition - it's like going back 400 years. The only photos I have today are from the cameraphone and they don't do justice to it's beauty. I'll remedy that situation tomorrow!