Bonjour la Famille et les Amis,
The land of the Walloons and the Flemish – Belgium. And in particular, the capital of the nation, Brussels, which very much tries to embrace the duality of its French speaking (Walloons) and Dutch speaking (Flemish) citizens. For me, I stuck with my limited French as opposed to my non-existent Dutch – a no brainer. As to the bountiful? Brussels has more than a generous number of sites and museums worthy of a visit. Hence my three weeks in the capital of Europe.
Grand Place
Top of the list is the magnificent Grand Place. This square is surrounded on all four sides by beautiful buildings including the Hotel de Ville de Bruxelles and the 17th century Guild Houses. Plus, on the day I visited, there was a crossbow shooting exhibition being given in the square. Nearby is Les Galeries Royales Saint Hubert which are the indoor shopping halls of yesteryear. Also close by and down a lively small lane is the iconic Manneken Pis statue. Check out the photo gallery to see all of these treasures.
Next up is the Cathedrale St Michele et Ste Gudule as pictured on the right. Started in the 13th century with construction spanning some 300 years. A Gothic church with lots of exquisite stonework, sculptures, and stained glass. The pipe organ in its three sections is massive yet elegant. See the photo gallery for the complete collection of pictures from my visit.
Over at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in one of its cavernous exhibit halls is Autoworld. This museum, as one might surmise, preserves and presents automobiles from their earliest incarnations to their current day evolutions.Â
Cathedrale St Michel et Ste Gudule
Autoworld (1972 Jaguar E-Type V12)
As one might also expect, there is a heavy focus on European manufacturers, but American cars are sprinkled about the museum. Fiat (Italian) has an extensive section devoted just to its history. As to the picture to the left, that has been and continues to be my dream car – the Jaguar E-Type (V12). Check out the photo gallery for over 100 pictures from Autoworld and no I did not even come close to photographing all of the cars!
Also, in the Parc du Cinquantenaire (see photo gallery for it signature arch) is the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces. The combined halls for the army, navy, and air force exhibits are even larger than that for Autoworld. I ran out of time on my visit and got pointed to the exit by security – I thought I had another 15 minutes! The army-oriented exhibits are roughly divided into medieval (as in the knight and horse as pictured to the right), Napoleonic, World War I, and World War II. The World War I section to me was the most interesting though the Napoleonic section was extensive.
Royal Museum of the Armed Forces
Anderlectht
During my stay in Brussels, I stayed in an Airbnb located in Anderlect, a suburb southwest of the city center but an easy commute via the metro. In addition to the metro (subway), Brussels also has trams which run mostly above ground and utilize thinner railcars than the metro. My Airbnb in Anderlect was located on the third floor of a four/five story building with the square below as pictured on the left. The Dutch lettering Gemeenschapscentrum De Rinck on the white building means De Rinck Community Center. Every evening lots of locals gather in the square with kids riding whatever they have with wheels.
That’s it for now. As always, feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. Please have a look at the gallery below for full-size versions of the photos above as well as additional photos of Brussels and Anderlecht. Next post will be part two as all together I have close to 500 photos from Brussels.
A bientot,
Papi
Very cool pictures
Thanks Steve. And the beer is pretty good too!
Amazing! What where the other flags on the 5th to last photo besides the Belgium one? 😃
Hello Oliver. The flag to the immediate left (gold stars on blue background) is the flag of the European Union. The flag to the immediate right (silver over gold on blue background) is the flag of Brussels (known formally as the Brussels-Capital Region). The flag to the far left looks to be associated with the local municipality of Anderlecht (one of 19 municipalities that make up Brussels and where this photo was taken) – going by the ‘Ande’ that I can see on the flag. As to the flag on the far right – I have no idea. Thanks for the comment and question!