Brussels, Belgium. Thursday, 17th May 2018
An interesting conversation with a French lady (a teacher from Paris!) over breakfast. We mentioned our different trips to Europe nd the countries we had visited over the last four years. She jumped at the mention of Salzburg and 'Sound of Music'. She and Urmila then sang a few lines from the evergreen musical's immortal songs.
We left at 10:00, caught the metro line 6 from Hotel des Monnaies metro station and rode all the way to the second-last stop, Heysel. Caught glimpses of the capital whenever the line emerged to the surface. Exited the metro station and were immediately impressed by the
sight of the Atomium, looming up like an alien monster with multiple limbs, a little ahead. Made our way to the huge park called 'Mini Europe; following directions. Here were models of the famous monuments from many European cities, spread out over a vast area. At the entrance we posed for a photograph with a man in Shrek's costume. These people make you pose for a picture and then try to sell it to you! Mini-Europe was simply awesome! Working
models of boats, aeroplanes and trams added reality to the huge replicas of the important monuments from different European cities. Big Ben, Westminster, Bath Castle, the Hungarian parliament, Prague's astronomical clock, the leaning tower of Pisa, the colosseum of Rome, the mermaid of Sweden, etc. etc. It was mind boggling stuff, a fantastic engineering feat! After an hour and a half of marvelling at the exhibits, we exited the place.
Lunched on Chicken Samosas(!), curry soup and the Belgian 'Duvel' beer, at their restaurant. Walked towards the atomium, another mind boggling construction. Went inside the sphere, took the elevator which had a transparent roof, to the 7th floor. Had a magnificent, 360 degrees view of the Belgian capital. Astounding greenery in a capital city !! We also had a super, bird's eye view of Mini-Europe.
Exited the 'monument' and sat on a bench inside a green, serene stretch for a while, basking in the sun. Then walked back slowly to the Heysel station and waited awhile for bus no. 88 - we just wanted to roam the city. As it took a long time coming, we dropped the idea and returned to our hotel by train.
Rested for half an hour or so, then stepped out again. Strolled in the direction of Halle du Poort. At a small mart, the friendly shopkeeper directed us farther to a large departmental store, that sold Indian goods. We just wanted to check spices. The walk took us past the metro station of Halle du Poort and almost to Gare du Midi. The Indian shop had familiar goods for sale, including Paani-Poori Poories, Gulab Jamun, Parle biscuits and Haldiram's namkeen. We did get a packet of saffron which claimed to be from Spain. Also purchased Haldiram's 'Laung sev' and 'Bhelpuri'. In Brussels!
Walked back to the bus stop and waited for bus no. 27. to go to a place called Parc du Cinquantenaire, a large public park in the easternmost part of the European quarter. It was a massive park with excellent lawn; the centre of attraction being the Triumphal Arc, at one end of the park. We sat on the lawns, allowing the sun to warm us, amidst cold winds.
Then on a bench, facing the Arch. The park seemed to be a favourite of joggers - indeed there was a neatly laid out track on the periphery of the park. People had brought their dogs for walks, too. We spotted a couple's dog running here and there; without warning it excreted on the lawn. The lady immediately pulled out a plastic bag from her purse, wore it on her hand like a glove, picked up the dog shit and then using the plastic like a bag, threw it into the nearest dust bin ! No wonder the city is so clean! Just imagine a similar situation back in India!!
Retraced our steps to the bus stop after a little more exploration of the park and then waited patiently for no. 27. It arrived in fifteen minutes and we were back at our cosy apartment by 19:00. Rested and packed our bags. I played on my TAB for a while and then went to Booking.com. Read bad reviews of the hotel I had already booked for our next stay at Luxembourg City, hence cancelled it and found a better, though more expensive option. Had Jack Daniels miniature, with Laung sev. Urmila had her usual soup. The apartment looked lovelier by night. Put in the blanket drill at 22:00.
