As I promised in my last post, here are some additions to my Bruxelles experiences, plus perhaps a more coherent description of my trip (although I cannot promise I'll deliver).
So, to begin this story, we were with a total of 14 people. Myself, of course, the only one of us more or less used to Belgian culture; then, the Dutch part of our group, consisted of Elleke, Renske, Ivan, Martijn and Linda; the Germans were Steffen (Linda's boyfriend), Lukas and Catharina (the last two also a couple); there was a Canadian girl, Andrea; three Russians were there also, Valeria and two others - a couple - whose names I don't remember, but who were actually married; and on saturday Esther was there, but she left on the evening, at which time my dad came, as the trip was organised by the Maastricht Student Chaplaincy, where my father works.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Mieke, the enthusiastic chaplain of the Flemish universities of Bruxelles. We were brought to the chaplaincy at the Beguinage, dropped our bags and then each went our own way. I had brought a Trotter Guide to Belgium, which proved most handy as it had a complete street plan of the city, listed all the museums with reviews, even, and fitted neatly into my coat pocket. I used this time to explore the east part of the city: the city park and the Jubelpark. The first I wanted to see because, in 1830, all the important fighting took place there, as the Dutch troops dug in in the park and Belgian revolutionaries fired at them from the tall buildings. There was nothing to remember that by, but it was clear that the park was a good place to camp troops.
However, new invaders had arrived since the Dutch forces left in a hurry: Bruxelles now boasts a population of 5 000 Ring-necked Parakeets, mostly spread out in the two parks I visited. They were a true plague and their shrieks were audible everywhere. Operating in groups, they were hard to miss.
Surrounding the park lay some of the busiest streets in town: the Belgian Parliament as well as the American Embassy - the latter defended with concrete blocks, bullet-proof police guard houses and policecars blocking the entrance - were situated there, among others. But I hurriedly followed the road further east, to the Jubelpark, as I'm certain the security guard at the embassy would seize me if I halted for too long. On I my way I passed by the European Commission and probably a variety of other EU buildings too, including a EU bookstore, which was closed. Must be an after-effect of the Dutch No!
After about 45 minutes walk from the centre of the city, I finally reached the Jubelpark, where the Army Museum is housed. I already talked about my visit there in the last post, so I'll only add that they had so many Napoleonic portraits, that they covered the walls up to the roof. The hall being tall, this made it impossible to distinguish the upper portraits. I was pleased to see that there were plenty of paintings, uniforms and other objects to remind of the Dutch period, including paintings of General Chassé and the Princes of Orange.
We had arranged to reunite at the station at 19:15, by which time my dad would arrive, after which we would go out to dinner. 19:15 is too late a dinner time for us western Europeans, so by the time I got to the station I was starving, and so were the others. We went to a fine restaurant where they served excellent pies, and I picked the Lorrainer quiche. Strangely enough it was classed under Vegetable Quiches, yet we all know that Lorrainer quiches have meat - and this one was not lacking in that respect!
I ended up in the German corner of our group, and had a rather interesting discussion about German literature. To my astonishment, not a single one of the Germans surrounding me had read Im Westen nichts neues! However, for compensation, they had all watched the film with their class at one point or another. Still, what barbarism!
That evening Mieke took us on a nightly tour of the city, visiting a pub with an excellent home-brewn beer, Gueuze bière, as well as to an expensive hotel in the lobby of which was preserved part of the city wall. As we then entered its garage where she showed the rest of it, we were kindly shooed out by the butler, or whatever fancy title the man may have had.
After that we made our way up a tall parking lot, from which we could survey the city beautifully, the Cathedral seeming slimmer than it did from up close, and Mieke told us about how people used to jump off of it to kill themselves, so the authorities had had to put up three different means of preventing them - a fence, spikes on top of it and electric wire above that.
We slept in one of the many rooms of the Student Chaplaincy, and I abandoned my sleeping bag at about 8:30, when I had had enough sleep. I brought along the Mabinogion, which I had taken because it was not only light but also highly entertaining. I then read for over half an hour, until Elleke and Mieke had bought some bread.
We then attended Catholic mass - not a traditional mass, as the Priest didn't seem to follow the standard conventions at all, which made it most amusing. He even said "Goddamnit!" twice. Someone actually had to tell me of this peculiarity, as I hadn't noticed it myself.
After that, we made another city walk, had pancakes in a local restaurant, and returned home.
Conclusion: Bruxelles is great.
Quote of the Day:
A haggard man entered the room, with twinkling lights in his eyes.
"My dear Compans, do you not recognise me?"
"No; who are you?"
"I am the rear guard of the Grande Armée. I am Marshal Ney!"
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