Brussels
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We left rainy Jacksonville, FL and arrived around 8:20 am on October 8th, 1998 in Brussels, Belgium. Still a rainy day, we managed to make our way complete with our incredibly excess baggage to a hotel near the main train station. We walked to the Grote Markt, or Grand Market, and after some searching located a place to eat. The meal, consisting of mussels (after all we were in Brussels) was somewhat of a disappointment, as the restaurant we chose was overpriced and touristy.
We were both just dog-tired, and after a quick debate a nap was decided upon. Beginning at 4:00 PM, this siesta lasted until 6:30 PM, the jet lag taking its toll. We awoke, and as the rain was still with us, we remained in the room, finally retiring for the night at 9:00 PM.
We got up the next day at 8:00AM, and after a breakfast with Bin Laden (joke) and the PLO delegation to the European Community (it turned out that our hotel was in the Muslim part of town, and this hotel was used by family members, friends, and visiting terrorist dignitaries) we began our 12 kilometer hike through Brussels. The rain held off, the skies cleared, and we started our journey at the Grote Markt. We toured the royal palace, the royal park, and the Palais de la Nation.
Eventually we arrived at the Parc du Cinquantenaire, where we were able to visit the Belgium Military History Museum, and the Royal Museum of Art & History. The Military museum had the usual assortment of medieval arms and armor, but what we found even more interesting was their collection of armed fighting vehicles from 1917 on. Starting with French and English tanks from the 1st World War, the collection was very complete and included for example a 1943 German Mk IV panzer, a Russian T-34, American Shermans and armored scout vehicles, English Matildas, and from a more modern era an English Centurion, and a Russian T-72! (last time I saw a T-72 it was guarding the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1985 - my, how times change)
In the Aircraft section they had a F-16, a Russian M-24 Hind attack helicopter, an American A-26 Marauder, a Russian Mig 17 and a Mig 23, a SAAB Drakken, and numerous other evolutionary historical warplanes. Despite having our visit broken up by their lunch break, we enjoyed this museum very much, and what perhaps impressed us the most was the amount of modern equipment they had from the former eastern block.
The Art & History museum was very nice, with a number of exhibits of pre-historical cultures from around the globe. After a beer at a nearby café that set us both in a better mood, we walked back to the Royal Palace, were we took in the Royal Museum of Ancient Art. Reubens and other Flemish masters stocked the galleries, and we remained there until our feet finally gave out.
We passed the European Community headquarters building, a modern structure of glass and steel that promises much for the future of the Europe and their new currency, the Euro. We located another small restaurant off of the Grote Markt, and this time enjoyed our meal. Here we had the Tagesmenu, or menu of the day, which consisted of a beefsteak in a mushroom sauce. Very rich, we washed it down with a number of excellent Belgian beers. There we witnessed an odd ceremony, which consisted of a number of young men, late teens, dressed in tuxedoes that were ritually shaven by a handful of young ladies in the middle of the Grote Markt. Obviously a ceremony of graduation of some kind, we were unfortunately unable to find out what exactly this ceremony was for.
We trudged our way back to the train station, where we purchased our tickets to Antwerp for the next day. After a final beer at the train station, we retired around 9:00 PM, still somewhat jet lagged and extremely foot sore and blistered. We attempted to sleep, but had some difficulty due to the 4-hour trash collection process taking place on our street.
(all images taken from travel guide)
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