A curious Swede in Brussels

Yes, we finally got a government here Belgium and after a record breaking 541 days the new premier was sworn in. Let’s see how Mr. Elio de Rupo, the first French speaking premier in years, will handle this and especially the Flemish part where only 29% supports him.

Justice Palace

Another week another tour of Brussels was on the agenda. This time I will take you through a well-known shopping street and some old parts of the town as well. Suggest that you start in the middle of Avenue Louise and walk towards the city and the Justice Palace. The street is a major thoroughfare and it is very long, 2,7 km from Louis Square to Bois de la Chambre.  The street was originally planned to become a real monumental avenue but under the fierce resistance from the city of Ixelles the scale of the project was reduced significantly. This now also accounts for the strange division of the Ixelles Commune in two parts. During the Nazi occupation Gestapo took residence in a couple of buildings along the avenue and the area was not very popular for obvious reasons. Today there are a couple of landmarks like the tallest office building in Brussels Louise Towers, Louise Square an important hub for the Metro and tramline 94 the runs the whole length of Avenue Louise and the King’s Garden that lies close to the Ixelles ponds just to mention some of the points of interest. If you are interested in Art Nouveau, why not check out Victor Hortas unique designs, like in the Hotel Tassel (Rue Paul Émile Janson 6)  and Solvay house (Avenue Louise 224) close by. Both buildings are listed as Unesco World Heritage monuments.

Hotel Tassel

The avenue Louise holds some fashionable shopping, especially between Stefania and Louise square you find plenty of shops. There are two nice streets on the left hand side where you will find several restaurants and bars including some small speciality shops.

At Louis Square continue over R20 and youwill  soon see the Justice Palace on the left. Walk pass it and now you have a nice view of the city from the top of the square. Take the elevator down and walk straightforward, take a left on Hoogstraat. Here you will find more small bars and restaurants, walk a couple of blocks down the street (don’t forget the mural on the right hand side) and take a right at Vossenstraat, walk down to Vossenplein and the Flee market. Here you can enjoy some second hand shopping. This is most likely a little bit cheaper than on Av. Louise I imagine. After the tour on the market, go back and take a right on Blaesstraat, the antique street, where you find some amazing stuff.

Take your time and enjoy, you will most likely find something that fit in your house or in the garden. Continue straight on and you will soon reach an interesting reminisce of the old Brussels city walls. On both sides of the main street, two parts of the old wall has been restored .

Part of the City wall

Brussels had originally two sets of walls the first ring was built in the early 13^th century but the city grew rapidly and a second larger ring was started in 1356. Between 16^th-18^th century the rings were dismantled but can still be seen in some places around the city.

Restaurant Le Estrille

Go back and around the petrol station on the left then follow the small pedestrian street Rollebeek up to Sablon. On the way up,  on the right hand side, you will find the oldest restaurant in Brussels, Le Estrille from year 1587. On this charming street, you will find a lot of restaurants and bars including some chocolate shops further up at the roundabout.

Notre-Dame du Sablon

Now you are in the Sablon area with the magnificent church ahead. During the weekends you can enjoy the antique market just in front of the church. There is also a shopping arcade where you can find some more exclusive presents for Christmas.

Here the walk ends.

Leffe bier Noel

Beer, yes this week as well. Because it is Christmas time I will have a taste of some of the many special brews for the season. A well-known one is Leffe Bier de Noel 6,6%. This is a dark beer sweet, nutty and malty, which I was pleasant surprised with and it is quite good. Of course I usually like the darker and sweeter beers so it didn’t come as a complete surprise.

Nostradamus

I also tasted the Nostradamus 9,5% from  La Caracole brewery at Pochenellekelder. When we have guests, a city tour usually includes a visit to this nice establishment. The beer wasn’t that good, it was much too bitter for my taste although it had some interesting flavour of fruit, malt and spices.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Leffe Bier de Noel 6,6% and Nostradamus 9,5%

Location; Another city tour in Brussels

Poi: Place Sablon, Avenue Louise

It is nice to walk around in Brussels during the autumn. I noticed that the city has cleared many of the larger grass areas in the parks from old leaves. This lightens up the walks when you can see the still green grass and you also know, that it in a couple of weeks’ time, the days will be longer again.

Green grass

I decided to put together a nice, shorter walk among the EU buildings which is described below.

Start at Trône Metro station and walk up Rue de Luxembourg towards the Parliament. You will pass the Swedish permanent representation to EU at the Square de Meeuse.  The Permanent Representations could be seen as an extended arm of their government in Brussels. Its main task is to ensure that national interests and policies are pursued as effectively as possible in the EU. The Permanent Representation is led by an Ambassador to the EU. It functions as a miniature version of the Government Offices in the capital, representing all the home ministries. An important task of the Permanent Representation is to supply analyses and assessment to their respective Government Offices, which are responsible for shaping EU policies. The Representation also acts as the Governments day-to-day communication link with the EU institutions.

If you continue straight ahead you will soon reach Place de Luxembourg. This square is filled with small restaurants/ bars and a very popular after work meeting spot. If you take the street to the right you will also see Luxembourg train station.

Place de Luxembourg

The Place de Luxembourg was a central feature of the Leopold Quarter and the most prestigious residential area in the capital for the bulk of the 19th century. Rue de Luxembourg was then in an embryonic state, and the square was created as its end point. The square was popular among merchants and restaurant and cafe owners due to its proximity to the station.

European Parliament

Towering ahead is the European Parliament buildings, continue straight ahead and through the main building then take a left. The Parliament holds 736 elected delegates but in total there are around 6,000 people working here. As many knows the original seat of the Parliament was in Strasbourg where they still must hold regular meeting according the constitution. Behind the buildings you can make a short cut through the Leopold Park, a popular place for a lunch break. The park was originally a botanic garden and you can still see some rare trees and animals around the pond which is fed by water from the Maalbeek stream.

Directly after the park take a right and then a left and head up to Schuman round about. Robert Schuman, was a French Prime minister in the early fifties, but he was also the main architect behind the build-up of EU and NATO. Now you can see and maybe also feel the power houses of EU. On the left is the Justus Lipsius building with its 24 km of corridors. Here the EU member states reside in the EU council and forms EUs Government.  Opposite is the Berlaymont, a monster building of 240,000 sqm, the building holds 3,000 of the Commissions in total 25,000 employees and is lead by Manuel Barosso. Beside you will find a slightly smaller building Charlemagne where some of the other Commission DGs sits. This building now temporarily also holds the new EAS External Action Service lead by High representative Catherine Ashton, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She will most likely move into the glass building on the other side of Schuman during next year. Schuman also has a metro and train station where the walk ends.

Chimay Red

Beer: Chimay Red 7% is one of Chimay’s trappist beers where the brewery is using French barley from Champagne to enhance the flavour of this ruby red ale. It has a slightly bitter taste but is defintely not at all bad, however I like their Chimay Blue much better.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Chimay Red 7%

Location; EU city tour

Poi: Place de Luxembourg

Bruges is a city that you can visit many times, always with new things to see and experience. The World Heritage status is well-earned.

Bruges and the channels

Before the trip I saw the wonderful movie In Bruges from 2008 with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes an absolutely superb black comedy. The picture was completely filmed in Bruges as an amazing backdrop to the story. In the week-end the one hours train ride from Brussels only costs around 14€ return. This time I used one of the many prepared walks to explore Bruges ( Cityguide Bruges ).

Bruges city walk

From the train station it is just a short walk and you are inside the old part of Bruges.

This walk takes you along world-famous panoramic views, sky-high monuments and centuries-old squares invigorated by contemporary constructions. One foot planted in the Middle Ages, the other one firmly planted in the present. You find a more detailed description of this walk in the brochure mentioned above.

The Minnewater is reached after a couple of minutes’ walk and used to be the landing stage of the barges or track boats which provided a regular connection between Bruges and Ghent. Today it is one of Bruges’ most romantic beauty spots. Equally atmospheric, yet of a totally different nature, is the Beguinage. These were various lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, comprising religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world. It is no longer occupied by beguines, but by nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict, you can still form an excellent picture of what daily life looked like in the 17th century. A couple of blocks away two nice old Almshouses can be seen. Bruges counts 46 Almshouses (called “godshuizen” in Dutch) in the centre of the city. These houses were built out of social consideration. They were mainly destined for seniors and poor people.  These white Almshouses were built by rich families so single women or poor people had a place to live. In return for the use of these houses these people had to pray for the rich family every day. You might even say that these rich families bought their way in to heaven. On the way to city heart you pass De Halve Maan established 1546, a small family owned brewery only one operating in Bruges city and is open for a short tour and beer tasting.  Before the traditional centre is reached a visit to Bruges’ most renowned museum the Groeninge Museum is a must. On display are world-famous masterpieces by Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling and many other Flemish Primitives.

Rozenhoedkaai

Soon the more traditional attractions can be visited like Rozenhoedkaai, a popular photo spot, yes the swans are still there and of course the impressive Burg and Markt place.

Belfry

Markt is dominated by its Belfry, for centuries the city’s foremost edifice and the perfect look-out in case of war, fire or any other calamity. You can still climb to the top of the tower! Your climb up the Belfry’s 366 steps will be rewarded with an unforgettable panoramic view. There is usually a long queue during the week ends to get in.

Beer: Brugse Zot 6%, one of De Halve Maan’s brews. Zot means fool and it was a nickname for the people living in Bruges. On its label you find a jester. The palate is a little bit spicy with bitterness in its ending. Not really to my taste but drinkable.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Brugse Zot 6%

Location; City walk Bruges

POI: see city walk above

This New Year some friends from Sweden are coming over so I decided to put together a small (7K) walk around Brussels centre. The walk starts from Metro Rogier and follows Nieuvstraat, which is one of the major shopping streets. Half way down on a small sidestreet one of Hortas creations Taverne Esperanza can be found. Further down on Adolphe Maxlaan is one of the Grand old Hotels of Brussels Metropole which is worthwhile taking a closer look at. Now set your sights for the Beurse and here you will find plenty of bars and restaurants to have your lunch. One good choice would be Le Cirio. Just around the corner towards Grand Place is two well-known old pubs A La Becasse and Aux Bon Vieux Temp situated. Continue to Grand Place just before you reach it on the left hand side you find one of my favourite chocolate places Leonidas. They got very good quality chocolate to a decent price, taste it! Grand Place of course very impressive and here you can for instance make a vist to the Brewery Museum. Just behind Grand Place is a very nice Belgian restaurant Roue D’Or. Walk behind Grand Place and at the next corner there is a fountain and in the pavement you find shells that lead you to La Compostella, yes one of the pilgrim routes starts here. Continue down the street and you pass one the first of many wall murals in Brussels just opposite the police station. Continue to Plattesteen a well-known gathering  place for the gay community. Here two additional wall murals can be found.

Brussel City walk

Continue to Place Saint-Gery, a nice area both during day and night with its bars and restaurants around the old Food Hall. The hall was built to cover up the Senne river that now runs underneath Brussels.

Senne river in the old days

More cartoons can be found on the way to another of Brussels major tourist attractions Manneken Pis. Before you reach it you will walk over an Anspachbulten. Under this bulb in the street runs the Senne river. After a look at the boy you might be thirsty I suggest a visit to Pochenellekeller just besides the fountain. The pub has a different interior design well worth a visit, in addition they serve a decent selections of beers. On the way to Lombard street you find yet another mural, on the left Planet Chocolate (learn how to make chocolate) and on the right a textile market which is quite nice. Continue up towards Sablon, before you reach it you will find part of the old City wall. Follow a narrow street with a lot of restaurants on the right side you will see the oldest restaurant in Brussels probably in Belgium as well  L’Estrille du vieux from 1587. Continue towards Eglise Notre Dam du Sablon. In front of the church is a famous antique market.  Make a left and now we are getting close to the cultural centre of Brussel, Kunstberg where most of the museums can be found. You soon reach Koningsplein and impressive square with the Royal Castle on the back of it (walk around the corner if you like to see it). Take a left down Kunstberg (enjoy the view) and here you see The Old England building. This is an impressive Art Nouveau creation, today it houses the Museum of Musical instrument with a nice view of Brussels from the café/restaurant on top. Around the corner yet another of Hortas many designs Bozar- Palais de Beaux Arts. Opposite you find the entrance to one of many gallerias this one is named Ravenstein walk through and you soon reach Brussels Centraal the train station designed also by Horta. It was his longest project and he was still working on it when he died. Now we are getting close to Grand Place and Grasmarkt with a small square with the statue of one of Brussels most recognised majors  Charles Buls. Yet another galleria this time the Royal Gallery of Saint-Hubert, it is very impressive. Walk through and feel free to test the chocolate in the many fancy shops and soon one of Brussels most well-known pubs can be visited A La Mort Subite. After tasting their Lambic a short walk back into  the old galleria take a right and your are in the infamous restaurant district along rue de Boucher. Don’t be put down by the first look there are some nice ones here. Look for the restaurants without barkers like Chez Leon or Restaurant Vincent to mention two of my favourites.

Around the corner from Chez Leon you will find the pub in Europe with most beers on tap Delirium café. They got some very strange beers as well, if you dare. Opposite this establishment Manneken Pis girlfriend can be found, Jeanneke Pis, yes a peeing girl. Back to the start and parallel with the shopping street is a very nice and quiet Square of the Martyrs cross it and you are back on Nieuwstraat.

1. Metro Rogier- Nieuwstraat /shopping
2. Horta- Taverne Esperanza, Rue Du Finistère 22
3. Café / Hotel Metropole, 1895 classic hotel
4. Le Cirio
5. A La Becasse
6. Au Bon Vieux Temp
7. Leonidas
8. Grand Place +++
9. Brewery Museum
10. Restaurant Roue D’Or
11. Fontaine
12. Cartoon 1
13. Plattesteen
14. Cartoon 2
15. Cartoon 3
16. Place Saint-Gery
17. Food hall
18. Cartoon 4
19. Anspachbulten
20. Cartoon 5
21. Manneken Pis
22. Pochenellekeller
23. Cartoon 6
24. Textile Market
25. Planet Chocolate
26. Part of the old city wall
27. Part of the old city wall
28. Rest L’Estrille anno 1587
29. Eglise Notre Dame du Sablon
30. Sablon antique market
31. Koningsplein
32. MIM Music Instrument Museum
33. Horta- Bozar – Palais des Beaux Arts
34. Galleria Ravenstein
35. Horta-Brussels Centraal
36. Grasmarkt, Charles Buls
37. Royal Galleries of Saint-Hubert
38. A La Mort Sorbite
39. Rest Vincent
40. Rest Chez Leon
41. Jeanneke Pis
42. Delirium cafe
43. Square of the Martyrs

Duivels dunkel 8% this is a  so called Belgian Strong Ale that has very dark color with a sweet and malty taste.This is a decent quite OK beer.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Duivels dunkel 8%

Location: Brussel City Walk

POI : se list above

The Centre of Europe? Brussels is situated in a very central part of Western Europe. It has an easy access to the coast both in Belgium, Holland and France. In addition, it is no more than three hours’ drive to reach the wine districts.

Brussels in Europe

In the week I made a business trip to Holland and stayed over in Scheveningen, only 2½ hours’ drive from Brussels.

Scheveningen

This is a modern beach resort outside Haag which is reached by a 15 minutes tram ride. I found a small family hotel (Strandhotel) in an old villa with a beautiful view over the deserted beaches. Just outside is the Oostduinen, sand dunes that goes almost all the way up to Amsterdam. This is a nice area if you like to walk or run in the morning or why not rent a bike. Like many places here in Holland it is completely flat.

The summer is gone

This weekend we had plans to go down to France and visit the Champagne district but we decided after some deliberations to take a rain check. This due to the long weekend in Belgium/France (Halloween:-)) with a lot of people taking a longer break and travelling around in these parts. Instead we took a 2½ hours’ drive into Germany where we stayed over in Traben-Trarbach in the Mosel district (Hotel Trabener Hof).

Traben-Trarbach

Here we took time for some wine tasting at a local Weingut Kaess (Weingut-Kaess ), bicycle excursion to the nearby Bernkastel-Kues and back along the flat riverside. Bernkastel is quite touristic but has a lot of beautiful old buildings in the centre.

Bernkastel-Kues

On the way back we also stumbled into the Oktoberfest (the last days) at the Brauhaus Kloster Machern (Brauhaus Kloster Machern)  with all the typical ingredients like food with a maes (Machern bier of course) and typical music umpa umpa!

Brauhaus Kloster Machern

The monastery known to brew a decent German bier (hell, dunkel and hefeweizen). The bike got quite full with the samples.

Walk along Mosel

In addition there was also time for a long 16K walk on the hills above the Mosel river.

It all added up to a very nice and relaxing weekend, not too much people or traffic, good food and beautiful autumn scenery, what more can you wish for?

Riesel Hochgewächs

The beer this week is also a triple like last week  Corsendonk Agnus Tripel 7,5% from Corsendonk Brewery.

Corsendonk Agnes Triple

It is a hoppy blond Abbey  beer with a bitter and a bit dry but strong taste. This was also a quite good tripel.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Corsendonk Agnus Tripel 7,5%

Location : The Mosel valley in Germany (250km east of Brussels)

POI :  Bernkastel-Kuis (Germany)

It is autumn and really nice weather so a trip to the countryside was on the agenda this weekend.

Fête de la Pomme

By coincidence we stumbled into a Fête de la Pomme in the small village of Céroux, 40 km south of Brussels. There fresh apples and newly pressed apple juice was for sale.

After that we went for a run in the forest outside the village. It was a really nice run through an old forest Bois de Sart des Dames.

Hash run

Here and there lovely small cottages were hidden behind the beautifully coloured autumn leaves.

Maasmechelen Village

On Saturday it was time for some serious shopping, after an hour’s drive  Luxury Designer Outlet of Maasmechelen Villagewas reached.

Chic Outlet Shopping

This is a very large shopping mall where the shops were located in Disney like townhouses. Here one will find all the fashion brands one can imagine. There were also a couple of restaurants and a very large parking place.

Mechelse Heide

After the shopping it was decided that a change of views were in order and a short drive took us to The Hoge Kempen National Park. The park covers more than 5,000 ha and stretches across the municipalities Dilsen-Stokkem, Maasmechelen, Zutendaal, Lanaken, Genk and As.

Mechelse Heide

The Hoge Kempen is the largest woodland and nature reserve in Flanders. Extensive pine woods alternate with purple flowering heathland. Large lakes were left behind where sand and gravel were extracted. The highest ‘peaks’, 100 meters high, offer magnificent views.

It is home to many rare and exceptional animals. Encountering a roe is not exceptional and butterflies like the swallowtail butterfly brighten up the summer. Special inhabitants are the slippery snake, the antlion and the European beewolf. Large stones and small boulders attest to the last ice age and lend it all a magical feeling.

We took a shorter walk from the gateway Mechelse Heide, wrong time of year to see the colours of the heath but definitely a place to visit again. There are miles of walking and cycling paths and in addition the park can be entered from 5 different directions through special gateways.

On the way back the girls missed some shopping and we stopped by one of Brussels largest shopping malls in Woluwe The W Shopping at rue St Lambert . I guess we got the last parking place and it was absolutely full but what to expect on a Saturday afternoon. There is however a Metro station close by Roodebeek station so you don’t need the car unless you have a lot of shopping to do.

Take your agenda and put a big circle around Thursday 3^rd of November. That day the famous Westvleteren Trappist will be available in the supermarket. The first time in the lifetime of Westvleteren, because before you had to go to the abbey in West-Flanders to obtain a box of bottles.

Westveleterwn

It’s a limited offer of a box with 6 bottles of Trappist Westvleteren and 2 degustation glasses for only 25 EUR. To buy this limited offer, you need to use a coupon you find in some Belgian newspapers and magazines: (De Standaard/Knack/Le Vif). In total 93,000 boxes will be sold. The revenue of this exclusive offer goes totally to the rebuilding of the trappist abbey in Westvleteren.

Tongerlo Prior Triple

The beer this week is Prior Tongerlo Triple 9% from Haacht Brewery. It is a malty blond Abbey  beer with a bitter and a bit dry taste. This was quite a decent tripel.

Coming weeks:

• EU continued
• In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
• More seafood
• Cheese
• Parks
• Culture, Comics
• Markets
• Politics

Facts of the week;

Drink; Prior Tongerlo Tripple 9%

Location : Luxury Designer Outlet in Maasmechelen Village (100km east of Brussels)

POI : The Hoge Kempen National Park