Haber Travel Report – Belgium

Dear Readers:

After a full day in Rome on Saturday, we flew to Brussels.  Unfortunately, the plane left about 45 minutes late so we didn’t arrive at our hotel until 1 AM; long day.  We’re staying at the Meridian which has construction in front of it so the entrance has been moved; makes getting in and around the hotel a bit tricky.  At that late hour they gave us a suite which was the oddest shape we’d ever seen but it was late and we were tired.  The next morning we both took showers and we both flooded the bathroom; bad drain!  So we requested a room change.  We wound up with a lovely suite (bedroom, separate sitting room almost like a living room and much better bathroom; no floods!)

We have spent 4 days in Belgium–2 in Brussels, 1 in Bruge and 1 in Antwerp.    The latter two are one hour train rides from Brussels; very easy to do as day trips.  Ya gotta love a country where every other store is a chocolate store and not just ordinary chocolate but outstanding chocolate.  I really restrained myself this time with the gelato in Rome but the chocolate was another matter altogether!  And when it’s not a chocolate store, they are selling frites (French fries) in a paper cone or sweet waffles (with chocolate sauce or whipped cream).  And then, of course, there’s the moules (mussels) everywhere.  Who knew Belgium was such a foodie delight?

The 3 towns we visited were similar in that there’s always a huge central square ringed with wonderful old buildings that have lots of statues (and sometimes gold) on them, a major city hall, several churches, several (many in Brussels) museums and charming little streets to wander.  We spent a lot of time just walking around taking in the ambiance everywhere.

Bruge is a lovely Medieval town with lots of canals.  They refer to it as the Venice of the North; an exaggeration in my opinion.  In keeping with my tradition of obtaining pictures with bridges, I did manage to find a picture of a canal with a little bridge on it.  I used Steve Rick’s guide book in Bruge (thank you, Davi); he’s very good with walking tours.  We saw the 2 main squares, city hall, a museum with Flemish art (e.g., Jan Van Eyck) and a museum that had originally been a Medieval hospital so there was not only art but medical instruments that looked more like instruments of torture.  We also went on a local brewery tour that ended with a “free” glass of beer.  Ah yes, something else Belgium is known for:  lots and lots of different beers.  (I find it amusing that we’ve been on brewery tours from Boston to New Zealand!)
Antwerp is quite large; the 2nd largest city in Belgium.  It is a typical European town in that there’s an old section (with all those sights I mentioned earlier) as well as a very modern section with all the same global brands one finds in the US.  Peter Paul Rubens lived in Antwerp and we visited his house and studio.  I was expecting to see something comparable to Cezanne’s studio in Provence (a highlight of that trip, some of my readers may recall) but the room was no longer set up as a studio; ah well; still fun to be in the house where he lived and worked.  What sets Antwerp apart from other cities is its diamond district.  85% of the world’s diamonds pass through Antwerp.  Marty decided it was a fine place to purchase a 40th anniversary present.  The gem for 40, however, is a ruby.  I didn’t think we’d find any but we did.  I got a lovely pair of ruby earrings (with a diamond in the center of each).  Marty’s the real gem!

Much love,
The Wandering Correspondent
Irene