Wednesday 9.29.2010


En-Route


What a lovely morning. The story of our trip so far is that when it is time for us to leave, the sun reappears and that’s the case this morning. Today Peter is whipping up individual vegetable Quiches along with a very tasty bread pudding, a nice savory-sweet mixture. We’re joined at breakfast by a nice young Israeli couple on their honeymoon as well as the young couple from Manchester who we met yesterday. There is a lively discussion about global economic affairs and Peter is convinced there will be two Euros in the future, the haves and the have-nots. We expect that opinion is not shared by the have-nots, but it is hard to disagree with Peter. Not necessarily because he is right, but just because it is hard to disagree with Peter. We think his partner Tom may agree.


We take advantage of our last morning in Amsterdam with a nice walk around our lovely leafy Jordaan neighborhood. Actually we walk one block to our left and find some lovely blossoms blooming in their windows with the red light on above, so perhaps we’re between neighborhoods. There is much said about the sleazy drug trade in Amsterdam, but there is also a very proper, almost pharmaceutical, element as well. There are “Smart Shops” where drugs are professionally displayed in clean windows with brief descriptions such as, “a mild high with an elevated sense of joy and much laughter; 10 grams for four hours; 11.50 Euros.” Or perhaps, “a medium high with an enhanced sense of color and sounds; 10 grams for four hours, 12.00 Euros.” It sounds as easy as having a few beers and less expensive.


We meet Peter back at the B&B at noon and settle our bill amidst more animated conversation. Peter is the ultimate entertainer who enjoys being on stage and we thoroughly enjoy the fun. We would gladly stay here again.


We walk about ten minutes to the train station where we are catching the 1:16 Thalys to Brussels. We are a bit new at the train business so we are 45 minutes early whereas most of the folks show up with a minute or two to spare. It is good people watching and we are outside so it’s ok.


We have reserved seats in car #15 and there is room on the overhead rack for all of our luggage. The trip takes a bit over two hours with stops in Rotterdam and Antwerp. This is definitely easier than plane travel for this length of trip and we get to see a bit of countryside. There are a few old-style windmills still around and what seems like thousands of greenhouses supplying Amsterdam’s huge international flower markets.


Brussels is not pretty when we arrive. We now have a hazy overcast that greets us with one shade of gray. There were 100,000 “strikers" marching here today to protest against the economic policies of the EU and our train station is right where the march ended. There is trash everywhere including a few of the leftover marchers. We have a map to walk to our hotel from the central station and we check with a cop to get us on the right street. He points to an area about three inches off our map and says you are here at the south station, not the central. Crap.

We decide to walk it anyway and find ourselves hauling our luggage through all the trash from the marchers and into a middle-eastern neighborhood where old Minnesota tourists rarely appear. While we feel like curiosities, we never feel threatened and will walk back this way when we leave.


We really have no good reason to be in Brussels except that it is between Amsterdam and Paris. We do think that with the headquarters of the EU here, we will be seeing news from Brussels for many years to come so wanted to at least gain some sense of the city. Our hotel is a highly rated “bargain” hotel which is in a mixed neighborhood south of the main part of the city. It is definitely not the Ritz but the rooms are clean, we have Wi-Fi and the bathroom is nice.

We venture out to the Grand Place (Grahn Plahss), a massive square with magnificent ornate buildings surrounded by sidewalk cafes. We both think it reminds us of Piazza San Marco in Venice but with better buildings. It’s 5:00 somewhere (here actually) which leads us to an outside table for a couple of those wonderful Belgian beers. The couple at the table next to us is from Smithtown, New York on Long Island (Jamie and Paul) so we chat a bit about our mutual travels. They were in Paris for a few days and they aren’t sure why they are in Brussels either. They did give us a few local tips for food and explorations. We give them tips on retirement.

We have to have Mussels in Brussels so hit restaurant row right off the square. This is like Little Italy in New York where there are "hosts" out on the sidewalks waving (dragging) you into their cafes. Restaurant Leon has been recommended for the mussels so we each have the special which is a bucket of mussels steamed in a white wine broth with celery and herbs, a side of fries and a beer for E12.90. A steal. Even Mary does a nice job on her mussels.

There are heaters on the sidewalk where we are eating and a bit of blue sky has emerged just before the sun went down so maybe this isn't such a bad place to be. It is a nice easy walk back to our hotel and just before we get to our door a fellow pops out of an alley holding a rag over his nose and mouth that smells to us a lot like an acetone product. Then again, maybe this isn't such a good place to be. School is still out.

Today's weather: Sunny and warm in Amsterdam; Cool and cloudy in Brussels. Low, 55, High 67