Brussels, Monday
The flight over was uneventful, although I managed to get virtually no sleep on the plane – a bit unusual for me. When I got to the airport, I originally intended to take a cab (after all, I’m not paying), but the queue for the taxis was very long. So I decided to chance a train. I bought a ticket, and got on. I didn’t really have a plan, and didn’t know the stops. But I figured that once anywhere near Brussels, finding a cab would be easier, etc.

I had three choices – Gare Nord, Gare Centrale, or Gare something else. I chose Centrale, which proved to be the correct choice. Once there, I wandered around outside, looked at the maps, and tried to find my hotel. No luck (it didn’t help that I was looking for “A”, which proved to be the first initial of the real street name). So in the end I got in a cab, and for EU 8 he took me to my hotel.

Once settled (very nice room, no complaints at all), I went on a walkabout. These work the same in any city I am in. I find a map, take a camera and set off on foot. I don’t worry about where I am going, don’t even keep track. When I get tired, I find a metro or trolley stop and assume I can work it out.

Once I got oriented, this worked pretty well. Brussels is quite tourist friendly, with a big map on most major intersections. So I wander, occasionally look at a map for parks, then wander off that way. I stopped for “lunch”, otherwise known as a patisserie, and had a tasty piece of rather French looking cake. Four hours (and probably 15+ km on foot), I take the metro back. This got me much of the way, but I hadn’t figured out the trolley system yet, so I had a final 1.5 km walk to my hotel.


Here are some pictures, taken during Monday's walkabout:

First, this was very near my Hotel:


I liked the roofline in this picture. When I took it at first, I didn't notice the little white figure at the left - a clear talkoff on Mannekin Pis, a famous statue in Brussels (and several other places):

The following was a rather fancy indoor shopping mall. Reminds me of GUM in Moscow, and the Eaton center in Toronto:


I found a really bright shop window absolutely glowing in the late afternoon sun:

I took so many "typical street scenes", and won't bore you with them all. Here are a couple:


I like European city parks. Each city has its own character. Here is a wonderful, if not particularly wild park downtown:


Ending back new my hotel, at the main square again: