A Day in Brussels

On 11/25…
My second day we rode our bikes to the train station and then took the short train ride to Brussels. We were disappointed to find that it was rainy in Brussels as well but we didn’t let that deter us. Wim was a great tour guide and though the city is a lot bigger than Leuven he led me strategically around the city so I could see all of the best parts. This included Belgium’s national symbol, “Manneken-Pis” or “Pissing boy” which is a small statue of…well it’s self defining. The Belgians have really great senses of humor.

We also got to see the Square where they were in the midst of decorating their huge Christmas tree and putting out a very large nativity. (They also had a Christmas bazaar set up in another section of the city – like the one in Gozo but bigger.) Everything we were checking out was outside so we went to a coffee shop called “Café du Vaudeville” – a favorite place for Wim and his mom to frequent when in Brussels. We got seats upstairs next to a window that looked out over the shops and had a coffee (me) and a tea (Wim). We decided to save a bit and had packed our own sandwiches so after we left the coffee shop we strolled the shops and ate our sandwiches, drooling over the chocolatiers as we did so. That wasn’t really too attractive since we were stuffing our faces with sandwiches at the same time but hey, that’s me. I had a great time amusing/mortifying Wim by purposely eating like a cow and leaning in to check out some of the windows at the really expensive places.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon checking out the streets and taking whatever paths seemed to have something we might like to check out. This led us to a really cozy looking street where we decided to stop again at a tea shop because it looked too cute to pass up. This time we both had coffee. I was tempted by the rhubarb cake but Wim reminded me that I still needed to try one of the waffles before I left as well and we still needed to have dinner. We had plans with Wim’s dad for dinner so we started making the trek over to the portion of Brussels where the parliament building is located. Along the way I got to see the federal parliament building, the palace of justice, and the new music museum which is in this really great nuveau building. We also saw a fabulous garden with a fountain and a statue of two Duke’s who’d been decapitated in the 1500s by the Duke of Alba. Wim took a picture of me in front of it pretending to cut my own throat so I’d remember what the statue was. I thought I was being funny but the picture looks like I’m having a seizure so that’s attractive.

We arrived at the Flemish Parliament building pretty much on time. Wim’s father is the current President of the Flemish Parliament and he said to arrive at 4:30, expecting that the plenary session he was leading would be finished by then. After checking through security we discovered that the session was not over. The good news is that the Flemish Parliament is one of the only ones in the world that actually allows the public to watch plenary sessions so we were able to check it out. Wim texted down to his father in the middle of the whole thing saying he should look up to the center and we got a huge kick out of it when he looked up at us and waved. The session was in Dutch so I couldn’t understand what they were talking about but Wim translated the main topics for me and then pointed out the layout of the room, showing me where each party sat in the room and who does what for his father. After awhile his dad said they’d take a 10 minute break and then continue deliberation before voting. Wim and I raced to the stairs where we were met by his dad on his way up to his office. Introductions were made and Mr. Peumans said he recognized me from photos Wim showed me. The poor man had 10 minutes to quick go to the toilet, eat a banana, show me his office, offer me Belgian chocolates, coffee and water, show me the view of the street and get briefed by his wickedly handsome assistant on his 7 p.m. meeting with an official from Bulgaria. Needless to say our dinner was off but I didn’t mind. It was such an honor to be there at the parliament and get to see him in action. Before he took off to head back to work he told us we could hang out in his office for awhile if we wanted to. So there we were, two Joe-nobodies, maxing and relaxing on the leather couches of the President of Flemish Parliament. What a hoot. Wim took a picture of me in the office too. The only thing interrupting us there was Mr. Peumans personal driver asking us if we needed anything. Afterward, Wim said we should’ve told him we wanted to be driven to Bruges for dinner. Ha. We returned to the session because we were curious how the vote would go and so we ended up staying until it ended at 7 p.m.

Mr. Peumans had invited us to stay for the Bulgarian cultural evening they were having but Wim and I decided that we’d eat dinner and get back to Leuven. We went to the Italian restaurant his father had recommended but it was closed so we had to come up with an alternate plan. I liked the street the tea shop was on so much that I suggested we find something over there. This meant a nice little hike back to the spot but it was worth it. We ended up in an Italian restaurant afterall. It was cute and the food was good though I think I was more pleased with my dish than Wim was. We saved room for dessert and hit up one of the waffle stands on the way back to the train station. Wim explained that they don’t call them “Belgian Waffles” but rather either “Brussels Waffles” or "Liege Waffles.” The Lieg version are round (though only about half as big as the big round “Belgian” ones we have at home) and are coated with a bit of a sugary/buttery substance before they are cooked so they are nice and sweet even though served plain. The Brussels ones are square and lighter in color than the round ones because they aren’t coated. Instead, they are topped with whip cream, ice cream, strawberries, etc. Basically anything you’d get on a funnel cake back home. Yum. We opted for the “healthier” Liege version without the toppings and ate them on our way to the station.