Brussels

Brussels started out terribly. It was raining, bitterly cold and as gray as gray skies get. The directions provided by the hotel were abysmal: "easy to get to on public transportation." Really? The tourist office told us how to get there using the metro (it is, in fact, easy to get to the stop that's near the place), but they didn't tell us what to do after we exited the subway. So what did we do? We emerged and wandered aimlessly, angrily in the rain. We asked a couple of clueless people where to go. I even went to the police station, where the officer told me the hotel "was very near. Just go to the main street and ask some people."

It was cold. It was wet. And it was miserable. What an introduction, Brussels.

Once we finally made it to the hotel, we got comfortable in our tiny-but-tidy room. We slept off the grumpies, peeled ourselves out of bed by late afternoon and went to the Grand Place, the city's main square, to check out the Christmas market that wound through Brussels' old core.

I couldn't get very good pictures because it was dark and rainy, sadly.

Hats. Scarves. Ornaments. Gluhwein (hot spiced wine). Potato dishes. Waffles (I paid 6.50 euros - about $8.70 - for one waffle covered in chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries, but it's not a trip to Belgium without a waffle, right?). Hot chocolate. Sausages. Hamburgers. Decor. Beer. And everything in between. It was sensory overload, with the sounds of music and banter, the smells of the food and the lights strung everywhere. It was packed - too packed, really. We kept getting hit by umbrellas as we weaved through the crowd.

But it was oh so worth it. The Grand Place was one of the most impressive European plazas I've seen, and I've seen a decent share. Sadly, we only had time to see it at night, as we set off for Paris early the next morning. With an iPhone and a compact camera, nighttime isn't conducive to quality photography, but we did our best.

The Grand Place has an inexplicable charm about it. The baroque and gothic architecture is ornate but not obnoxious. The square is big but not overwhelming. It's detailed but not tacky. It's a shame I couldn't see it in the daylight. Here's what Google Images says it looks like:

 

Un saludo,
Teresa