Day 2: Brussels: People of Tomorrow

July 23, 2015

As we have penetrated closer and closer to the heart of Brussels, our perception of what the city is like has evolved. The airport, of course, was like airports everywhere, and its surrounding area is also suitably nondescript. Then we came to what I described as the combination French village and Dutch village houses, then apartment buildings that looked a bit like Paris, but with Dutch multicoloured bricks. Finally our hotel was in an area that looked a bit like Vancouver, but with some outdoor restaurants and car free zones.And yes, we may have seen a chocolate shop, a french fry shop or so, but not much.

That was where we were at yesterday. We thought of some comments in other blogs that there was not too much here, and thought, ok, maybe. But today we walked through the rest of it, and what we saw was all different, and the WOW factor was definitely over the top!

The heart of the place is the city hall and the square in front of it, known as the Grand Place (the Grote Markt in Flemish). I could seem a lot smarter about it, but we have resolved to not be buying the typical 5 euro booklet that has all you ever wanted to know about a given site, but which by the next day becomes something you have to either ditch or pay to mail home. Anyway, the City Hall and surrounding buildings were mostly constructed in the 1600's and are generally in Gothic type, renaissance style - lots of vertical lines and tall spires (for the City Hall) with cathedral like carvings of saints and heros covering the exterior. Other buildings surrounding the square have a lot of gold trim, and seem a bit more Dutch style. That is just my impression, unaided by the 5 euro intelligence boost.

The effect of the square is really dramatic. It was revealed to us bit by bit, as we approached down a side street. Then finally we turned a corner, for the full effect.The centre of the square is not particularly in use, such as for a farmers market of anything like that. Right now it just holds the thousands of tourists who turn up after their wakeup time of about noon. However, next month it will be filled with a carpet of flowers, producing the images usually found on post cards.

It became clear to us as we continued to crawl around the area, that there are several streets leading from the Grote Markt to nearby points of interest, that in themselves are of great interest. The first is from the Market to the Mannekin Pis. Mannekin Pis is a little fountain/statue of a little boy peeing out the water. Maybe for another 5 euros I would know how this got to be so famous, but it is one of the main symbols of Brussels. As with the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen, the actual site and the actual thing is not very spectacular. But because of the fame, there is always a moderate crowd around. However, just beyond the Mannekin Pis, on the streets leading to a square called the Agora, Brussels brings out the full force of pedestrian street greatness, lined with the trademark specialties: Belgian chocolate, Belgian waffles, lace, Belgian Fries, macaroons, nougat, beer. Take these seven categories, and set out many many stores for each, get rid of the cars, put in restaurants with outdoor seating, and 100-300 year old buildings, and you have the district. Then fill it with throngs of people from all over the world, and you have the Experience.

We followed the streets leading from the Mannekin Pis toward the Cathedral, and at the Agora first ran in to a whole new level of fun, which is unique to this week. It was here we first noted young people, lots of young people, walking with flags draped around them. There were, basically, flags of all nations. But we walked up to some with the Canadian flag, and learned that the Tomorrowland music festival is coming up, in nearby Boom. A bit of internet research later revealed that this has been ongoing for about 10 years, and that it is the biggest music festival in the world. Attendance last year was 400,000. For people of "our generation", to put it in perspective, that was exactly the attendance figure for Woodstock.

As we walked on, we saw more and more young people sporting flags.To jump ahead a bit, as we returned from the Cathedral, we passed the stock exchange building (the Bourse) and there ran in to a vast throng. A performer/DJ was high on the steps of the building, and was backed by an amazing sound system. The speakers were not large (as in Woodstock style tower speakers), but they had a bass that wonderfully vibrated your whole body. Throbbing upbeat sound was the order of the day, and the crowd, including us, loved it. But best of all, the festival has a world unity theme (accounting for the flags), and the youth present were caught up in the notion that they are the future, and the future is peace and harmony. Here in the capital of the European Union, knowing all that has happened before, seeing this brought a tear to my eye. More on this, together with evocative photos, later in this post.

Normally I write about a day in the order it happened. It's logical for a travel account. But this time I think I will go by topic, and the first topic is

Chocolate

Before we ever ran into the streets of chocolate shops, we came to the Chocolate Museum (or, a Chocolate Museum - we found at least one other later). This was started by the family behind Godiva chocolates. The first main feature was a self service chocolate fountain, where you could dip Speculaas type cookies. This was followed by a demonstration of making Belgian praline chocolates - a style that has nut paste filling inside a shell. Aside from the chocolate quality, the key is in the mold material, because you need to get it release your chocolate once you have made a coating, filled it, and sealed it, Everyone got to try a freshly made one, and it was amazing how good they were! The rest of the museum had what I might now say are the usual films about how chocolate is harvested and made, plus lots of memorabilia like old chocolate tins and molds and hot chocolate cups, plus histories of the main companies and statistics on worldwide chocolate production and consumption.

Some of the names of the main chocolate companies were familiar to us (like Godiva and Callebaut) and others were not. We were soon to see a good selection of them, as shops on the street, as we continued to walk. Like with cheese companies in Amsterdam, the main players have multiple shops, so it can get a bit confusing, but there are at least 18 artisanal brands represented in the downtown. (We can prove it, we have the map, though we have not quite tasted them all!).

Free samples. They were super good with a liquid nutella like centre.

Questioned about how the centres are made, the lady pulled out the secret bucket of commercial paste.

Scene from the typical film about chocolate production. Typical, because we had seen a similar one in St Augustine, Florida

The museum was a chance to visit one of the old buildings near the Grote Market. Narrow stairs led to the three floors of exhibits. It would be fun to live in a place like this.

Confusing as well is all the chocolate types, even from a single producer. And that's just chocolates. There are also, for example, "macaroons". Macaroons is a category that to me meant nothing more than a chewy coconut cookie concoction from my local grocery. But on the flight over, suddenly there was a documentary on the artisanal French macaroon chefs. It's a "whole big thing", and the chocolatiers seem also to often be macaroon specialists. In the film, I saw that the price is 1 euro per macaroon, and here that was the case as well. I was surprised by how small they are in person. We bought one, and just split it. Gads, fully your euro's worth, in such a small package!

The famous macaroons that we had never heard of.

Then there is nougat - offered here in huge loaves and slices, and meringues, and artisanal cookies! We could not try it all, but here are some photos. (Oh, except for meringues. I got in trouble with Dodie by buying her a bag of about 8 teeny, frothy creations, for 5 euros! I thought it was financially quite prudent, since it was the cheapest item in the meringue store!.)

Have a look at this small selection of Belgian confections:

Chocolates, including ones that look like old tools!

Belgian Waffles! The base is a thick waffle with large squares. Most common additions are chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and strawberries.

Unique cookie tins to put your purchase in,

Belgian Fries

The French do not call them French Fries, but only "Frites", and the Belgians are the same, though the tourist shops do refer to Belgian fries. In Germany, they are strangely called "Pommes", which presumably comes from the French "pommes de terre". More than even in France, fries can be a stand alone fast food item. I was thinking that the Belgian version might be really special, because of this background. Two shops in the Agora seemed to do the biggest business, but not only did these have long lineups, but the fries walking away did not look all that special. I led us to a double whammy - fries plus kebap from one of the five Greek places in the Marche aux Fromages street. The kebap was great, but the fries, which certainly looked authentic, were ok but not really addictive. I suspect, in fact, that Montreal has beat these folks at their own game, and the most addictive fries come from the Lafleur and La Belle Province franchises there.

Belgian fries, accompanying beef kebap, made a great lunch. The fries were actually nothing special.

Belgian fries here, if you can gete to them!

Lace and Tapestries

A little lace from one of the many shops

As well as lace, tapestries are a local specialty

Churches

The main church here is the Cathedral, which is dedicated to St. Michael and St. Gudula. It is suitably cathedral like in size, but actually a bit plain inside. It does have some great stained glass and an imposing pulpit. Also, construction has continued over the past 800 years or so, and different sections date from different centuries. There are "newer" additions at the back, so when you walk down there you are treated to several large auxiliary chapels. The cathedral has been used for royal weddings and funerals over the many years and has had at least one Pope visit - Benedict, I think.

The biggest thing for me at the Cathedral was the gift shop. Over the past trips I have developed a desire to collect what I call "Pope Cards". Often found at the back of churches, these are similar to baseball or hockey player cards, delineating the career of the star player, citing major achievements, and listing the years when recruited and when most active. Failing a Pope card, I will go for any other Pope trivia. The Cathedral had a Pope Francis figure, but Dodie wisely talked me out of the 12 euro price. Instead I got a 3 euro Pope Francis laminated card, with medallion in an integrated plastic bubble. We talked the lady in the shop into using an Olfa knife to liberate the medallion, which I can han on my bike. It joins my St. Christopher medal, which had proved only partially effective in Florida. I am glad the lady herself was not injured, as things were looking dicey for a while as she wielded the knife near her throat.

Next church up was the St. Nicholas church. (Note: good news reader, I will stop with this one, though Grampies have shown an ability to visit every church in a town). St Nicholas featured a gold reliquary for the Gorcum Martyrs, 19 catholic priests (mostly Franciscans) who were murdered by Protestant mercenaries a little north of here in 1572. This was during the Reformation, and goons known as sea-beggars - the Gueux in French - were terrorizing the countryside. A scholarly pamphlet about these martyrs ends with a touching note that we would like to share:

"Dear Visitor, it would be nice to be able to say that times have changed. Indeed there are certain parts of Europe where respect and tolerance have taken the place of fear and persecution,. However, in many places, instead of leading us to peace and harmony, religion is provoking division and violence. Let us therefore make time to pray to the Lord the He will lead his Church in the paths of peace and tolerance to the ultimate goal of perfect unity in Him."

Ste Catherine church - good news, we were not repoprting on this one!

Inside the cathedral is great, but not in the same league as some.

A Pope Francis figure. Tempting but too costly and how to keep it on the bikes?

The cathedral did have some really nice stained glass

The St Nicholas church is crooked. Somebody miscalculated, in reconstruction after the bombardment of 1695? 1695? Yes, apparently Louis XIV of France attacked the city for some reason. Need to check Wikipedia on that sometime.Ok, I did have a peek - look here It was part of the Nine Years War, with Louis generally rampaging around attacking things. The bombardment was an attempt to draw opponents away from the Siege of Namur, and was apparently unsuccessful, but caused massive damage in Brussels.

People of Tomorrow

The website for the festival is peopleoftomorrow.com Can we assume everybody knew about this except us? We read that they are even doing a US version now, in Georgia, and it is just as big. Here are some photos that may convey the energy and excitement of the crowd. This is probably par for music events and youth everywhere, but we found it pretty special: