Birthday in Belgium

January 25th, 2008 by Eleise, Itinerant World Traveler

The transition to another school year was made smoother by a holiday in Belgium to celebrate my birthday. What a beautiful, civilized country! We consumed our weight in scrumptious Belgian beer and chocolate through the cities of Brussels, Antwerp, and Bruges.

We first arrived in Brussels by way of a two-and-a-half-hour train ride from London on the EuroStar. I wasn’t sure what to expect — wouldn’t I feel claustrophobic in a tunnel surrounded by the weight of the English Channel? But besides a good deal of ear-popping, it was an easy twenty minutes of darkness. For our four-night stay we secured a seventeenth-century bed & breakfast in Bruges (to the north), so day one we first hung out in Brussels to see what we could see centrally. First task: get into French language mode. Bonjour, pardon, charcuterie, sacre bleu — you know, all the basics. It was a good laugh, but we got by.

This trip had particular significance as my very first venture onto the European continent. Frankly, how to comprehend the age of everything? Belgium’s grandest architecture is a mix between Gothic and Flemish-Baroque. It’s stunning. I mean, I truly felt a little stunned when we walked into Brussels’ lavish Grand’Place (town square), and I’m not alone: the Grand’Place was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. We also glimpsed the tiny bronze statue of Mannekin Pis, cast in 1619, and the last bit of remaining city walls, built in 1100. The cartoon Tin Tin was born in Belgium, and Brussels is now something of a cartoon epicenter. Not only are professional and public comic murals supported, but amateur graffiti is also encouraged. Underground art, which we didn’t get to see, is supposedly something of a great attraction.

Bruges is a town far quieter and quainter. Here the people speak Flemish, like most of northern Belgium. Lined with shiny cobblestones and mossy canals, Bruges missed out on the industrial revolution and is now appreciated for its remaining monuments and cultural heritage. Automobile traffic is limited. Windmills, old and new, are in operation. The cathedral here contains Michelangelo’s only sculpture to be housed outside of Italy: a marble rendering of Mary and baby Jesus.

It’s a city for walkers and cyclists, and tourists often see the sights by way of horse-drawn carriages or boat tours through the canal. On a sunny day we chose the latter, our ride punctuated by laughing school children and a dozen swans in quiet repose. We were truly enchanted by Bruges. What would it be like to live in a town like this, where people value both modern and ancient art, and sensible European design? I’m of two minds: London can be so impersonal, but it takes only two hours to walk the circumference of Bruges!

On my birthday, I bought us train tickets to Antwerp. I’d heard it was an exciting city, one enjoying a “second golden age” and currently Europe’s second largest harbor. Having no real plan, we split our time between the main strip of fashion and design shops, the Grote Markt (market square), and the River Scheldt. Perhaps one day wasn’t enough to dedicate to the subtleties of the city, but after Bruges we felt Antwerp was crowded and its architecture seemed mismatched. (The sugar-dusted waffles we snacked on here, however, were the tastiest.) The Cathedral of our Lady, a “masterpiece of lace work in stone,” is most impressive, and boasts two enormous triptychs painted by Peter Paul Reubens in the early 1600s. I took my time soaking in this artwork.

That night, back in Bruges, we enjoyed my birthday dinner alfresco: a pot of steaming mussels, a plate of rich Flemish stew, and two rounds of Kasteel beer — our unanimous favorite brew.

Our last day in Bruges we climbed 366 steps to the top of the belfry tower, first built in 1240 and in its present state from the late 1400s. Inside is a carillon of 47 bells that regularly play Mozart, Vivaldi, and the like. From the top we had a terrific view of the city and canals — and beyond . . .

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