Galeries royales

We didn’t sleep in today, as we were probably self conscious of oversleeping and missing our departure from the ship! There was certainly nothing to be concerned about though as most of our luggage had been collected for us last night, meaning we only had to go to breakfast and collect our last few items before leaving the ship.

Our departure time was listed as 8am, but as we were already ready, we disembarked early to see if we could collect our bag and leave. As it turned out we could, and it was just as easy as our boarding process. Since Amsterdam was quite rainy, we decided to take a taxi to Centraal Station, as there didn’t seem to be an Uber pickup area available.

Our very talkative driver checked our train departure for us, advising of our platform to disembark from. When we arrived at Centraal, we were unpleasantly surprised when the driver informed us he only took cash, meaning we needed to scramble and find an ATM in the train station. Fortunately, Ted found a Travelex ATM, where I was able to withdraw some Euro.

As it seemed like we’d just missed a train, we bought some mediocre coffee before taking the elevator to our platform. When a train pulled into the station indicating Brussels, Ted wondered if the train would go to Brussels Central too. As it turned out, it was the earlier train we thought we’d missed, which was half an hour late. Since we had bought an IC train ticket, we were able to catch this train straightaway, rather than waiting another 2 hours for our original train.

The train was a basic 2nd class but we didn’t mind, since there was plenty of room and it was comfortable enough. The journey had about nine stops before reaching Brussels Central. It wasn’t until we reached Breda that our tickets were checked, as this was where the international travel started.

On the way I managed to get a very distant photo of the Atomium, which wasn’t made easy as the view was either blocked by a tree, a building or another train. Our arrival into Brussels was easier than our Amsterdam arrival too, as the station was less frantic. Our accommodation is only a four minute walk from the station too. All I can say about Brussels is….wow!

Before we even reached our accomodation, we were both gobsmacked by the quaintness and beauty of the area. It was like a combination of Amsterdam, Paris and St. Petersburg all in one. Everywhere you looked there was a sweet delight of decadence, whether it was chocolate, pasties, waffles or macaroons, as well as high end shops and fancy hotels. Our accommodation also did not disappoint - it was located in the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries, which is an ensemble of three glazed shopping arcades, comprising of cafes and fancy shops.

The only problem we had was checking in. As we had arrived early, there was no one to speak to but fortunately a man from the business next door called one of the reception staff for us. Our room was already ready, so we were able to leave our bags to go exploring. The room was also large and impressive - it seemed to consist of African artefacts and artwork for decorations.

Since we were hungry we settled on going to Burger King for lunch, which isn’t ideal, but was a decent and cheap enough option for us. We looked through a few of the shops where we bought some items from a “Tin Tin” store, before starting our own walking tour I had created before leaving Australia.

Our first stop was the enormous Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, located within easy walking distance from our accommodation. We then proceeded to the impressive Mont des Arts, which is an historic site, including the Royal Library of Belgium, the National Archives of Belgium, and a beautifully manicured public garden. It also provided a great view from above, where we could see the Brussels Town Hall in the distance.

Even though there were a lot of renovations and roadworks happening, it wasn’t difficult reaching the nearby Royal Palace which was really impressive, and didn’t have the crazy amount of crowds of Buckingham Palace. There was a huge park across the road from the palace so, after buying an ice cream, it was a beautiful place to wander and enjoy the serenity.

After walking past the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, we took photos of the Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon, but were more impressed by the stunning Square du Petit Sablon across the road, which was a flower garden designed in a Flemish Neo-Renaissance style, surrounded by 48 bronze statues depicting medieval professions, such as stone-cutters, tallow makers and linen croppers.

No trip to Brussels would be complete without seeing Manneken Pis (the replica anyway), so we headed there next, as well as (seemingly) every other tourist in Brussels. The number of tourist shops surrounding the underwhelming statue was huge yet, as tempting as it was to buy something chintzy, we decided to pass.

The best was yet to come though as we reached The Grand-Place/Grote Markt which is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful town squares we have seen. It was surrounded by the Town Hall, King’s House, and the Houses of the Grand-Place. The square had so much colour and vibrancy, it was like an overload on the senses.

After our sightseeing, we headed back to the apartment to relax. It is interesting but we had originally regretted booking a side trip to Brussels, solely because Ted’s flight from here to Singapore was changed, meaning he now has to go back to Amsterdam tomorrow to make the flight. We came anyway as we had already paid for the train tickets and accommodation, and we are so glad we did now.

We thought we would go our for a drink but the closest gay venue - whilst very cheap for drinks - was full of men over 65! For an early dinner we went to Chez Charles Brasserie, which we both enjoyed because the portions of food were huge. Ted had been keen on trying some Belgian meatballs which he had, while I settled for pasta.

We thought we would try a different venue for a drink, so we went to a local gay street where we had a beer and met a couple of an Australian and a Belgian. In the meantime, it started to pour rain so we needed to go back to our apartment afterwards to get everything ready for our departure tomorrow. As Ted’s flight to Amsterdam is at 6am tomorrow, we will need to wake at 3:30am to take an Uber to the airport. Yikes!

Brussels has been a wonderful experience - not one we were expecting but also one that exceeded our expectations.Read more