Saket Vora

Brussels has been wonderful so far. We arrived at the Gare Centraal station, and after a little difficulty at getting our bearings, we were able to find the hotel. Sachi gets big props for finding this hotel – it is fancy! The room rate that was listed in our room was 230 euros for one person: we are three persons staying in the room for just 90 euros a night! It’s just barely more expensive than a youth hostel, yet is more comfortable. The location is good as well, just a five to seven minute walk to the Grand Place. We also over-paid for the hotel’s internet terminal, but we were having so much trouble finding an internet café in Amsterdam I just wanted to get it done. We had to confirm our Normandy tour reservations and I had to communicate with parents and my friends in France too. After dropping our things off we headed to the Grand Place, which we had crossed while trying to find our hotel. The Grand Place is the central square in Brussels, and by all rights it is the most breathtaking square I’ve ever seen in Europe. Gorgeous buildings with beautiful detailed facades surround you, while two Gothic buildings that stand opposite to each other soar into the sky. Brussels also had a Christmas Market going strong while we were there, so the Grand Place was accordingly decorated. A large tree stood at one end, while throughout the square they had put smaller trees into ornament balls. It was a really nice sight. We strolled through the Christmas Market and I had my sisters try from glühwein, a warm mildly alcoholic beverage that Frieder introduced to me. Sachi liked it, but Sapana doesn’t like anything bitter, so she was non-plussed. We continued to walk through the Christmas Market until we got to a famous cathedral. The exterior was in the black-white-gray starkness similar to St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Prague. The inside was nice but I got the feeling it was no longer used for serious religious service…it felt more like a community hall. Around the perimeter they had models of the Manger nativity scene from different ethnic communities in Brussels, so each had their own style of the nativity scene. There was a group of kindergarten kids on a field trip that enjoyed it. Behind the church was the real Christmas market setup, with an enormous Ferris wheel at one end and an ice-skating rink in the middle (and one that was in serious need of a Zamboni!). I was really glad the sisters got to see a proper Christmas Market, because I doubt there will be one around when we finally get to Munich. As the sun had set, we strolled back to the Grand Palace and took care of some souvenir shopping along the way. We bought some the famous Belgian chocolate to try, and while we were in the store we heard an instrumental of the theme from Bombay, the decade old Indian movie. How bizarre is that. Wanting to have dinner quickly, we went to a Pizza Hut (I know, I know, not very interesting). Afterward we stepped into a grocery store to buy some bread and cheese for breakfast tomorrow. Tip to travelers on budget: grocery stores are a great resource to use. We found the Grand Place dark as we approached it, but we discovered that they had a side-show presentation that they were projecting onto the city of Brussels museum (the towering white Gothic structure) along with some nice music. In the true ‘European’ Belgian manner, it was an acknowledgment of all the countries in the European Union with a holiday flair. At one cool part they had a sequence in which the intricate façade of the building was being traced in white lines, then the whole thing was colored in to look like some demented birthday cake finished by some four year old. Then the whole building was plunged into darkness except for a sole spotlight illuminating the very top of the spire. It was a great moment, but I missed it with my camera so we will stop tomorrow. After the show ended we returned to our hotel where we watched the Bayern Munich – Hamburg game. It was a fun game to watch, especially after I had learned a bit from Christian and Frieder. I tried to teach the sisters as much as I could about it. It was surprising to see Bayern Munich have so much trouble scoring. Later they showed highlights from the rest of the Bundesleague matches and I rooted for Frankfurt too. Mom called the hotel so we talked with her for a while, though I was worried it was going to cost a fortune. It’s cool though, it was good to talk with her and dad. Tomorrow we will see more of Brussels then in the afternoon go to Bruges.