Boogying the Backstreets of Brussels, Belgium—Part 3

Wandering through the back streets of Brussels, Ursula and I continued to find colorful reminders of the present interspersed with the architectural wonders of the past.  More murals greeted us amongst ancient façades—smiling young men strolling through the air above the streets of Brussels.  We saw the metal shutters of loading bays decorated in Caribbean themes.  Nearby were apartment mailboxes painted in startling yellow and decorated with peacocks, parrots, plants, and pussy cats.

Not all the sights were outside, however.  I found an interesting shop lined with unfathomable varieties of Belgian beers.  And then there were those hunger-inducing cafés we’d passed earlier, and which now beckoned us with their irresistible siren call to lunch.  Lunch in Belgium is synonymous with beer, mussels, and pomme frites and, well, you know the saying—when in Brussels . . . .  Entire bill for two, including the beer, a ridiculously low €20 (about $26 U.S.).

Pomme frite, by the way, is European for what we call the lowly French fry.  Only, they’re not French; they’re actually an invention of those ever enterprising Belgians.  Those pomme frites, which you can get by the same name in Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, etc., aren’t anything like the insipid American variety.  They are in fact exquisite little masterpieces of delectable dining.  But don’t embarrass yourself asking for the ketchup.  In Europe you eat these little gems with mayonnaise or, in the case of Belgian mussels, dipped in the remaining white wine and butter broth at the bottom of the bowl.

Shortly after we left the café it started to drizzle.  That was rather unfortunate, in that we still hadn’t seen everything we wanted to see and Ursula’s umbrella had died back in Bruges.  We forlornly started our way back to the train station when, as luck would have it, we sighted a HO-HO bus.  That’s “Hop On/Hop Off.”  It’s a rather touristy thing you’ll find today in many European cities (as well as spreading into the U.S.), and it’s a great concept.  For a flat €15 apiece we climbed aboard to continue our adventures.

We passed by the Berlaymont, the massive star-shaped building that houses the European Commission.  Impressive from a distance.  Spartan and industrial looking close-up with metal shutter-like slats running the full length of every edifice.  The European Commission is where the real business of governing the European Union takes place—the appointed commissioners and unelected bureaucrats who pretty much tell the elected representatives how things really work.  This is the area that also hosts the more modern buildings in Brussels—canyons of reflective glass mutually flattering themselves with their images.

Leaving this neighborhood behind us, we next arrived at the site of the 1958 World’s Fair and that immense monument to the Belgian steel industry, the Atomium.  The Atomium is an awe-inspiring set of nine interconnected 18-meter (59-foot) spheres standing some 102 meters (335 feet) high.  The structure represents a segment of crystallized iron, with each sphere containing a different exhibit hall or public space (four are currently closed).  The tubes connecting the spheres contain escalators, and housed inside the central column upon which the whole thing sits, is an elevator.

It is with this final image—an image of the atomic age and modern science—with which I leave you following all these weeks of looking at magnificent structures that predate Columbus’ voyage to the Americas.  I hope you all have enjoyed the journey.