Belgium's for me!

I spent Friday April 3 through Monday April 6 visiting the Rullo family (my mom's cousins) in Belgium. I arrived fairly late Friday, so after being picked up from the airport we just ate dinner back at their house, located in a suburb of Antwerp. On Saturday we got up and visited Carrie in the hospital and met the newest newborn member of the family, Natalie. She is precious! Steve then drove me into Antwerp so I could do my sightseeing for the day. Carrie had mailed me a detailed itinerary, guidebook, bus ticket, and map, so I was completely set. 

I started off at the Centraal train station. The interior is beautiful, making me wonder why all public transportation buildings are not built to be architectural works of art. From the station I walked down to a major pedestrian area called the Meir. The buildings lining the street were lovely, and the place was bustling with Saturday morning shoppers. I went into the giant Stadsfeestzall mall and saw the enormous champagne glass-shaped bar. 

I made my way to a street called the Wapper and visited Peter Paul Rubens' house, Rubenshuis. It was super cheap (only one or two euros), and included an audio tour. The house was very serene and full of interesting period furnishings and paintings. The commentary was actually quite fascinating and I know more about Rubens now than I ever did before.

From there I went to the famous asymmetric Antwerp Kathedraal, located just off the main square or Grote Markt. I stopped for lunch at Mockamore and had a delicious bagel with cream cheese, mozarella, pesto, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, and rocket. 

I also sampled the famous Belgian fries at a random frituur, or fries house. I found that they tasted pretty much like normal french fries.

Walking toward the river, I decided to stop in the Ethnographic Museum since I had extra time and it was free. It was a motley collection of non Western peoples' artifacts and costumes and the like. I made my way along the water to a castle-like building called the Steen. I walked around an outdoor (once again free) boat museum. Finally, I ended my day with a treat: a Belgian waffle topped with strawberries and cream. It was dense, chewy, intensely sweet, warm, and fantastic.

On Sunday I headed from Brussels, or as it is called there, Bruxelles. (Brussels is in French speaking territory and Antwerp is all Dutch/Flemish.) I ended up taking a hop-on, hop-off bus tour since I had limited time and the city is very large. 

My tour took me to the Place Royal, where many of the top museums are located, to the Sablon, then the Palais de Justice. Brussels looks and feels a lot like a mini Paris, thanks in part to the many grand buildings. We drove to the buildings that make up the governing bodies of the European Union, including European Parliament. The sessions are held in Strasbourg, but all the preparation for the sessions takes place in Brussels. The bus audio commentary said that the division is close to 3 weeks in Brussels, 1 week in Strasbourg.

We drove through several parks, including the Parc du Cinquantenaire, all the way up to the Atomium and royal residence of Laken. The Atomium is a huge structure modeled after an atom built for a world's fair. Laken is where the royal family lives. 

The tour ended near the Grand Place, or main town square, so I got off there to have lunch. The square is incredible. All the buildings (each of which represents a trade guild, like shipbuilding, hatmaking, shoemaking, etc.) are super ornate. It was a very sunny day and I rather liked sitting at a cafe enjoying my meal of filet du porc with mustard and potatoes. 

I walked around the streets surrounding the main square and saw the famous statue of the boy peeing. I bought some chocolates and my second waffle. I also visited the Cathedrale St-Michel.

When I arrived Antwerp I met back up with my mom's aunt and uncle, Ginny and Jim. Carrie came home from the hospital and we had a great traditional Flemish beer-marinated meat dish. I had to get up early the next morning to catch my flight, so my visit overlapped with theirs only briefly, but I had a great weekend and loved getting to see everyone.