The Next Adventure

My last day in Brussels! Angela took me on a tour of nearby towns. First, we visited historic Leuven, well known for its university. Town center of Leuven below: Saturday morning is market day, with vendors selling all sorts of produce and food on the streets: fruit, mushrooms, garlic, olives and a stand offering hotdogs and escargots! The town center was a busy place. There was a bridal party in front of the Cathedral, and a World Breakdancing Competition was going on in the piazza. We took a long walk away from the center to the beautiful Groot Begijnhof of Leuven , admiring the buildings and gardens. This used to be a community of single, semi-religious women, now restored and made into university residences. On the drive back to Brussels, we stopped at the village of Waterloo, famous for the battle where the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon. The battleground on the outside of town is now a memorial with a museum. We visited the gift shop but did not attempt to ...

I used to work for a NATO research agency in Italy, had visited the old NATO HQ in Brussels for a meeting. It was a treat to be able to visit the new HQ that was constructed after I left over 10 years ago. A friend who used to work with me in Italy but now works in the HQ, sponsored my visit. Beautiful and modern, the interiors of the buildings were pretty amazing but no photos allowed due to security. Below are a few shots of the outside (taken by my friend), it was a rather cloudy and blustery day. After lunch, I texted a friend who works for the European Parliamentary Library to see if we could meet for coffee. She was very surprised to know I was in the area and we agreed to meet at a cafe near the EU Commission which was at the end of the bus line. Since I had about 2 hours to kill, I decided to visit the European Union Visitor Center since the Commission itself (photo of buildings below) is closed to visitors.

Took the train from Brussels to visit Bruges for the day. Beautiful city, historic buildings quite a lot of people. Had beer and fries topped with gravy at a local pub.

Had to visit this, since this is a Great Building in the Forge of Empires online game! Took a local train from Brussels to the Atomium. It was more interesting than I expected. Wikipedia has an excellent description here . I also visited the nearby Design Museum before going back to Angela's place in Brussels.

I had visited Grand Place downtown a few times years ago, when I was in Brussels for meetings. Wanted to refresh my memories, so I spent half a day walking around. Had steamed mussels, my favorite when visiting Brussels and Paris. It came with fries and beer (love Belgian beer). Instead of sitting inside the beautiful restaurant, I opted for a table on the side walk. Relaxed dining al fresco while people watching. For dessert, got a Belgian waffle (of course) from a waffle place with sitting upstairs. So many toppings to choose from, but I settled for plain chocolate (so good)!