October 2006. Belgium. Part 1. Wavre and Brussels.
Wavre, October 29, 2006.
When we failed to find a good offer to fly for some sun on autumn vacation in 2006, I looked for other possibilities and by that time, Novotel had a very good one for many of their hotels in Europe. So we decided to Brussels. I visited Brussels in spring of 2001 when on training and liked it. Staying in a big city makes sense if you arrive by train or airplane, and the hotel we booked was located about 20 kilometers south, in Wavre, a small town. We started early but this was Sunday and A3 that leads almost to Belgian border, was completely free, so shortly after 3pm we were checking in. Right after we asked for a neighbourhood map and went to see the town, the center being in a couple of kilometers.
We didn't expect anything special in Wavre, but just wanted to stretch our legs. The town has several shopping streets in the center with side streets so narrow that you have to squeeze between the buildings. Driving in those one meter wide streets is, of course, prohibited. They even put reminder signs (see the picture below), probably to prevent dangerous street racing.
Brussels, October 30, 2006.
The next day was sunny and we spend all the time in Brussels. What I liked
from my first visit is that in the city center, the buildings of different
ages are mixed and somehow it doesn't look ugly. To my mind, in Paris they
are more strict about the city look so that older quarters are more separated
from newer ones to save the historical spirit.The southern part of the city center is located on some kind of a hill. There are several places offering a view on Brussels' downtown rooftops.
In this area you find the Royal Palace, pictured below. Until visiting Brussels I didn't think that Belgium if one of many European monarchies.
The enormous square in front of the palace looks like emtpy but actually the traffic is not closed here.
Opposite of the Royal Palace is the Parc de Bruxelles.
The railway line divides the northeastern part of the downtown so that southeast from the station there are very poor looking immigrant blocks with Asian (Arab) shops and eateries. Also, hookers sitting in windows. During the day doesn't look dangerous though. You cross the railway station, and you are in a different world. Right there is a big business district. Look for letters "WTC" on the building tops. Yes, this is World Trade Center in Europe.
Southwest from WTC you go through numerous shopping streets and arrive at the very historical heart of Brussels. Narrow streets with restaurants and boutiques lead to the Grand Market Place (Grote Markt).
This is another side of the Market Place:
Part 2: Villers Abbey and Leuven. Part 3: Oostende.