I had the fortune of having lunch with some colleagues from work today at a restaurant called Babeko, which was situated at Place St. Catherine very close to the city centre. The restaurant is known for having a great lunch for a decent amount. Today's Lunch which was priced at only 17 € was consisting of a SALADE ITALIENNE DE CREVETTE GRISES ASPERGES VERTE, followed by FILET DE RASCASSE RÔTI PURÉE AUX OLIVES NOIRE CRÈME DE CITRON VERT and ending with a marvellous PANACOTTA AU CARAMEL. This was truly a great lunch and combined with the company of colleagues and in an enjoyable restaurant like this, made this a great experience. When you check out the home page, they are actually giving some recipes away for free from the chef; this together with pictures as well. Truly a great service!

When we arrived Bruxelles it was quite sunny. We each took a photo-op in front of the TVG we'd just gotten off of from Munich (pictured). We took one photo each but be were being observed by the local law enforcement. The three of them walked over and asked for our passports and asked us a few questions. Apparently they didn't like the way we were taking pictures of their train! Security had been heightened at that time. We saw it everywhere in Europe. After our "brush" with the law, we eventually ran into some lousy weather. We skirted in and out of places while there but decided to just move on if we could. We caught a weather report and found France was enjoying sunny skies, so we jumped back on the train and headed for Paris!

November 13

Rainy day

November 14

Photoshoot in town and especially in Etterbeek, all the flags everywhere, will the country survive?

November 15

Quote thought:
''The Theory of Moral Sentiments''
- How Selfish so ever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it!''

Read during the day before I went into town to try to go to cinema.

''Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants'' - Freakonomics

November 16

Left from Achim to hitch to Gent

Built as a pre-metro or in other countries called fast-tram - the Bruxelles system is one of the strangest ones. At some places you can watch from one station to another one standing at the platform, cuz it was built for tram conditions concerning the stops distances. Besides there are 3 lines of regular metro service and another two streches of pre-metro which means underground trams lines. Some stations look really crapy but some are aready refurbished and have nice design.
Once - as i rode metro on the line 1a - just to visit the entire line - some kids were attackng an older woman in the back of the trains, but she took her umbrella and hit them like it were a regular baseball stick (is this the correct word for it? - i doubt, but can not find the proper one) and she was sop persistent that they gave up.
So kids: what do we learn from this story? - NEVER GIVE UP!

The weather is still changing, but as usually in the morning there was so much sun, that i couldn't resist to go out for visiting new corners in the nice Bruxelles. The nearby park - Cinquantenaire with its wide spaces, two museaums and the beautiful arch was my todays walk. Under the arch there is a huge Belgium flag -  biggest national flag i've ever saw! Besides, the people here use to hang their flag out of the window, or balcony. I like it, it's a sign, it's good when people care of their country.

Fries - as a good traveler i had to try the common food, so as i was told by french people: Belgium is one huge fries shop - i ate them too (fries - not Belgians), and goefres as well, and i couldn't also resist and tryed chocolates, even if i'm sweet enough and i don't eat it usually, as a matter of fact i don't like sweet at all. My favorite sweet is meat;) but in this place u just have to experience by your own the taste of the place you are.

Such crazy weather can be maybe only in march. Changing from one moment to another through all seasons. It seems to be a real war between winter and spring time. You wake up and there is such a beautiful sun as it were sunday morning in summer. You get out for a walk and then it starts snowing, but you are too far from home to run just like this back. Then after few minutes when it changes over to rain you decide to get somewhere in. You are taking coffe or one of those wonderful beer - enjoying the atmosphere inside the bar (and the beer of course as well ;) and suddenly the sun is coming out again just from nowhere. It may sound interesting but believe me, there is nothing more so stressful like all those weather changes while you are trying to visit some places.

Flight on time... but if u are planning to leave the Bruxelles airport in 5 minuts - forget it! The terminals are so long that u get tired after hundrets of meters walking just to go down then up and down again... so you walk and walk. I must admit the airport is quite ok, but they have to built some kind of people mover or airport metro to improve the acces to gates :D
From the airport there are at least two good ways to get into the town: 1 - by bus (lines 11 and 12)which takes u in about 25min to the 'Schuman' metro station, which is at the building of EU-comission, or: 2 - by train - the airport express takes u in few minutes to city centre and the main railway stations. My choose was the first option cuz my fried lives only 5min walk from 'Schuman' :D

The first view and i was in love with this city! when still on plane, just under the clouds while approaching the ground - u already can see how smart is it built. The straight streets with cute houses going up and down with cars parked at and not on the pavements (hahaha), so many green there... cute smal parks or green yards, that all make an impression of well thought urban space.

After eating something we went - or better said: we had a ride by metro :D:D:D to the city center - walking through Grand Place, Bourse, Boulevard Anspach, so many lights, so many people, so many new impressions, so many steps... i'm tired!

There are so many faces of the city, but still, it seems to be a well created urban space. Let me invite you for a every day walk through Bruxelles! But, look out! there are some special advices for visitors (and for residents as well):
Don't walk just like that: there are dogs shits everywhere. For an unknown reason the dogs love to shit on the pavements so be carefully while walking cuz this natural thing for people like walk can change into an unexpected experience. In the parks there are shity places as well, look on the ground if want to sit on the gras.

As for beer: they have so many different of that you could easy get a head ache only trying to count them. I prefer the Chimey, the dark one! It remainds me a bit of Weißbier from Germany.

Since ALMOST everybody knows it i will only put the pics

Je suis donc allee rejoindre Erin et Locky qui se trouvaient a Bruxelles, pourquoi pas, c est tout a fait sur le chemin de Paris. Ce fut tres agreable de se retrouver, ces deux la sont des vrais sacs -a-blagues et j ai ri pendant deux jours! Nous avons marche dans la ville, visite les marches de Noel, avons vus le (tres tres petit) Manniken Piss (ortographe a reviser...) et avons bu (beaucoup) de bonnes bieres Belges ainsi qu un souper incroyable de moules et frites. J aurais beaucoup aime visiter Bruges, dont j ai entendu plein de bonnes choses, mais le temps vient a manquer, en cette fin de voyage.

Yeah, now I have some time to write here.

My second trip began in Bruxelles. For a week I lived there in the BestWestern Hotel, about 15 tram stations from the center.
My day started from breakfast, after that I went for a walk around the city and than go to one of the towns.

In Bruxelles I was amazed with the Central Square and Le hotel de ville, and also with the cathedral of St. Michael (it was so huge and awesome!). I also liked restoraunt block near the Galleries and mims ( people who looked like sculptures or something similar).
So in 5 days I knew the center of Bruxelles as my five fingers!

I should mention, I guess, a gay-block near the Maneken Pis. It was pretty nice to drink wiskey at the bar on the Jardin des olives street!
Also we have found a cafe called Les nouveuxe russes, I think, deducated to Russia. Hehe, it was very funny to see but we hadn't entered!

In conclusion of this part I can say that Bruxelles wasn't a highlight of my trip... maybe because of cold bad weather, maybe because of that fact I was alone during the day... but Bruxelles seemed to boring and I had no interst to walk there cos in 5 days as I said before I knew it like it was my home town.