A Weekend with Steve and Peg

As April turned to May, I found my days in Brussels dwindling, the thought of which scared the crap out of me. Fortunately, i didn't spend too much time dwelling on it as my parents were coming to visit.

I was extremely excited to welcome my parents to my newfound home for a plethora of reasons. For one, I have come to love this city and with the amount of pride and care I held for Brussels, I really wanted to show it off to people I care about. I had yet to have anyone visit me, so this would be the first opportunity to show people around my home and let them see what I loved about this place.

More importantly, my parents have a history with this city. Back in 1980, well before I was born, my father was transferred to his company's office in Brussels, so my parents and two oldest sisters moved to Brussels, where they lived for 2 years before returning back to the States. My father had only returned to the city briefly for a day over a decade ago, and my mother had not returned since they left. So their visit would be an exciting opportunity, not only for me to show them my favorite parts about the city, but also for them to revisit their former life, see what had changed and showed me their old stomping grounds. It had been over 30 years, so I was intrigued as to how they trip would be for them.

My parents arrived on Thursday morning. i wasn't able to meet them right away as I had to give a presentation on a semester long project for my marketing class, but was able to meet up with them afterwards. Following our initial regrouping and embrace, my father had to take a conference call, so my mother used the opportunity to try out some of that Belgian beer I haven't been able to shut up about. 

And so, the trip had come full circle

We even had a beer that I had yet to try in a Leffe Royale. A smooth and dark variety produced by one of the biggest and most well known brewers in Belgium. I'd say it was one of my favorite variations made by Leffe.

When my father had finished his call, we left their hotel and decided to stroll about the city centre, as I tried to reacclimatize them to the city. Even though it was about dinner time, my father was adamant that he needed to try a waffle, so we obliged him:

Happy Dad

The walk included the main stops: the Grand Place, Mannekin Pis (who was donning a hat that day!):

Place Royale, De Brouckere, the Grand Sablon and Rue Nueve. As we neared Gare Centrale, my father sent off to find his former office. After stumbling through a building or two, and some general confusion, we found the exact building:

Amazingly, the office was right across from Gare Centrale, and was located in a building I had passed many a times. I never would have realized this, had they not come to visit.

As we grew famished, we decided to have dinner nearby at a famous restaurant called Chez Leon. Now, Chez Leon is not exactly famous for the best reasons. The restaurant is located on Rue des Bouchers, which is known as the touristy restaurant strip of Brussels, where most of the restaurants serve the same things, some even share kitchens, and the host stands outside and will do whatever it takes it to get you into their establishment. From what I had heard and learned, Chez Leon was by far the best restaurant of rue des Bouchers and was an anomaly amongst its peers, so we thought it would be a fine spot.

The dinner had its share of moments. The food itself was fine, but definitely pricey. I have had a hankering to try horse and was excited when I spotted it on the menu. Unfortunately, our waitress said, they were out, so I settled for a Belgian staple, waterzooi instead. The biggest storyline however, came when my father asked for bread, which he always does, but was a perfectly reasonable request given we all ordered sauce heavy meals, and saw bread on other tables. However, our waitress again informed us that the restaurant was out of it. Puzzled, we continued on and had our meal. Things got peculiar a few minutes later when a woman approached our waitress and in French questioned her why she would not give their table bread, as several other tables had been given bread. My mother and I laughed as we understood what was happening while my father with no knowledge of French had no idea what was going on. As we got up to leave and maneuvered our way through the restaurant, we were heavily amused as we passed several server counters that literally had buckets of bread for cutting and serving. My father was in near hysterics at the sight of it. So, moral of the story, don't go to Chez Leon if you want bread.

I said my goodbyes for the night, and planned to meet up with my parents the next morning.

They had asked me what I wanted to do, and a few of the things I had yet to do in Brussels included visiting the Atomium and Mini Europe. So the next morning, they picked me up from my apartment and we set off to do just that.

We started with the Atomium, which we decided to go up in. In order to access the panoramic views at its top ball, we had to wait in line for an elevator for quite a bit. My father took the opportunity to be photogenic as he always is:

When we reached the top, we were greeted with some of the best views of Brussels and the surrounding area that I had witnessed.

Right next to the Atomium is the Roi Badouin stadium and Mini Europe, which both looked beautiful on the beautiful partly cloudy day.

We were able to get a decent glimpse of the city centre which was  further away:

as well as the surrounding grounds that were used during the 1958 World's fair:

The next part of the visit brought us back down to the bottom floor, where we traversed a series of escalators to several of the Atomium's different spheres, that featured a few different exhibits. On the escalators, there were windows that allowed you to peer out and see the other spheres:

The different exhibits varied in functions. The first few focused on the history of the Atomium, and the 1958 Word's fair for which it was built. One could see the initial designs for the monument, which varied significantly from the final product:

The remaining exhibits were a bit different, and reflective of the actual world's fair, which used the platform to display futuristic products that were supposed to revolutionize life and the world. The exhibit had a clear focus on the 1970's and its unique taste in design and fashion:

that is a record player

plastic was so in then

Following the Atomium, we scurried over to Mini Europe, a little theme park, with miniatures of the biggest and most recognizable monuments and places from across the EU. It also featured some interactive items like a giant pair of clogs I tried on:

Being located in Brussels, the park featured a significant number of sites from Belgium, that I was familiar with and had visited. There was of course the Grand Place:

As well as numerous others. I was most surprised to see the Chateau de Verves, which I had visited during the CIEE trip to Luxembourg.

Of course, their were plenty of other sites on display. There were many I had visited during my travels of the past few months, and so the experience was quite reminiscent of my time in Europe. There was Big Ben and the English Parliament buildings:

I got to take another selfie with the Eiffel Tower:

I returned to the Brandenburg Gate, although this time in its Cold War stage:

There were also numerous sites from places I had not gotten to visit during my time. So while I may not have seen these places in person, I got to feel like I had.

A bullfight in Spain

A small twist on the typical tourist photo

I returned to the homeland in Ireland

The English Channel (clever)

Budapest

A volcano?

This is for Rory

It was also nice for my parents who were able to revisit some places that held significance to them.

My father posed in front of Venice, the city in which the Venetian hotel & resort is modeled after.

Several years ago, my mother took part in the Camino de Santiago, and found the cathedral at which the walk concludes:

The whole park is very lighthearted and can be quite a bit of fun. It' also looks very beautiful with the Atomium right in the background:

We had quite the bit of fun there. I messed around a bit:

The highlight was by far getting my father to pose a few times:

After spending most of the afternoon there, we took off to the south side of the city to do a little reminiscing. My parents directed us to their old neighborhood in Uccle and found the apartment where they lived during their time in Brussels:

Uccle is pretty far out of the way from my apartment in Scaarbeek, so I did not have the opportunity to make my way there before. We explored the neighborhood a bit, as my parents looked for any spots that had stood the test of time. There were not too many. Most of the reastuarants and shops they had frequented were long gone. Their local chocolate shop had been replaced by a Neuhaus chain and the grocery store had transformed into a Carrefour. However, some closed down shops still held the names and signage that had existed during their time, including a restaurant they remembered, and a Hoover vaccum store my Mom recalled visiting. It was a cool experience for my parents that I was glad to witness and inspire, as who knows if they would have ever returned had I not been living in Brussels.

My parents then decided they wanted to show me a place they remembered very well, so we took a quick trip to the smaller city of Waterloo not too far outside Brussels. Waterloo was home to a large expatriate population during their time here, and is where they attended a weekly English spoken mass. They both had a fond recollection of the Butte du Lion, the statue of a Lion at the site of the Waterloo Battlefield where Belgian forces held of an invading Napoleon. The statue sits atop a man made hill, looking over the surrounding countryside. 

It takes a lot of effort to climb its many steps, but once you do, you are rewarded with some amazing views.

You can barely see the tip of Brussels from here

Following this nice foray into the countryside that I was not aware of, we returned to the city to have dinner. I decided to take them to a place called L'Ultime Atome, where Michelangelo had brought a group of us CIEE students out for a drink one night early in the semester. I think of the place as a quintessential Brussels cafe, with an extensive beer list, and some Belgian cuisine. We all ended up getting the lamb, and I introduced my mother to Delirium Tremens.

I also got to try a few new beers, including the Quintine blond, which was not the best, but another bitter variety.

My father was amused with the glass in which the Brigand blonde was served. I liked this one more.

My parents used the time to remind me how in their time, this variety of beer did not exist, and their choices were limited to mostly Maes, which is the cheep pub stuff you get in pints. Oh, how the times have changed.

The next day, we decided to use my parents rental car and take a day trip to the city of Antwerp which I had also yet to visit. My parents recalled doing no more than just passing through the city, so it would be there first real experience there as well.

Arriving midday, we took some time to explore the city centre, passing its main squares and Churches, before making our way to the waterside.

We stopped for a quick lunch, where I added another beer to my list in the SteenBrugge, another quality blond, but not my favorite.

We then took a walk along the waterside, eventually coming up to this cool looking castle that we wanted to explore.

It turns out, there's actually not too much going on inside, as it has been turned into sort of a kids center. There was this giant hourglass though:

From there, we decided to check out a museum I had heard good things about the MAS. It is located in this cool building along the harbor.

The tour starts with a climb to the buildings roof, to get a panoramic view of the city. On the way up, you get to glimpse this skull piece engraved on the ground below, which is unrecognizable from the ground:

The panoramic views were as expected, cool and beautiful:

My father decided to be a bit awkward in trying to pose for a picture with me before my mother ended up just shooing him away:

The museum itself was an interesting collection. It features a series of exhibits on different topics. It explored Antwerp's historical importance as a harbor center but also provided some compelling exhibits on the value of afterlife, and traditions in different cultures. it got a bit weird. They had some interesting artifacts on display:

Nightman?

My parents are that big into museums so we did not spend too much time browsing. With the day winding down, we walked back across the city to Antwerp's central train station, one of the more gorgeous looking stations in Europe:

After taking a stroll through Antwerp's diamond district, we returned to the car and headed back to Brussels. My parents had chosen to eat at a restaurant near their old neighborhood in Uccle. It was a nice and traditional place and proved to be the best restaurant experience we had during the trip. Although they couldn't be sure, my parents came to the conclusion that they had to have eaten there before. We talked to the owner who said the place had been in existence for at least 50 years, so they were assured in their belief. We returned to their hotel for another drink, which happened to be the 100th variety of beer I tried, a Grimbergen Double. I actually think I had tried it before, but I had not recorded it, so it did not count.

A brown variety, I enjoyed very much, and started to notice my preferences changing to favor more brunes. I said goodbye to my parents who would be spending the next couple days in Copenhagen before returning to Brussels for a night the next Thursday.

The following week was one of the most difficult I had to endure during my time in Brussels. The last week of classes, I seemed to have a never ending list of projects and work to complete in a limited amount of time. On top of that, I cam down with either severe allergies or a flu or cold or something that left me feeling like the walking dead for a few days. Despite the pain, and just complete inconvenience, I powered through and finished my work in time to meet up with my parents for one last dinner on Thursday night.

I took them for a walk through a neighborhood they had yet to see, and we stumbled upon Zinnekin Pis, the dog equivalent of Mannekin Pis, which heavily amused my father, although not as much as Jenneke Pis, the female equivalent of Mannekin Pis.

We dined at a restaurant called In't Spinnekopke. It is another traditional Belgian restaurant, in a small location serving authentic cuisine.

I went for the Rabbit in Kriek sauce, another Belgian staple. I was quite surprised when the dish was presented as so:

Turns out, the rabbit come in a pot afterwards, which was relieving cause I am a human being and do not exist off just salad.

My father seemed to enjoy the meal, which included his favorite chocolate mouse of the trip so far.

At every dinner, he had insisted on having chocolate mouse for desert. I wasn't complaining.

Afterwards,  we returned to their hotel where we said our goodbyes. It was emotional and I was sad to see them go, but I would be seeing them in just another 10 days when I returned home. It's crazy how little time I had left. Their visit was without a doubt one of the peaks of my time here. Just as I had hoped, I heartily enjoyed getting to show my parents my view of Brussels and it was incredibly rewarding to get a glimpse of their view of the city and what it meant to them. There is no denying that this city means a certain amount to all of us, and the fact that we share this bond is a pretty neat addition to our relationship. I love you guys. Until next time. Cheers.