Greetings from Brussels!
We had a nice time in the states, but it feels good to be back on the road and exploring again. And we’re enjoying the cooler temperatures here while exploring the city. Our first 5 weeks were spent in a loft just North-East of the city center, making it easy to walk the city. And it’s a very pedestrian friendly city- traffic stops when we get to a crosswalk. And many roads in the center of the city don’t allow car traffic except for delivery trucks and the like, so it’s a nice city to explore. Wonderful architecture- they do an amazing job of preserving their historic buildings, and we’ve never seen so much Art Nouveau design. (Think Art Deco, but with the hard edges replaced by organic curves)
Or for a simpler version, look at the second house from the left, with the organic curves to the woodwork and grey stone.
With so many interesting neighborhoods to explore, we enjoyed our daily walks roaming the city. By the way, hope you like photos- there are a lot this post.
Our loft was a few blocks from a large botanical garden, which we enjoyed walking through on our way to the city. Deb also enjoyed finding a quiet place to sit and work on her knitting.
In the city center we found the Grand Place, a marketplace surrounded by finely detailed guild houses. The lead photo is also of the Grand Place.
The brass figure below is now in a museum off the Grand Place. (Saint George slaying the dragon) It used to be the weather-vane on one of the buildings. It has now been replaced by a replica. You can barely see it at the top of the building with the tall tower in the photo above.
We also explored the city park east of the town square, with it’s multiple museums. The view below is taken from the Triumphal Arch, which can be accessed via the military museum. Deb decided to pass on the military museum, but Tim enjoyed spending a couple of days wandering the exhibits.
So much to see in the military museum. They must have had around 1,000 flint-lock rifles on display, as well as artillery guns, many dozens of planes, tanks and more. Everything from the late medieval era up through modern rockets. Below is a cute little flight trainer that was “parked” under the wing of jet. And the next photo is of the main airplane exhibit hall.
There was also an auto museum, which both of us enjoyed. They had modern exotics, a host of Jaguars, and a good supply of cars and motorcycles going back to the original horse powered days. The ones below caught our eyes, starting with an early 1960s Messerschmitt.
And one for the Manske clan- remember the AMC Pacer?
One of the things we had hoped to accomplish in Belgium was for Deb to be able to get an appointment for her biometrics in Portugal. Appointments have been difficult to get ever since Covid started. Tim was able to get his done just before we left Madeira, and Deb was able to get hers done during our stay in Belgium as well. So now we need to wait for her approval, pay for the documents, then we’ll both officially be Portuguese residents! We are hoping this will happen around February 2022. By the way, our language studies continue to go well. We’ve completed all the available levels in Memrise so are working on other ways of learning, like reading simpler books. Fun fact- partido in Portuguese means both “broken” and “political party”. Smart folks those Portuguese.
A courtyard just off the Grand Place with artwork.
And lunch out during a walk. The food was very good in Brussels, especially the O’Syrie Lebanese restaurant a block from our apartment. 
We made the obligatory pilgrimage to visit Manneken Pis, who is often clothed depending on the season or event. This celebrated graduation day. Turns out they’ve been dressing him for hundreds of years. 
Sax and Violins in the Musical Instruments Museum. (apologies to David Byrne for stealing his song title) This museum had five(?) floors of musical instruments, most of which we could listen to using their portable audio devices.
Lots of very unusual instruments. This one looks like it was designed with an assist from Dr Suess.
And a “piano” that has strings that are lowered by the keyboard so they contact rotating wheels of leather, so it sounds more like a cello but is played like a piano.
Of course, life’s not all fun and games. We have to do dishes, laundry, study our Portuguese, etc. but at least laundry doesn’t seem quite so bad when you can go to the Pouss Mouss!
And of course, like any interesting city there were lots of random street art and parks to entertain us.
This is what a cement truck might have aspired to be during the renaissance period?
We also found a Ferris wheel, so took a ride above the city.
Tim went to a train museum, and found this administration building on route.
We also found out that Patrick, our neighbor from back home, was living in Brussels now. So we got together for lunch at a nice outdoor cafe. We ended up selling a lot of our furniture to Patrick for his house, so when we see pictures of his house it seems almost like home.
Statue in a park. Lots of green space in Brussels.
And a skyway, just like back home! From a distance, the mirrored exterior reflects the other buildings, giving it an interesting look.
We saw so many cathedrals I can’t even tell you which one this is.
A beautiful Art Nouveau plaque near the Grand Place.
We also got to visit a couple of art museums, including a modern art museum where we went on a semi-private guided tour.
A few things to notice about the photo above. Of course Deb sharing the mike. But also the C shaped stainless steel bench circling the tree. It slopes so that part is designed to sit looking away from the tree, part faces the tree, part can be either. And finally, the man in the diving suit on the balcony.
More great architecture from our walks.
Deb took this picture of the ceiling of the law hall in one of the buildings off the Grand Place.
We took a tour of one of the guard towers of the old city wall, now a museum. This is a spiral staircase that was added somewhat later.
Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed the photos. We have now moved a couple miles South of the city center, next to a large park and huge forest with hundreds of walking trails. We enjoyed the city center, but after exploring the center it’s nice to get to a quieter neighborhood and get back to nature. So the next post will cover our last month or so in Brussels, then it’s off to Gibraltar for a month.
Até logo (Until later), Tim & Deb
