We slept for 12 hours before finally getting up at 1 pm on Sunday and we needed it. Everything looks so much better with a little sleep. The day started with more waffles. This time, we opted for the Brussels waffle and went to a place right on the Grand Place called Le Paon, which had the best restaurant waffles (and the worst service) in all of Brussels. I recommend coming here anyway. At first glance, this place looks tiny, but it holds at least 4 floors of the building and has a very nice atmosphere and a true rude Belgian wait staff.
After our very leisurely lunch, we decided to go on what's known as the "European Walk" in the Use-It map. I highly recommend going on this walk, as it brings you a different flavor, than the old city. We walked through many cute streets and gardens. In order to even get to the beginning of the walk from the old city you have to go through the Brussels Park. It is a beautiful green haven with fountains, sculptures, and joggers running right past the no jogging signs. Is located across from the Royal Palace so it's a pleasure to walk to (and through). I saw a "Dinner in the Sky" setup right in front of the park and I have just one question.... what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom?
After walking through the park I recommend going to see "The Sequence" by Arne Quinze, which is a breathtaking public art installation made out of planks of wood. Some of you might be interested to know that Arne Quinze also created an installation for Burning Man. I don't think the picture does justice to the work, but it just grabs you and demands attention.
We were only a block or two from the beginning of the walk and were very pleased to see what marks the actual beginning :). I don't know how well you can see this, but these cars are giant flower pots!
We walked towards the art nouveau area filled with cute old buildings and wrought iron balconies. Even though it was raining, it was still very beautiful everywhere. I noticed that the shutters that close-up businesses were painted and took a couple of pictures.
We also passed by a lake surrounded by beautiful houses. Apparently, back in the day, the whole area was swamp land. The swamps were all drained and paved over and only one lake remained. The city ordered that any house overlooking the lake would have to have a beautiful facade in order to keep real estate prices high.
Another notable destination on our walk was museum park. There was some kind of a festival going on, so we didn't linger too much, but apparently the park holds three of Brussels' largest museums: Autoworld, The Army Museum, and the Royal Museum of Art and History. Stop by if it's your thing. the park is another one that is very pleasant to stroll through with tall trees and wide alleys. I was a little disappointed, because I thought that this is where mini Europe was located. It turns out that mini Europe is not in the European quarter as expected, but in a completely different direction. I guess I will have something to come back to (or see more real Europe instead).
At this point, we were a little tired and a little hungry so we went to Maison Antoine for some fries. the fries are all about the sauce. We tried curry ketchup, Brazil (curry mustard), and Andalouse sauce (mostly mayo). Besides fries, Antoine's sells a variety of junk food including egg rolls, and sausages on a stick. Along with our fries we also got some Mergez. This place is open till the wee hours of the morning, so if you happen to find yourself in the European quarter and in need of some greasy delicious food, Antoine is your man.
Thoroughly satisfied with life, we headed back to the old city again. Our path took us through Leopold park. The park used to be a zoo, until all of the animals died suddenly. I found this fact to be very strange and could find nothing else about it. The closest bit of information I found, was that the zoo was badly mismanaged and went bankrupt. No where does it talk about the death of the animals. Our final destination was the European parliament. Mike and I both found the following choice of port-a-potty placement troublesome. (Yes this picture is straight)
Mike and I had a choice to make at this point, we could either go to our hotel and take a nap before our 3 am flight, or power through. We opted to go to our hotel, change and get right back out there. We had dinner at Le Fiacre, and tried a little beer there. Mike had rabbit (surprise, it tastes like chicken) and I had some hind of fish. Neither of us was particularly impressed. after our dinner we wanted to get a good view of the city and went to Parking 58, but were minutes late for being able to go up and check out the view. Our final destination was Le Archiduc, a 1930's jazz bar with a cool vibe, and a small cozy feel. Unfortunately, we missed the live show, but still listened to some great music and had cognac (Mike) and beer (Chimay Bleue for me). Bon jour Brussels, Shalom Tel Aviv!!
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