The Sprayberries

Brussels: Not what we expected
[jordanna]

Tyson attempted to write this two days ago, but the network crashed when he tried to post it and he lost all his work. While he was attempting to explain to the proprietor of said internet shop how frustrating this was, somebody stole his new prescription sunglasses. To spare him the annoyance of redoing his blog I am taking a bash at it. You, therefore, must suffer though my lack of wit and bad spelling.

I am glad we elected to stay a day in Brussels and not go straight through to Rome. The guide books we read rave about the city, its architecture, and its cuisine. They, apparently, did not stay where we did. Ty and I were struck by how much the city reminded us of Africa when we stepped off the metro. This is largely because of the smell (garbage, stale urine), the trash (just like Africa we saw shop keepers sweeping trash away from their portion of the sidewalk), and the laid back feel. People were relaxed and unhurried. It was also the most diverse city I have seen (granted I am not an urban guru), with an immense amount of integration. We saw more interacial couples on train from the airport than I typically see in seattle in a year. The neighborhoods also had a lot of friendly mixing. From my sterile academic atmosphere I am often curious as to how everywhere I have lived in America remains so segregated, and one of my favorite parts of visiting Brussels was seeing a modern city where they appear to have overcome this. They have not, however, mastered the concept of a public trashcan. Or recycling. This was hands down the dirtiest city I have seen since Nairobi.

There was spectacular architecture. For the first time ever, we bought tickets to a tour bus. It was an open top and you could hop on and off as you pleased. We figured we were there for only one day, and it was the best way to get a quick overview. It turned out to be a great idea. Most of the sights it drove by were absolutely beautiful, and nowhere you would want to spend half a morning getting to and walking around. We did get off at the public gardens, which were 6 hectares. The most exciting part about the garden is I FINALLY KNOW WHAT A HECTARE LOOKS LIKE! They were beautiful and free. If I worked in downtown Brussels I would eat lunch there everyday. We also got to see the EU head quarters, and a giant 'atom' that was built for the 196? world fair. The more I see these ramdom contructs, the more I think the world fair is an excuse to build visually interesting but utterly useless buildings.

Once off the tour bus, we failed miserably in our mission to find the birth place of Jean Claude Van Damme. It was REALLY hot and we kind of melted. The temperature was also responsible for our inability to bring home any of the famed belgian chocolates : ( Now we are in Rome, which is bizarrely less hot. But Ty will fill you in on that later...