Posts tagged: Travel Belgium

Nutmeg was last in Brussels a couple decades ago (more or less).  At that time she and her friends stayed in an unrated hotel – sometimes called a “youth hostel”.  It was a rainy depressing few days, the city was uninviting, the food marginal (keep in mind a student budget) and the place was filled with beggars.
So fast forward… the accommodations are not grand this time, although certainly a big step up from the hostel.  The sun has shone for 2 out of 3 days and the beggars are gone.  That is not to say you should not watch your pockets, just do so with the same level of caution you would apply everywhere.
Brussels  fast facts:

population of over 1 million
55,000 of which are European officials
over 200 different nationalities can be found (1 in 2 people have foreign roots)
the city covers 170 sqkm (10 times the sprawl of Paris)
home to NATO and the EU

Apart from being the centre of European…

Recipes & Travel:
Brussels, European Travel Tips, Travel Belgium

On our way back to Brussels we encountered a tree!
This was no small tree it cut off  four lanes of a highway and both directions of traffic, including our bus for over two hours.  The good news?  No one was hurt.  That tree would have flattened any of the small gas friendly cars on the road and done serious damage to any moving vehicle.  On top of stopping both directions of traffic, the other complicating factor was that the tree had pulled down, although did not snap a power line.  Traffic ground to a slow crawl as the vehicles inched forward into a “sardine can” formation (if you have ever spent any time in a French or Quebec ski line?  If so, you might have an idea what this started to look like).
Finally, a single fire truck arrived to the rescue.  This event occurred in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday in crappy weather…so it took awhile…

Recipes & Travel:
Brussels, Fun Facts about Waterloo, Travel Belgium

What a fitting day to visit the battleground of Waterloo!
February 28, 2010: Driving rain, 4 degrees celsius, 100Km/hr winds – down right ugly – do you get the picture?  This trip was optional for Nutmeg, not so much for Ginger but they both decided to go along and learn something.  What Nutmeg figured out really quick is to get out of the bus in the driving rain was stupid and she could learn all about the battle inside the comfort of the vehicle.  Ginger felt he should support his classmates and stand outside until he totally soaked along with the camera.
Here is a short version of the long version we heard on the bus:
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium. An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, one an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of…

Recipes & Travel:
Travel, Travel Belgium