(Part 5) Belgium the Premium: The Bustle in Brussels!!

- July 21, 2019, Sunday.

- On our last day in Belgium, my mom and I explored the center of Brussels - and what better way to spend our last day than joining the crowd in celebrating the Belgian National Day!! It is held on July 21 and celebrates the day when Belgium became its own kingdom in 1831. Normally, celebrations across the city involve heavy military presence. Not only is this because of the high-ranking dignitaries and royal people attending various functions across Brussels in relation to the celebration, but also because it is also a time for people to get up close and personal with the people in the military.

- That morning, my mom and I rode the train to Parc metro station (lines 1 and 5) to visit the Royal Palace, built some time between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, and is one of the official residences of the Belgian royal family. I wanted to take a chance and see if it was going to be open to visitors, but unfortunately, it will start opening its doors to visitors the day after the holiday. The palace is open to the public every summer when the royal family is away, just like in Luxembourg (click here), and it always opens its doors to everyone after the Belgian National Day.

Royal Palace of Brussels.

- Though sad that we didn't get to have a chance to see the interior of the palace, we walked down the street and joined the party! Well it wasn't actually much of a party, but rather, a fabulous display of Belgian military culture! Tourists and citizens were allowed to interact and play some games with the military people, and were even allowed to go up/inside military tanks and helicopters just to get a feel for the daily life of being in the Belgian forces. We also saw the 19th-century Palais de Justice (Law Courts of Brussels), the largest building built during its down. I was a bit sad, however, as the scaffolding was blocking its golden sheen. The court has been renovated frequently in the recent years to strengthen its structure.

Military helicopter.

I actually wanted to try going up a tank but my legs were still too tired from too much walking the previous days, and I was afraid I wouldn't fit inside because I'm fat.

"Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I'm homebound tenenenenenene, tenene, tenenenenene~~."

More tanks.

Palais de Justice.

- From the Royal Palace, I made a bad decision of walking several blocks to the Cinquntenaire when I could have just taken the metro to Schuman (lines 1 or 5), since the distance looked close in the map. Before entering the Cinquantenaire, I had a brief photo stop in front of Le Berlaymont. Le Berlaymont is an X-shaped building built in the 1960s that serves as the headquarters of the European Commission. A visit inside the building is possible after reserving a tour slot through its website (click here.)

Le Berlaymont.

Hello me.

- We later entered the Cinquantenaire (also called "Jubel Park"). It has a massive U-shaped structure in the middle that was build in the 1880s during the 50th year of the country's independence (so you see, even our itinerary for the day coincidentally matched the holiday the country is celebrating!) The crown glory of the U-shaped structure is its "triumphal arch" that was built a few decades later than the rest of the original buildings in the area which were built as exhibition spaces. Today, these exhibition spaces have become various museums (i.e. Art & History Museum, Autoworld, and the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History,) so it's easy to spend a whole day in the Cinquantenaire Park.

Majestic!

Brussels' "Arc de Triomphe."

From another angle.

- The southern side of the U-shaped structure is the Art & History Museum, formerly known as the Cinquantenaire Museum. It was renamed in 2016 in order to distinguish it from the other museums in the Cinquantenaire Park, and in order to let people know what the museum is all about through its new name. The Art & History Museum looks like a regular-sized museum from the outside, but its maze-like layout (at least it seemed to me) hides rooms and halls full of treasures from around the world! It is comparable to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in terms of content, but surely the Met is a lot larger. I loved its extensive collection on Egyptian and Roman art, though I also appreciated its humble yet comprehensive galleries on Asian and American art.

Art & History Museum.

Hall to the various galleries on European art.

Tapestries.

Cloisters.

My best friend from Rapa Nui (Easter Island.)

American art.

Olmec from ancient Latin America!!

See the floor? That's one massive Roman mosaic floor!!

Egyptian mummy.

Of course, can't miss the Indian gallery!! Hello from me and Shiva as the Lord of Dance (Nataraja.)

Tibetan thangka art.

- We later rode the train to Brussels Centraal Station to have a final walk-through of Brussels' streets. Plenty of people were wearing their best Belgium-themed clothes and accessories to celebrate Belgian National Day, while they were also showing their warmest smiles and biggest laughs. It was perhaps the nicest day in Belgium, but the saddest for me. My mom and I had to leave Belgium that evening, and took an Uber to the airport after resting in the hotel in the afternoon. However, Brussels decided to be kind to us, as our car passed by the Castle of Laeken, or Laeken Palace, and the nearby Museums of the Far East. Laeken Palace is the official residence of the royal family. The Museums of the Far East, located in a park beside Laeken Palace has distinct ornate Japanese and Chinese pagodas; the museums are currently closed for renovation, and some of the items from these museums can be found in the Art & History Museum in Cinquantenaire Park. Despite this, the vicinity of the museums makes a nice backdrop for photos. These were the last "gifts" of Brussels to my mom and me just before leaving for Manila (unfortunately I wasn't able to take photos of them even from the car as I didn't expect that we'd pass by them.)

Oh cool, a ceiling full of Smurfs outside Centraal Station! ("The Smurfs" was made in Belgium, and remains to be one of Belgium's biggest contribution to global popular culture!)

Thank you, Belgium!! (Military planes on on their way to the palace for an air-stunt presentation.)

- After a week in Belgium I can say that it definitely is a highly underrated country with so much royal history to back up the country's splendor. I do hope that more people can visit Belgium and see what the country has to offer - beyond fries, waffles, and chocolate!!

- Please don't forget to read all about my other adventures in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg here!!

THE NETHERLANDS

Part 1, Amsterdam: here, and here

Part 2, Zaanse Schans: here

Part 3, The Hague/Den Haag: here

Part 4, Haarlem: here

Part 5, Hoorn: here


BELGIUM

Part 1, Brussels: here

Part 2, Ghent/Gent: here

Part 3, Bruges/Brugge: here

Part 4, Antwerp: here


LUXEMBOURG: here

(Part 4) Belgium the Premium: Werkin' It in Antwerp!!

- July 20, 2019, Saturday.

- "Shine bright like a diamond, we're beautiful like diamonds in the sky." - Rihanna ("Diamonds", 2012). This was the first song I thought of during the 40-minute train trip from Brussels to Antwerp. Antwerp is known as Belgium's shopping city - known for its rows of fashion stores and of course, diamonds! Historically, Antwerp has also kept this reputation of being a trade city as it is at the crossroads of many kingdoms and nations, and the fact that its has one of the largest ports in Europe.

- From Antwerp's main station, one can either walk all the way to the city center, or ride the metro to Groenplaats Station (lines 2, 3, 5, or 15) as most tourist spots are in the vicinity of that square. Since my mom and I wanted the fast way to the center, we rode the metro, and afterwards, walked to Grote Markt to see the city hall. Unfortunately, the 16th-century city hall was being renovated when I arrived, so I wasn't able to see its beauty. Despite that, the guildhalls beside it were thankfully fine for photos.

Inside the station. It's one of the nicest stations in Europe that I've seen.

Nello and Patrasche Statue in front of the Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal (Cathedral of Our Notre Dame.)

City hall, under construction. At least they covered it with boards that make people see how it would look like normally.

Guildhalls on a chilly rainy morning.

Old houses and guild halls between Grote Markt and Kaasrui.

- We headed towards the banks of the Scheldt River to visit the 16th-century fortress called Het Steen. However, this too, was being renovated. On a normal day, this would look like a small fairy-tale castle with a nice view of the river beside it. Sad that we weren't able to take photos with this small but glorious castle, we took photos of an old-style bridge with the goddess Minerva on top.

Het Steen.

The bridge to Minerva's statue (you can see the Minerva statue at the right side of the photo.) 

- Walking back to the city center, I searched for a small alley connecting the two streets of Hogstraat and Pelgrimstraat. Called "Vlaeykensgang," this alley preserves its 16th-century look and feel, though it is now lined with antique stores or small cafes instead of shoemakers and people from the lower classes during early modern Belgium.

Vlaeykensgang.

A tunnel that brings you back in time..

This building was built in 1591.

The more "famous" side of Vlaeykensgang.

I look like a neighborhood uncle.

- Having much time to spare, we took a detour and passed by the 16th-century St. Paul's Church (Sint-Pauluskerk) and the nearby "vleeshuis" or the old meat shop that now houses a musical instrument museum. I didn't bother going inside the music instrument anymore since I visited a big one in Brussels already (click here).

Vleeshuis.

St. Paul's Church.

- Later on, we went inside the main cathedral of the city - Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal (Cathedral of Our Lady.) Built nearly 200 years in the 14th-16th centuries, this church looks unusual because of its asymmetric architecture. One tower is lower than the other since the lower tower was never finished due to circumstances like a fire and the different wars through history. Despite its unique look, it boasts as one of the tallest cathedrals in Belgium, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a treasure chest of art as many of its paintings and stained-glass windows were painted/designed by Dutch master Peter Paul Rubens.

See how the two towers are uneven?

Main hall.

These are life-sized statues.

Altar.

These ceiling details are from the 16th century.

Stained glass windows.

From the inner courtyard.

Look at the immense detail!!

Monument to the Jan and Pieter Applemans, the builders of the cathedral.

- We had an early lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant to beat the tourist crowd, before journeying through the winding streets of Antwerp to see the St. Charles Borromeo Church (Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk.) This Baroque-style church from the 17th century was initially made to be a Jesuit Church. However, the church was closed when I went there so I was only able to see it from the outside. However, do know that just like the Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal, it boasts ceiling paintings and other artwork made by Dutch master Peter Paul Rubens.

The tower at the back is called the KBC Tower or Boerentoren. It was built in the 1930s and is the second tallest structure in Antwerp after Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal. It was the first skyscraper in Europe, and remained the tallest in Belgium for three decades, and was used as a bank. This structure is said to be based from the Empire State building in New York.

Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk.

Jesuit.

- Finally, we visited St. James' Church (Sint-Jacobskerk), a Gothic church made in the late 15th century. Though it was also closed and being renovated when I went there, I was keen on visiting this church because it is where Peter Paul Rubens was buried (fun fact: I like visiting graves of famous people because I feel like I'm in contact with "history" and it's the closest I'll ever be to see them since they're dead.) I also learned that this church used to be a hostel for pilgrims embarking on a journey to Spain's Santiago de Compostela, the main destination of the St. James pilgrimage in Europe.

St. James' Church.

- On the way back to the train station, my mom and I spent some time at the main shopping area of Meir Street. Many big clothing brands are there, and it was extra crowded since it was sale season. At the train station, we also spent some time taking photos since it was still quite early (around 2pm?)

Meir.

Antwerp Station and a ferris wheel.

Inside Antwerp Station.

- I found Antwerp interesting and I almost decided not to visit it since I was worried that my mom would be tired after all the day trips we had been doing for the past few days. Thankfully we decided to visit this wonderful city. We actually only visit the main center of Antwerp, but I have read before that the southern part of the city has other things to discover and more museums to explore. Also, most of the important sites were either under renovation or were closed when we visited, so I'm hoping that I'll get to see Antwerp again one day since I have lots of reasons to do so!

- Please don't forget to read all about my other adventures in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg here!!

THE NETHERLANDS

Part 1, Amsterdam: here, and here

Part 2, Zaanse Schans: here

Part 3, The Hague/Den Haag: here

Part 4, Haarlem: here

Part 5, Hoorn: here


BELGIUM

Part 1 and 5, Brussels: here, and here

Part 2, Ghent/Gent: here

Part 3, Bruges/Brugge: here


LUXEMBOURG: here