Brussels & New Year's

Belguim

Just an example of a typical Belgian house.....coat of paint anyone?

Brussels

The famous restaurant row


Yes, she is doing what you think she's doing.


Mannequin Pis..and yes, he's doing what you think that he's doing


City Platz


Check out my cool Austrain hat


City Platz


More of the city center


Another city center shot


Tammy, Elizabeth, and me...in my most awesome hat!


I'm not sure if I want to try that one......


New Year's Eve

The world famous Vienna Platter

Jaunty Hat Time!!

Catherine & Al

Pam & Doug

Cris & Mike

Mr. Boo give Gracie a New Year's kiss

Now this gal knows how to PAR-TAY!!!


New Year’s in Belgium

The interesting note about Belgium is that it’s just dirty. I don’t mean dirty in a good Red Light District kind of a way either. Everywhere you go the streets are bumpy and have lots of pot holes. The houses are missing roof tiles and the garden walls are crumbling. In many cases you will see farmhouses with at least one wall in need of serious repair and another shed on the property that looks like leftover WWII damage. Plus there tends to be a high amount of trash accumulation on the streets and in the bushes. You really notice it when crossing over from Germany, which is notoriously clean for the most part, then driving through part of Holland which is also very, very clean (The Germans call them the “scrubby Dutch) and then driving over the border into Belgium. It almost looks war torn in comparison to the other two countries. Since the Belgians are not exactly know for their fighting prowess we all joked that they were waiting to be overrun by the Germans again so that the Germans would clean everything up and repair the streets.

To make matters worse at night everything is lit up like the surface of the sun. The Belgians seem to have a love affair with street lamps. In the same space where the US highway department might see a need for one lamp, the Belgian have put up three. In fact, their section of the Autobahn can be viewed from outer space and is referred to as “the Belgian window.” This is true for many of the towns so that you can now view the trash and decimated structures at night.

Of course they do have good hearty food and thousands of different kinds of beers, so I guess that everyone is too busy eating and drinking to care that their village looks like a bomb when off, in fact the mess might be a left over from a bomb…who knows?

After we returned from our great Austria trip we stayed in Belgium for a few more days with our friends so that we could enjoy New Year’s with them. On the 29th, after sleeping in, we drove to Chievres US Air Base, which is their closest US support base. It was pretty darn tiny and made Schinnen (our US Army Garrison support base) seem more like a full service base. For dinner we went into Mons and had a great meal at a place that is referred to as “steak on a rock.” I don’t think that the US laws would allow this type of place, but it was FANTASTIC and fun. The idea is you order your cut of beef or lamb and a sauce for the side. It’s then brought to you raw sitting on a super heated stone brick that is resting in a wooden platter. The meat cooks inches from you and you can cut the meat and cook it to your liking. Of course having this hot rock right in front of you or passed over your shoulder can be scary at times. If this place were to ever open in the US there would be all kinds of lawsuits. I can just see the court case now, “Your honor, my client didn’t know that the brick cooking her meat was hot, so she picked it up to move it out of her way.” Anyway, the meal was fun and the beer even better!

The next day we took a 45 minute train ride into Brussels. Out of the four of us, I had never been there. We met up with Elizabeth and Tammy who we had met on our Austria trip. They both work at the US Embassy and live in Brussels. Tammy wasn’t feeling very well, but she toughed it out enough to join us for lunch. They day was spent just walking around the city center and enjoying each others company…oh and beer of course. Have I mentioned that Belgium has thousands of different beers?

Once we got into the central area we walked down the famous restaurant row, where everyone had a special on mussels. We made a quick detour down a dead end alley to see a little known statue of a girl peeing. This statue was the response to the popularity of the famous “Mannequin Pis,” which is a statue of a little boy peeing. I’m not really sure why there was need of a response. The Brussels city plaza was really beautiful and I enjoyed looking at the details in all of the architecture. We spent most of the morning just walking around and looking. I finally saw the famous statue of the nude boy taking a leak…A.K.A. Mannequin Pis in the flesh…well…it is a naked boy after all. That was a bit of a let down as it’s pretty small…uh, the statue is pretty small..so naturally is his…well, you get the idea. The statue is located in a wall nitch on at the corner section of a building at a crowded intersection filled with lots of other tourist saying “is that it?” After that we stopped in at another pub for a quick pick me up……beer. We ate lunch at a “Shwarma” place (Middle Eastern food, kabobs, gyros and such) as they are all over European cities. Unfortunately both Elizabeth and Tammy had to leave us after lunch, but it was fun spending some time with them.

The weather had been a bit chilly and windy, but luckily for us the rain didn’t start until the evening. We got to see part of the Christmas light show in the main plaza as we were walking back through to catch our train. We did not eat muscles in Brussels, so now I have an excuse to go back.

The next day, New Year’s Eve day, Catherine and I went to the market to pick up a few things for dinner and then stopped at the bakery for breakfast the next morning. Around noon Pam and Doug Wiggins showed up…then the fun began. First there was a Christmas gift exchange, and then out came the snacks and goodies. We basically grazed from 11 am until New Year’s Day. Pam had brought us little decorative hats to wear which were quite festive and lovely. Al had prepared Pam a delightful little platter of Austrian goodies as they had not been able to joining us on the trip. The platter was made up of Vienna Sausages, Vienna Fingers sprinkled with “Viennese” cinnamon, and of course, “Vienna-ger.” We then spent the afternoon watching movies, eating, drinking, eating more, watching another movie, drinking and eating.

When the evening rolled around we set up the living room to play cards. Nope, not poker or bridge, we were preparing to play what is now known as the worlds longest game of UNO. So for hours, we sat wearing our jaunty little hats, stuffing our faces and cursing each other as people kept playing “draw four wild cards” back to back. WHAT FUN!! Catherine had been steaming potatoes to go with dinner, but we were so full from the snacks that when they were done, we each just had potatoes with butter for dinner. Then it was back to the cards…..and the swearing….and the drinking…and the laughing.

Once midnight rolled around we did take a break to enjoy the “local” fireworks show. Now, dear reader, I ask you to think about this. As I mentioned before, the Belgians are not known for their ability to fight off invading powers…so was allowing them to play with dangerous and explosive fireworks really a good idea? At least it had been raining….all year, as it does in Belgium….so the fire danger was quite low.

After the break, it was back to the cards. It was at least another hour before the game finally ended and we had played one hand that that lasted for over two hours. Some of us may never be mentally equipped to play UNO again after that night. But overall, I have to say that this was really one of the best New Year’s I have ever had.

On the first day of the New Year I was able to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast of quiche, baked goods, hot coffee and the company of great friends. I really couldn’t ask for more… what a great time with great friends, that being said, I was dying to get home and sleep in my own bed (grin).