A LITTLE WALK THROUGH BRUSSELS

Sometimes when we have a bank holiday and the weather is nice, I like to go to Brussels and mingle amongst the tourists who want to see the beautiful Grand'Place and of course also "Manneken Pis" the symbol of Brussels. That makes me feel as if I would be on holidays too.



When I arrived there were a lot of people, of all nationalities



Apparently there are again guests in the most elegant hotel in Brussels the "Amigo", because of the terrorist attacks in March, the hotel and tourist industry had suffered a lot.



The beer museum was closed this day because it was "All Saint's day"



But on the whole place people walked around and took pictures The whole place had been recently renovated and the fresh gold painting glittered in the sunshine.





The Brasserie "Le cigne" (The Swan) was nearly full and people even sat outside on the terrace.



The statue of Everard t'Serclaes sculpted by artist Julien Dillens (1849–1904), had been painted completely into black very much to my surprise ! It is said among locals that the statue brings luck and grants the wishes of all who touch it. Therefore the black colour was gone because tourists touch (or rather rub) the statue, particularly the arm, because the legend says that rubbing the arm will ensure one's return to Brussels. Other parts are also touched frequently by the tourists such as the face of an angel, a dog, and one of the shields. This constant polishing kept the body shining compared to the rest of the sculpture, but now it had been repainted and they have to start all over again and rub !





The Wafel and chocolate shops were also very busy



and tourists loved to look at the Brussels' laces There are many shops around the Grand'Place.



and a big shop where you could find all kind of souvenirs !

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INSTALLATION OF BRUSSELS' CHRISTMAS TREE

Brussels traditional Christmas tree has arrived from Latvia this year on the Grand Place on Thursday around 3:00 am.


picture from Internet

It was raised by a crane and placed in one of the three 2 m deep wells beneath the cobblestones of the Grand'Place.  It was finally standing around 8 am .


picture from internet

The tree is  18.3 meters (59 ft)  high and was chosen by the Mayor of Riga. It had been cut last Friday in Latvian forests and left Latvia on Saturday to be transported over 2000 km (1243 miles) by water to the port of Travemünde in Germany and from there with a special convoy to Antwerp and then to Brussels.

Usually the Brussels' Christmas trees come from the Walloon Region, but this year, the city of Riga was the "European Capital of Culture 2014", and therefore wanted to offer a Christmas tree to the capital of Europe. "It's a wonderful symbol for Latvia to close this year of European culture with a Christmas tree in Brussels" the mayor said.

The tree will be decorated with silver symbols created by a decorator of Latvia as cultural heritage of this country.

Some 7,000 twinkling lights and 10,000 white lights will be installed on the tree.

Of course this made me curious and I went there on Saturday afternoon to see this event "life"



The place was packed with people who had the same idea as I !





Not so easy to decorate a Christmas tree of this height !

At the same time the crèche was built



The firs lay packed on the ground they will be put around the creche and carpenters covered the roof with straw.



One side was almost finished.




Leaving the Grand'Place I saw Christmas decorations already hanging a little everywhere



and over the streets



Just outside the place was a little market with handmade things, ideal to find an original Christmas gift.

At least this year we will have a beautiful Christmas tree, which will attract lots of tourists. The official opening is next weekend on November 28. (here is a link to the Christmas market 2010)



The Christmas tree in 2012 was a strange thing made out of boxes (Christmas tree 2012) It caused almost riots ! There were so many protests not only from the Belgians but also from other countries that the city decided to dismantle this thing before New Years Eve, there had been threats to burn that thing down ! People wanted a classical Christmas tree and not a modern monster. I wrote about it here : The End of the Christmas tree 2012

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WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND ?

Helps you to remember what you have done on the weekend of December 29. If you participate please put the little logo on the top of your post and leave your link.

Finally I had finished with household and my photos and had time again to vistit my friends.



Ilona gave me this cute red bonnet, which comes on purpose as I will spent the New Year with my friend Claudie, an ex blogger, in the South of  France at the Côte d'Azur. It's sometimes windy there and I always need to cover my head against cold or heat. We chatted about Christmas and with her little Christmas tree, lots of candles and in front of her stove, we had a nice cosy afternoon.



On my way back home I took these pictures of Waterloo's Christmas decoration from out of my car, while driving, there was such a traffic that I had to drive very slowly.

I also brought an USB stick to Nicole with the video sketches I had made in Egypt.



Charly was very happy about my visit as I had brought a little Panetone to eat with our coffee. She had a lot of fun with the video, where in a sketch she plays a mother whose son was shot ! I didn't know that she was such a great actor !

On Sunday morning when I woke up, I could hear the rain falling in buckets and it didn't stop the whole morning.

So I prepared my backback for tomorrow morning when I take the plane to Marseille in the South of France, to spend New Year's Eve with my friend Claudie (who doesn't blog anymore) in the sunshine at the Côte d'Azur !



It was quiet a challenge to pack, because I was not allowed to exceed certain mesurements, 50cm x 20 x 40cm (19x8x16 inches) which is not very much for winter clothes and your handbag included. Finally I managed it without sitting on the bagpack, but I have to wear 1 T-shirt, 1 pullover and two cardigans under my coat ! I will look like an elephant. But as soon as I am on the plane, I take the cardigans off and put them in my backpack ! It's only for the check in. Otherwise I would have to pay 50 € ! Ryan Air is cheap but has a lot of extra fees !

The rest of the day I spent on the computer and on the TV,  due to this awful weather there was not much to do. From time to time I checked how far they were with dismantling the Christmas tree in Brussels (see post below).



at 9 am



Afternoon



and at 6 pm, the place was empty !

When you read this I will probably sitting in the plane on my way to Marseille !