Our holiday travel continues and it would be a pleasant change now from the last two weeks that we have been on the road and staying in different hotels. As this thought occurred, the boarding announcement followed and in no time the queue became long. The flight was on time and everyone seemed eager and happy to move on. Our journey to Prague had been just awesome including our experience of spending a day at Prague Castle and A Dinner Cruise on Vltava, Prague.

Now the excitement was about spending the next few days with my wife’s brother & his wife at their home, eating home cooked Indian food for a change. We were soon off to Brussels.

It was an one and a half hours flight and as we landed I realized we had made a mistake. Brussels has two airports that serve people within and around the Belgian capital city namely the Brussels Airport (BRU) and Charleroi Airport (CRL). Brussels airport is the largest and main international airport in Belgium while Charleroi Airport, also an international airport, is home to some low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, on which we had booked our tickets from Prague.

Brussels airport is just 12 kms away from central Brussels and using the fast Belgian Rail (Airport-Zaventem railway station), it will get you there in 17 minutes and cost you around 3 euros. You also have buses which take around 30 minutes and cost almost the same. Brussels South Charleroi Airport though is about 46 kms from central Brussels and is served by airport shuttle buses that transfer passengers to the nearest train station Charleroi-Sud. The bus and train journey together would take you more than 2.5 hours to reach central Brussels.

We decided not to undertake this tedious journey after an early flight and instead hire a cab. There was just one cab around, probably because it was still very early, and we promptly availed it. It took us 40 minutes and cost us a handsome 130 euros to reach Eburonenstraat. This location is next door to the diplomatic enclave of central Brussels which houses the European Parliament, European Commission, European Union permanent representation offices & residences and all foreign embassies and consulates.

It was a lovely morning and this view from the apartment balcony with my cup of coffee made the start of the day even better. After some hectic travel last two weeks, today was the day for some completely relaxed moments.

Lots of chat between the four of us, go around for casual strolls, have some variety of Belgian beers, eat out for lunch, have lots of ice cream followed by a lovely home made dinner. Let’s start with me showing you around this historical and beautiful part of Brussels, as we go around this lazy Sunday morning.

The Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The structure is located at Schuman roundabout at Wetstraat 200 Rue de la Loi, in what is known as the “European Quarter”. The unique form of the Berlaymont’s architecture is used in the European Commission’s official emblem.

The building has housed the European Commission since its construction, and has become a symbol of the Commission and the European presence in Brussels. The Commission itself is spread over some 60-odd buildings, but the Berlaymont is the Commission’s headquarters, being the seat of the President of the European Commission and its College of Commissioners.

Although the entire EU complex now looks absolutely new, the history dates back to 1958 with the number of European civil servants rapidly growing. By 1965, the Commission alone had 3,200 staff scattered across 8 different cramped buildings. The Belgian government in order to ensure that the Commission stayed, offered to build a prestigious administration complex large enough to house the entire staff. Come let’s see few other landmark buildings and creations.

This wonderful portrait of John F. Kennedy on a genuine piece of the ‘Berlin Wall’ stands next to the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. Right next to the Berlaymont building, it acts as an impressive and powerful symbol of a united, or rather reunited Europe.

This restored monument was inaugurated on 9 November 2015 as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of German unification following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It stands in a glass display, protected from the elements, weighs 3 tons and stands 3.6 meters tall. It was brought to Brussels in 2009, along with 15 other pieces as part of the ‘Breaking the Wall’ installation which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A few years later the European Commission bought the Kennedy Piece to turn it into a permanent monument.

The home dinner menu was plain rice, moogh dal (split yellow gram soup), alu bhaja (potato fries made in Indian Bengali style), lanka bhaja (green chilly fry) and two varieties of fish, cooked through the joint efforts of my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law. It was like bliss for me and my wife and we overate a bit.

After this sumptuous dinner we set out for a walk to discover the beautiful neighborhood by night. The four of us.

Back to our apartment and back to the balcony, the peace of the street and the school bang opposite was mesmerizing. A sharp contrast to the flurry of activity during the mornings.

Brussels. An interesting first day for us, with the feel of being at home in this lovely Belgian Capital.

Hope you enjoyed the journey and the day with us. PIN it for later