Coffee In Brussels

Belgium, April 2005 

Anka and I arrived by Eurostar in Brussels.  The plan was to pick up the rental car, have a quick coffee with Izabella in Sablon and head out of the big city to Ypre.  Here's a few photos of the few hours we spent in Brussels

Picking Up The Rental Car

We picked up a Skoda Fabia from Avis.  This car remained the subject of much mirth as 'skoda' in polish means shame or pity. It was a lovely car, drove well and was extremely comfortable but everytime we walked out in the morning, we would sigh and say "alosh skoda!" ... "What a pity!" in Polish.

Anka posing with the car

Coffee With Izabella

We met Izabella for coffee in Sablon and then spent a few hours checking out the Grand Place and one of the arcades around it.  Brussels is a really under-rated capital city.  I'd have no problems going there again.

Izabella and I in the Grand Place.  Not one of my better photos.  How did I get to look like such a dork?

Izabella and Anka looking nice

Not for long!

The girls waiting for me to take pictures in one of the arcades near the Grand Place. Anka showing more patience than Iza ... but then again she knows me better.  What's got my attention?

Chocolate! Lots of it!  Given the country is renowned for it's chocolate, the best time to be in Belgium is Easter.  Shops and shops full of chocolate and Easter eggs.

And ducks too!

A poster outside the arcade theatre for a movie I'd really like to see.

Darwin's Nightmare. 

The synopsis is as follows:

Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.

Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo… Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent.

This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World Bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots.

Interesting stuff.

A place I presume where doggies can do their business.

Restaurant in Sablon

Close-up.

Next Page: Ypres