I had to practice some self-control and forcefully pushed away the shopping temptations~ and there is MUCH shopping to be done in Brussels! Practically every street is a shopping street! But Brussels is also the European Union capital and where Belgium’s royal family is based, so I knew I needed to get in all the cultural sights as well. The map is a tad bit hard to read, because every street has TWO names~ one in French and one in Flemish (supposed to be much like Dutch, but still different). It took me a while to figure that one out ^.^ So as a result of the two names for every map, the print is TINY and I have to squint to find the streets I’m looking for!
Place de l’Albertine is where many civil offices are located, such as the Ministry of Finance. There is a church in the plaza:
Behind the church is the Royal Palace, which unfortunately for me, is closed to the public. Like Buckingham Palace, the royal family actually lives in the palace so it is only open to the public during certain times of the year (I think it’s like July to September for this year). Saves me money though and temptation ^.^
The Palais de Justice is just down the street:
A very pretty church:
Brussels is divided into Lower Town and Upper Town. I didn’t know where the division was; just that Upper Town is “upper class” and built on higher ground to overlook the lower class. I gradually got a general idea on my walk today though. The climb is very gradual so I didn’t realize I was walking up (very gradual climb and a couple of staircases) but here’s the view:
There’s an observation deck/elevator next to the Palais de Justice.
WWI & WWII Memorial in front of the Palais de Justice:
Went to Place du Jeu de Balle, the daily flea market:
Nearby is Place de la Chapelle, one of the earliest churches to be built in Brussels.
The famous Flemish painter Pieter Broughe (Pieter Bruegel, depending on which language you’re talking in… AGGGH! This is frustrating!) is buried here:
His house is just down the street, on Rue Haute:
Rue Haute originally was a Roman road, developed throughout the Middle Ages to present day. On one end is the Place de la Chapelle, on the other end is one of the first fortresses built to defend Brussels against invaders, Porte de Hal:
The whole city was once fortified by walls, now all gone, except the Porte de Hal gate. But you can clearly see the pentagon shape that the walls must have run along and now forms present-day Brussels on a map.
Avenue Louise is just outside the pentagon, but is where all the upscale shopping is located~ LV, Hermes, Bvlgari, Cartier… basically the Champs-Elysees of Brussels. I found a really awesome fabric store located near Avenue Louise, on Chaussee d’Ixelles.
Oh my god I’ve gone to heaven!!! The fabrics there are SO gorgeous, so luxurious and so detailed! And there were trims there I’ve never even seen before, with chains on velvet and satin… *sigh* I wanted to buy everything I saw there! Errr… except the price tags… yeah… a REMNANT was 120 euros! There were fabrics costing around 1200 euros PER METER! The cheapest I saw was probably 90 euros per meter ;( They dress mannequins with fabrics they carry, so the fabric isn’t exactly sewn as a dress, more like pinned on in strategic spots to look like a dress. But man, they do such a good job, from far away, you can’t even tell they’re not dresses!
I found a gigantic Carrefour (two warehouse-size levels) and they sell truffle mayo too ^.^
I got too excited and broke the label before realizing that I needed to photo shoot! I paired it with Jambon de Bayonne, Belgium’s version of prosciutto (very good, sliced thin but oh-so-fatty and cured perfectly, not too salty):
and a buttery croissant et voila!
Sooooo goooooddddd….
No comments:
Post a Comment