Belgium 2017: Brussels - Galeries St-Hubert, Grand Place, La Botanique, Hotel Metropole

Having spent 8 days on a home swap in Antwerp, 2 days in Bruges and 1.5 days in Ghent, we were now ready to take the last leg of our Belgian vacation, which was a week in Brussels.  Once again, we chose a rental apartment that was right in the centre of the old town, and this time, just a few blocks away from the Brussels Central train station.  After having such an easy time finding train schedules with direct routes between Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent, we were very surprised when planning our travel to Brussels Central that the route provided for us by the Belgian Rail online trip planner involved 2 transfers from the train including a streetcar followed by a bus!?!  We couldn’t figure out why this would be, until our home swap hosts informed us that the Brussels Central station was closed for repairs on weekend that we wanted to travel.  Instead we had to take the train to Brussels North or South stations, each being about a 25 minute walk or a short bus ride back to the centre of the city.  We went to Brussels North station and intended to take the bus, but could not find the stop for it and opted to walk instead.

We rented a large apartment in a gated apartment complex, one block away from a major shopping complex and within walking distance of most of the major attractions.  The roomy apartment had a full kitchen, dining room and living room, a desk and chair for my computer and a double bed.  It was probably larger than we needed since we never went into the living room and didn’t actually cook in the kitchen.  We did use the refrigerator and kettle, as well as the microwave to reheat take-out meals.  As is typical in European homes, the “bathroom” was split into a room for the toilet and another room for the shower.  The toilet room was so small that we could not close the door without feeling claustrophobic, and had to move the toilet paper stand outside the room to create more space.

While the location of our accommodations was perfect, there was an issue when we found out that the WIFI was not working and could not be easily fixed.  To her credit, the agent that looked after the place took personal responsibility for the situation and worked persistently with the unit owner to find a solution.  In the end, she gave us money so that we could buy a temporary 30-day internet access from the Telecom company Proximus.  Unfortunately there was an issue with the Proximus server and because it was a holiday long weekend in Belgium, we were unable to get support and I went without internet on my laptop for 3 days of our stay in Brussels.  Luckily we also had a Belgian data plan on our cell phone so we still were able to access the Internet that way.  But it meant that each evening when we were relaxing in our apartment, Rich and I were constantly jockeying for time on the phone, rather than each being able to surf on our own devices.  While I always like renting an apartment in order to have a bit of extra space and the availability of a refrigerator, in retrospect, we would have done just as well at the Hotel Ibis down the block, and most likely would not have had the WIFI issues.  I will have to take that into consideration when booking accommodations for our next trip.

Completed in 1847, Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (whose name unfortunately makes me think of the similarly named roast chicken chain) is an elegantly covered shopping arcade with a glass-paned roof that is supported by decorative ironwork. It consists of a 213 metre long passage traversing north-south, that is divided into two main sections separated by a colonnade at Rue des Bouchers.  To the north of the divide, the passage is called Galerie du Roi (King’s Gallery) while to the south is the Galerie de la Reine (Queen’s Gallery).  A smaller passage perpendicular to the main one is called the Prince’s Gallery.  Glazed, arched storefronts and cafés separated by ornate classical columns or pilasters line both sides of each passageway.  There is also a Cinéma des Galeries that screens movies, and two “royal” theatres holding live performances.  The Théâtre du Vaudeville where operettas and revues once played, is now used as an event space.  The Théâtre des Galeries stages both classical and contemporary plays.  While waiting for our apartment to be ready for check-in, we had some breakfast at Mokafé and sat at a table in the passageway so that we could continue to admire the architecture.

Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert used to be a meeting place for noted writers including Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas as well as painters and artists.  Today, high-end stores sell jewelry, leather goods including hand bags and designer gloves, books, home décor, accessories, gifts and souvenirs.  Rich was especially interested in the Vacheron Constantin watch dealership, which he called one of the “holy trinity” of high-end watch brands, along with Patek Phillipe and Audemars Piguet.  The Vacheron Constantin watches are known for their high level of finishing as well as their high prices.

The shopping arcade is also a chocolate mecca, with representation from all the major Belgian and French brands including La Belgique Gourmande, Léonidas, Corné Port Royale, Godiva and Neuhaus, which sold the “Incredibles”, our favourite chocolates that we first tried in Antwerp.  Neuhaus was represented twice in the mall, with both a smaller boutique and a larger salon store which included a huge window display that revealed what the crispy/chewy nougatine biscuit looked like inside an Incredible.  There were so many chocolatiers available that it was difficult to choose between them.  We sampled chocolates from several of them and decided that we liked the hand-made and hand-decorated truffles and pralines from Mary Chocolatier the best.  In business since 1919, Mary Chocolatier was awarded the title of "Certified Royal Warrant Holder of Belgium".  Rich declared that the Mary chocolate covered marshmallow was one of the most delicious treats that he had tasted so far in Belgium.  We spotted a series of beautiful Art Deco inspired tin boxes of chocolate chip cookies at the shop Delices du Roy.  We didn’t particularly want the cookies, but thought the box would make a great souvenir.  So we bought the tin, gave away the cookies to the agent who helped us with our WIFI in our apartment, and filled the box with chocolates and truffles from Neuhaus in order to safely transport them home.

Another big name in high-end Belgian chocolate is Pierre Marcolini, a Belgian chocolatier with Italian roots on his mother’s side, who was an award-winning pastry chef before mentoring with French chocolatier Maurice Bernachon.  Because of this dual background, in addition to chocolate, the Pierre Marcolini shops also offer amazing cakes and eclairs, many chocolate-based.  Marcolini produces his own couverture chocolate, creating a high percentage of cocoa butter using beans supplied from plantations around the world including Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, Venezuela, Cameroon, Peru, and Cuba.  His specialty bars come in a square box that contains 9 pieces each engraved with an alphabetic letter, collectively spelling out MARCOLINI.  The chocolate from each box is created from beans originating from a specific country.  The store also sells artisanal truffles either individually or in gift boxes.  We bought several of the boxed squares to take home as souvenirs and ate the cakes regularly during our Brussels stay.

We were very lucky to be in Brussels and staying near the Galeries Royales St-Hubert during the week when it was celebrating its 170th birthday with a nightly LED light show accompanied by live piano music.  The orchestral music performed the night that we were there was Hungarian composer Franz Liszt’s 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, composed in 1847, the year that the shopping arcade was inaugurated.  We heard the music from afar as we were returning from dinner and got there in time to catch the finale of the light show.  The beautiful glass ceiling shimmered as it transitioned into different hues in time with the music.  This was truly a spectacular performance that we fortuitously caught on the final day of the celebration.

Located just a couple of blocks from our apartment, the Grand Place (or GroteMarkt in Dutch) is the major public square and one of the most visited tourist locations in Brussels.  It is home to the Gothic-styled Town Hall, first built in 1420 and added to throughout the 15th Century.  The Town Hall features a 315 foot tower and belfry topped by a gilded metal statue of Michael, the archangel and patron saint of Brussels, slaying a dragon.  The tower and entryway to the hall is asymmetrically positioned with the width of the building to the right of the tower measuring noticeably less than the width to the left, an oversight that supposedly angered the architect.  The various windows are of different shapes and sizes since they were added by different people over the years.  Across from the Town Hall is the “Bread House”, one of the many elegant guild houses that line the square.  The Bread House (Broodhuis) was built on the site of the former bread markets and currently houses the Museum of the City of Brussels.  In one of the paths leading out of the Grand Place can be found a monument featuring a reclining bronze sculpture of Everard t’Serclaes, a citizen of Brussels who led a group of patriots in reclaiming their city after it had been captured by the Flemish army in 1356.  According to legend, if you rub the figure of t’Serclaes or the little dog at his feet, then you will have good luck and will return to Brussels.

The Guilds of Brussels were associations of craftsmen, artisans and merchants that collectively marketed their wares in the Grand Place (also known in Dutch as the GroteMarkt).  As the guilds increased in power, they built palatial buildings around the perimeter of the square, many of which still stand today although they had to be rebuilt or restored several times over the centuries after being damaged by war and fire.  The House of Brewers, noted for the gold sculpture of a horseman at its pinnacle, is now the home of the Beer Museum.  The house with the frieze depicting a white swan in front was once the Weaver’s Guild.  The ground floors of many of these guild houses have been converted into modern stores, coffee shops and restaurants.  A plaque in front of one of the stores proudly proclaims that “Victor Hugo lived here”.

We arrived in Brussels and visited the Grand Place on the last day of “Catalan Week” and got there just in time to watch a performance of “La Dansa de la Gala de Campdevànol”, an ancient ceremonial dance thought to be a celebration of the abolishment of feudal rule by Ferdinand II in the 17th Century.  The leader of the dance (the capdancer) is dressed in a long black coat and top hat while six couples are more colourfully clad with the women in floral skirts, aprons and shawls while the men wear vests, breeches, and sandals.  A live orchestra sat on the side and provided the music while the crowd formed a circle around the dancers.  This was an unexpected treat to start off our visit to Brussels, but we were not clear what the Belgian connection to Catalonia was?

I love sculptures and much to my delight, the public squares adjacent to our apartment were full interesting examples of them.  In the tree-lined Place de l’Agora is a bronze sculpture of Charles Karel Buls, former mayor of Brussels from 1881-1899, who was responsible for mandating bilingual street signs in Dutch and French.  The sculpture perfectly recreates his magnificent beard and includes the depiction of his dog playfully jumping onto his lap.  When walking downhill towards our apartment from the Brussels Central Train Station through Place d’Espagne, we caught sight of a beautiful view of the spire of the Town Hall in the horizon, with two sculptures directly in line in the foreground.  Mounted up high on a pedestal is a rendering of Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza, characters from the 1605 novel by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes.  With his arm outstretched, it seems like Don Quixote is hailing the sculpture below, a bronze by Bela Bartok (1945) of a slender man with downcast eyes and his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.  On Rue de l’Ecuyer, just north of the Galeries St-Hubert, is the whimsical modern sculpture of a female cat(?) in a bright pink tank top and black short shorts riding a bicycle.  The 2005 sculpture, made of polyester and metal, is called La Cycliste" by Alain Séchas but is colloquially known as “La Chatte à Bicyclette”.  It is interesting to note that at least in this area, the street names are mostly in French as opposed to Dutch.

The 6-hectare Botanical Garden of Brussels was originally built from 1826-29 to be part of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium before that institution moved to the neighbouring suburb of Meise in 1958.  It features a large domed orangery, French-style gardens, tree and floral-lined walking paths, fountains and sculptures. No longer the centre for botanical and horticultural preservation, since 1984 the former orangery has been used as a cultural centre called La Botanique, where concerts, art exhibitions, film screenings and other cultural events are held.  The lush grounds still remain as a popular public park for strolling or jogging.

One of the oldest gardens in Brussels, the Botanical Garden boasts 52 sculptures, created between 1894 and 1898.  This was a project overseen by two well-known sculptors, Constantin Meunier and Charles van der Stappen, as part of a larger initiative by the Belgian state to beautify the space which also included fountains and electrical lighting. The bronze sculptures have all turned green with age and feature renderings of labourers at work and various animals including an eagle, oxen, fish and an alligator devouring a snake.  We stumbled on this beautiful garden by chance while exploring the area en route to the Hotel Metropole where we planned to have a drink.

Built in 1890, the Hotel Metropole is the only 19th Century hotel still in operation in Brussels today, offering 262 rooms, 22 spacious suites, conference and meeting rooms, a café, bar, and a restaurant.  It was one of the first luxury hotels to install electricity and central heating.  Starting at 250 Euros per night, it was too expensive and too far from the touristy areas for us to stay here, but we thought it would be fun to visit the bar to have a drink and some snacks.  The lounge/bar is elegantly decorated with Corinthian columns, rich red banquet benches, gilded ceilings, and ornate chandeliers. This was the location where the Black Russian (vodka & coffee liquer) was invented in 1949.   It was such a cool ambience being in this bar.  Both the décor and the waiters dressed in the old classical style  made you feel like you were entering a time warp. 

Rich had a beer from a Brussels Brewery called Brasserie de la Senne, named after the River Zenne which flows through the city.  I had a Finley Orange Spritz mocktail, which tasted more or less like orange fizzy pop, possibly imitating an Aperol Spritz but without the alcohol.  Considering that we were in such a fancy hotel, the appetizers were relatively inexpensive, ranging from 5-7 Euros.  We had some onion rings, croquettes, mini sausages with a mustard sauce, cheese cubes and a variety of olives.

After our drinks and snacks, we wandered into the lobby for a look and also peeked into one of the conference rooms.  The hotel reception desk was created by re-purposing the wicket windows of a former bank.  The ceilings of the lobby area featured stained glass windows, ornate paneling and more chandeliers.