BRUSSELS, BELGIUM AND WATERLOO

Wowee. Just when one thinks it can’t get any hipper in life, something exotic comes up. Yes. It seems that every two years the town of Brussels, Belgium, completely carpets its Gran Place with approximately 800,000 begonias for one weekend. We got word of it, and made our hotel reservations well in advance. We drove in late the Friday of the weekend. We were not disappointed. The floral display was not only immense, but also gorgeous. By day it was luminous in its natural state. In the evening it was lit up by perfectly placed lights complete with a jazz trio accompaniment. We befriended Louie, the manager of one of the two restaurants overlooking the Gran Place, and were thus able to photograph, and camcord, the spectacle, along with our brunch and dinner, which was of course accompanied by a sample “tray” of three Belgian beers. The Cinna Blonde was okay. I preferred the Dark Affligem. Naomi fell victim to the Cherry Beer. Hey, how often can one get a buzz from beer that tastes like cherry soda? Louie used to work in Winnemucca, Nevada. It’s one of those rare towns that makes Tombstone look like New York City. We swapped some “war stories” about Winnemucca, and generally had a good time. Brussels is known basically for its preparation on mussels, as well as being the home of Brussels Sprouts, and endive. Yes, endive. I didn’t know that either. Nonetheless, as they say, “Have your mussels in Brussels.” The Belgians call them “Moule.” They are fixed in a delightful broth, and served in the pot in which they are cooked. They also do their escargots that way. Both are fabulous.

After an entire day of ooooing and aaaahing over the flowers and food, yes, we also had the Belgian waffles and other neaty keen delights, while shopping for lace, etc., we decided to head out to visit the battle site of Waterloo. This was where Napoleon met his “Waterloo” on June 18, 1815. Over 300,000 combatants were involved in this titanic struggle.

We started our trek at the headquarters of the Duke of Wellington. It is now a museum. After going through it, we went across the street to the “Spanish Church,” which was built in the 1700s for the then Queen Isabelle. The reason for its construction was that she was unable to bear children, and the powers that were in the church at that time felt that if they had this church built, Isabelle would conceive. It was a no go. I guess G-d wasn’t into bribes of that nature at that time. At this point, we got back in our car and drove through the town of Waterloo to the actual battle site. On the way, we passed a couple of the chateaus that saw action that fateful day. The main reason that we passed these out-of-the-way chateaus was that we had gotten bogus directions from some of the locals.

Finally we arrived at the scene of the major battle, which is punctuated by a huge mound, 250 steps high, in the very center of where the conflagration took place. Atop the mound is a huge bronze statue of a lion. Before ascending the mound, we viewed a diorama of the battle, as well as a film depicting some of the battles within the battle, along with the large-scale skirmishes at the chateaus, which bore an eerily striking resemblance to the battle of the Alamo. Upon climbing to the top of the mound, we were able to view the entire scene, thus aiding our understanding of the enormity of the carnage. Between the Prussians, the British, and the rest of the countries that Napoleon had previously conquered, versus France, it was truly war on a grand scale. Upon descending the mound, we took a short walk down the street to Napoleon’s headquarters, which is now a tavern. After a brief time inside, we took our leave of Waterloo, and drove home. Thus we brought a weekend of yin and yang to a close. For a trip of culture and colossal carnage, these two towns fill the bill.