Back in Brussels, again!

Today, I took the train to Brussels for a long weekend of work and fun. It is such a pleasure t to travel by train. Comfortable, quiet (compared to airplanes) and best of all – with a lovely landscape swooshing by outside the window.

Of course, it is also a pleasure to arrive to my old hometown Brussels and meet up with old friends. First out was Brian, who we got to know in Jerusalem. He was here temporarily before going back home to the US, so I was lucky to catch him.

We met at Place Jourdan for lunch at Friterie Chez Antoine, allegedly Brussels best frites-place. Next stop was one of my favourite little secrets in Brussels - the bar inside the airplane hall in the Military History Museum. You sip your Chimay literarily under a Junker 52 airplane, and with lots of more planes all around you. Excellent!

In the afternoon, we headed to my other favourite bar in town, the brilliant Moeder Lambic. This is a very relaxed neighbourhood bar on a corner in St Gilles. But they happen to have a mind-blowing selection of good Belgian beer (we’re talking hundreds of different ones here) as well as very knowledgeable staff. They also have some pretty pungent cheeses.

At Moeder Lambic, we were joined by Henrik, an old friend from the Sea Cadets that I last met 1987 or so. Now, he works at the European Commission and lives in Brussels. Later on, Marianne, Dagens Nyheters Brussels Correspondent, joined us, as well as Sara (who used to be a freelance here, but just started a new job within the press service at the European Parliament). Last in was Teresa. And, oh yes, an Irish friend of Brian showed up as well. All in all, we were a merry bunch sampling the delights of Belgian master brewers and talking about everything from old times to foreign politics and the relation between man and woman. A great evening!