Friday flight to Brussels from Chicago was brilliant. We
arrived Saturday before noon and traveled by train to Brux Noord train station
where we exited the east door of the station to Allard Str. We walked with our bags one block to Brabant
Str and turned LEFT to Rogier Str. This
path led us through the Morrocan neighborhood and away from the street adjacent
to the train station where women stood scantily clad advertising human
degradation. The Rogier Str was a steep
climb to Rue de Palais where the tram lines run. Then we turned left for a downhill path to
the Wellness Apart Hotel. The hotel had
plenty of space for 2 adults and 3 tweens.
Adults were on the bedroom on the backside of the building. The tweens
were on pull-out beds in the living room.
The couch and chair in the living room were difficult to use at this point,
but we were able to use the dinette table and 2 kitchen chairs. The galley
kitchen had a frig and stove. We put our
power strip here for charging phones.
The wi-fi was best at this spot in the kitchen. The shower, water temperature and water
pressure was fine.
“I
didn't think it would be this many hills.”
I was able to see from the plane a castle with
a moat and rectangular mirror pond, and then a village with an old church in
the center. There were many Turkish, Arabic, Dutch, and French signs. The weather
is same as Chicago. Butte lion with 1st
action packed narrated movie at the historic Waterloo Battlefield site.
We left the room right away for the train station again to
Brain A’llued for a taxi ride to the Battlefield of Waterloo. The tweens enjoyed the scavenger hunt
activity and the climb to Butte du Lion.
They enjoyed the panoramic indoor replica of the battlefield circa
1815. We toured quickly through the “wax
museum” and the lessons there were interesting from authentic uniforms, and
various archeological evidence collected over the years on this site. We walked back to the bus stop near a gas
station and waited successfully for the city bus which took us back to the
train station. There was a short wait
for the return train trip back to Brux Noord.
The walk up the hotel was good for keeping us awake and the Turkish
attendants at the hotel directed us just another short walk to several choices
of Turkish restaurants. This is the first time I've ever ordered my Turkish meal in
French. The first night was done.