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We had been looking forward to the arrival of September since earlier in the year when we had managed to book a four-week house & pet sit for the whole of the month in Brussels, Belgium!

Brussels is not a new city for us, we have visited many times before but in the past, only ever for short, party weekends.

I am ashamed to admit that, before now, all our time in this beautiful city has been spent either inside bars, nightclubs or hotel rooms!

However, the time eventually had arrived for us to change all that.

The month started with our first-ever journey on the Eurostar…

The Eurostar

As UK northerners, catching the Eurostar train has never really been a viable option when travelling around Europe.

The initial issue of us having to get from Manchester to London to be able to start the journey always put us off giving it a go. Too expensive, too time-consuming, and frankly, all a bit too much of a faff.

For this reason, we both remain Eurostar virgins…..

Until now!

For the past fifteen years having lived one stop on the trainline to Manchester Airport. When travelling anywhere abroad, this has always been, by far our most convenient starting point.

This time however was different. At the end of August, having just finished a house sit in Brighton. Our location now meant we had a choice of how to get from the UK to Belgium.

We could either fly out of Gatwick Airport or take the Eurostar out of London St Pancras train station.

Either option from Brighton was very convenient for us.

Mainly for the novelty factor, we plumped for the Eurostar and what a success it turned out to be. We loved the whole experience from beginning to end.

In all honesty, what was not to like?

The train from Brighton to St Pancras was a breeze, we didn’t have to worry about the weight of our luggage, we went through security in minutes, no issue with liquids, the Eurostar train seats were comfortable, and it was cheaper than flying!

Altogether far less stressful than flying.

Two very comfortable hours after leaving London we arrived in Brussels. Raring to go and raving about our new-found mode of transport.

I know we are very late to the Eurostar party but it gets a big thumbs up from us. We will definitely be using it again as often as possible.

The House Sit

We are often asked which has been our favourite house sit to date.

Honestly, it is a really hard question to answer as different house sits are good, and of course bad, for different reasons.

We keep a record of all the house sits we do on the ‘our stay diary’ page of this blog.

This particular sit was to be our 45th, and instantly jumped high on our favourites list.

We were staying in a lovely two-bedroom apartment, in a nice area of an amazing city with two very easy-to-care-for cats. Win-Win-Win-Win.

Even the sun put its hat on for us. In total contrast to the dreadful weather we had last month in Brighton September brought us an unexpected, but much-appreciated mini heatwave.

The Cats

Beastie isn’t half as bad as her name might suggest.

When we first arrived she was really shy. It was only on the second day that she eventually appeared from beneath the settee to say hello.

She continued to be wary of us for a few days but within a week had gained enough confidence to sit close to us.

From then on, she continued to be a very friendly ball of energy for the whole month!

Snowy was the second cat in the household. She and Beastie didn’t fight but they weren’t the best of friends either.

We only managed to catch them together to grab a photo once during our four-week stay – and that was a bit of a fluke!

Snowy, I am sure you won’t be surprised to hear, is snow white. She is also extremely photogenic!

She is completely deaf. A very laid-back cat who slept on her favourite chair for much of the day.

We did have to be careful only to approach her from the front so that she could see us coming.

We were told that she was once lying on the window sill and jumped out of the 2nd-floor window when startled by Beastie creeping up on her from the rear.

Luckily, she still had all nine lives intact at that point so she landed on her feet with no serious damage done.

Julie, the homeowner, had netting attached to all the windows after that incident!

Sightseeing

For sightseeing, much like Snowy, we had fallen on our feet with this house sit!

The location could not have been better. Just outside the noise and touristic chaos of the city centre but minutes walk to the tram stop to take us there, and further afield when we wanted.

We were determined to make the most of our time here and had a long list of things that we wanted to see and do.

The Museums of the Far East

A ten-minute walk from our house sit was a really lovely public garden that is the home of The Chinese Pavillion and also The Museum of Japanese Art. Just across the road from these stands the imposing Japanese Tower.

These three buildings collectively, are known as The Museums of the Far East

Unfortunately, all three museums are currently closed as part of a major refurbishment scheme which meant that we could not visit inside. However, it was still possible to walk around the buildings and, as they are located amidst the park surroundings of the royal estate at Laeken they were well worth a visit.

The trio of museums were built here at the beginning of the 20th century at the request of King Leopold II.

When open, the museums between them display a remarkable collection of porcelain, silverware, furniture, ceramics, folding screens, weapons, calligraphy, and engravings of the Far East dating from the 17th to 19th century.

Temporarily, all the exhibits are being stored at the city Art & History Museum.

La Fontaine de Neptune (The Fountain of Neptune)

Located on a square of land a few meters from the Museums of the Far East stands La Fontaine de Neptune.

This bronze statue, standing on a stone base represents the God of the Sea, Oceans and Water.

It was placed here in February 1904, once again, by request of King Leopold II who had a cast made of the original Neptune Fountain by the sculptor John of Bologna

The original was designed between 1563 and 1567 for the Piazza del Nettuno in Bologna.

The Atomium

A further twenty-minute walk from The Neptune Fountain, located on the Heysel Plateau in Laeken. is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, The Atomium,

The Atomium was constructed for the 1958 World’s Fair and is built in the shape of a body-centred cubic iron crystal. It was built to honour the metals industry and celebrate the atomic age.

At 102 metres (335 ft) tall, the Atomium is one of the tallest structures in Belgium. When it was built, it was the sixth, largest built metal structure in the world.

It has nine 18-metre-diameter (59 ft) stainless steel-clad spheres which are connected in the shape of a unit cell that represents an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

The spheres are connected by 20 tubes and the whole monument stands on 3 pillars.

Five of its huge spheres are open to the public. A combination of escalators and stairways will take you to a museum, restaurant, art centre, and exhibition centre.

Not forgetting the magnificent views over the skyline of Brussels.

It also makes a fantastic backdrop for a photo opportunity!

The Manneken-Pis (The Peeing boy)

There are many famous landmarks within the city of Brussels.

One of the most famous is the statue of The Manneken-Pis or ‘The Peeing Boy’.

The statue of the peeing boy is the source of water on a fountain and is located on the corner of an ordinary street in the city centre. Most tourists seem to stumble upon it rather than go looking for it intentionally.

The statue is rarely naked nowadays. It has become a tradition to dress him in different clothes regularly.

With an estimated thousand different costumes to choose from you are unlikely to see him wearing the same outfit twice!

There are numerous legends about this little man and why he is peeing.

The most popular story tells how the little peeing boy saved the city.  

Many years ago Brussels was attacked by enemies. Before retreating, they put gunpowder under the city, lit the fuse, and fled.

A little boy saw the burning fuse and peed on it to put out the flame, saving the city from certain destruction.  Hurray!!

Another popular story is that a witch once caught a young boy peeing on her door. To punish him, she cast a spell which turned him into a statue.

Whatever you believe, The Manneken Pis is without doubt, the most famous statue in the city, and one of the city’s most visited attractions.

The statue is thought to have occupied this location since approximately 1618.

The Grand Place

The Grand Place, or ‘Grote Markt’ in Dutch, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is considered to be one of the most beautiful squares in Europe and is a must-see destination for anyone visiting Brusells.

This central square of the city is surrounded on all four sides by beautiful, historic buildings.

The main building in the square is the Town Hall which stands 100 metres tall. On the top is a five-metre statue of Saint Michael killing a demon. Other buildings include museums, shops and restaurants.

The buildings around the square were built at various times. Most of the public buildings are from the 15th century and others, that show the Baroque architecture are of the 17th century.

Located close to the Brussels Town Hall is the King’s House (Maison du Roi) which houses the Museum of the City and is well worth a visit. It contains many interesting exhibitions about the history of the city. Visiting this museum also allows you to see inside one of the great buildings of the Grand Place, allowing you the opportunity to fully admire the architecture and interior design.

Many events take place throughout the year at the Grand Place

Every other year, a hundred volunteers take six hours to assemble a large flower carpet in the centre of the square as part of its calendar of regular cultural events.

Unfortunately, we did not get to see the flower carpet. However, our visit did coincide with ‘Folklorissimo’ or the Festival of Folklore.

This is an annual festival celebrating the folklore and legends of Brussels, much of which includes Giants!

It was quite a spectacle to see and involved lots of singing, dancing, and general merriment from an assortment of giants!

No car Sunday

Another annual event in Brussels is ‘No Car Sunday’ which is, well, exactly what it says!

On one Sunday each year, no cars are allowed on the roads of Brussels and all public transport is free to use! What a great idea!

We went into the city on the day and the roads had been taken over by cyclists and runners!

It’s probably just a drop in the ocean as an environment saver but was amazing to experience being in a major city with no traffic. Even If it was only for one day.

Brusells has proved it can be done so how wonderful would it be if every city in the world followed their lead. Would once a month be too much to ask?

Meeting Other House Sitters

During our stay in Brussels, we were contacted by Nan and Dan.

These are two full-time house sitters from the USA who are currently on a European house-sitting adventure. They were sitting in a city just outside Brusells so we arranged to meet up with them in the city one sunny, Sunday afternoon.

We always enjoy meeting other pet and house sitters. This turned out to be a particularly lovely afternoon.

The following day Dan and Nan were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and neither had been to Brussels before so we spent the afternoon in full tourist mode.

Wandering the streets, visiting as many sights as possible then finishing the day with a lovely lunch sharing food and house-sitting stories.

During our wandering, we came across the Royal Galleries of Saint Hubert.

This is an ensemble of three breathtakingly beautiful glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels. Consisting of the King’s Gallery, the Queen’s Gallery and the Princes’ Gallery

The galleries dates back to the 1850s. It are lined with high-end shops, cafes, and restaurants and makes for one of the best locations in Brussels for a great photograph! 

Happy anniversary Dan and Nan!

Meeting Friends

A Greek friend of ours, Dimitris, also happened to be in Belgium during September.

He had visited Brussels before recently so suggested we visit another city in Belgium. We agreed on Bruges as our day trip destination.

None of us had been to Bruges before and as it was just over a one-hour direct train ride, North West from Brussels, it was very easy to get to.

I’m not sure exactly what we were all expecting from Bruges but it’s safe to say we were all very pleasantly surprised. Bruges is beautiful!

It is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe with many buildings dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Walking through the medieval cobblestone streets, stepping aside to let horse-drawn carriages pass by really gave a feeling of stepping back in time.

Add to that, the winding canals and beautiful buildings make Bruges an incredible, picture-perfect, place to visit

The sun continued to shine during the day we visited allowing us to spend a great day together wandering the streets aimlessly, checking out the shops and outdoor markets and sampling the incredible selections of Belgian chocolate and beer on offer.

Beer is a big part of Flemish culture, and there were plenty of places to sample one here. We stumbled upon a bar with a very impressive selection of over 140 varieties of beer to choose from.

It was all a little overwhelming – I’m only used to being asked “Carling or Stella”

All in all, beautiful Bruges is a grand day out!

Meeting Family

The name Antwerp is Flemish. Confusingly, because Antwerp has three official languages, the city name is also seen on signs around the city as Anvers (French) and Antwerpen( Dutch).

We have a nephew, Stavros, who moved here with his girlfriend, Dimitra, for work, two years ago.

As we were staying so close, it seemed rude not to pay them a visit.

Antwerp is another very easy destination to get to from Brussels.

This time a one-hour direct train North.

We have been to Antwerp before, so are well aware Antwerp Central train Station is one of the most beautiful train stations in the world.

Why then, we did not notice when we got off the train one stop early by mistake I’ll never know.

We were slightly early arriving so sat patiently waiting for Stavros and Dimitra to arrive. In a fairly drab cafe, in a very drab local train station.

When they did arrive, after some confusion as to where we were, shamefully we had to admit our ‘elderly uncles’ mistake.

Then wait for the next train to take us one more stop to our correct destination.

On our second attempt, we eventually arrived at Antwerp Central.

With its two neo-baroque facades, a large metal and glass dome that’s nearly 200 feet high, and a gilt and marble interior, it is easy to see why this train station is also known as the railroad cathedral.

It truly is a magnificent building. Just to see the Train Station is a good enough reason to visit Antwerp in itself!

Following the dodgy start to the day, I am glad to report that the day got much better from then on!

Stavros and Dimitra have settled well into their new home and were eager to show us around the city, taking us to new places that we had never visited before.

Stavros had studied the history of Antwerp. It was as if we had a local tour guide showing us around. We were very impressed with his local knowledge – for a foreigner!

Antwerp is a Flemish city and boasts once being the home of the Baroque artist, Ruben, having the world’s fifth-largest port, three official languages, amazing medieval streets, a vibrant diamond trade, Renaissance monuments, one of the oldest zoos in the world, a lively nightlife, and some great coffee shops – or so Stavros told us!

Also on our whirlwind tour of the city, we learned how Antwerp got its name.

Legend (and Stavros) says there was once a giant named Antigoon who lived by the Scheldt River.

The giant demanded a toll from all those who crossed the river. If anyone refused to pay, he would chop off one of their hands and throw it into the river.

One day, a brave soldier, fought the giant and managed to cut off its hand, throwing it into the river.

Hence the name Antwerpen which comes from the Dutch translation of ‘to throw a hand.’

There is a statue outside the Town Hall depicting the legend of how the city got its name

To end the day we were taken to the rooftop terrace of the MAS museum (Museum on the stream).

Here, nine floors up, you are treated to the best views of the city, river, and port. 

Then we just found time to grab an ice cream before heading to the station for our journey back to Brusells.

The perfect end to a perfect day.

Where next?

We loved our stay in Brussels. Spending a whole month in a city is infinitely better than the odd weekend here and there which is what we have always done before.

We seem to have packed quite a lot into the month but it has not felt too hectic.

The weather has helped. The constant sunshine throughout September has given our stay here a feeling of being on holiday.

Let’s hope it stays for our busy month of October

Next Stop, London & Manchester!

Until then, as always, thanks for reading.

Hugs, Colin & Karyo xx