GLORIOUS,MAJESTIC EUROPE-PART ONE.JOURNEY BEGINS

Although I have traversed the length and breadth of England umpteen times, strangely I had never visited Europe.
This time I was determined to visit Europe, so before leaving India I got my Schengan visa and also booked my trip to Europe with Cosmos Tours. Everyone laughed at me and said that I was going on an old people's tour!! Only old people go on conducted bus tours,was the common refrain. Anyway, I had the last laugh, as firstly, I do fit into the bracket of  "Old", and secondly the tour was fabulous. There were a lot of young people on the tour,and there were old people too. The  oldest in our group was 77 and the youngest was just turning 12!
Europe took me by surprise. I had always heard that Europe was very beautiful, but the degree of beauty was much beyond my expectations.
It was a long sojourn, where I went to six countries, and saw nine cities . This will therefore take some time to describe, as there is so much to write about. I will therefore write about each city separately.
Crossing the Channel from England, on a gloriously beautiful day of June was exciting. The White cliffs of Dover were behind me and the lovely port of Calais was in front of me, and a vast expanse of water was all around. I could not get Charles Dickens out of my mind. "A Tale of two Cities" and the Channel crossing was uppermost on my mind. Could I forget the feelings of Sydney Carton and Charles Darney? As it is I live in the past and love to visualise how things would  have been in the times gone by. I loved the Channel crossing. I also thought of Arati Saha and Mihir Sen who had swum across the Channel, Arati did not cross from Dover to Calais, still I did remember her. She was the first Indian woman to have swum across the Channel.
We entered Calais and went Eastwards to our first stop at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Strangely, there was no checking of passports! Calais, then the entry point into Belgium went past smoothly. No stopping, no checking!
The journey through France was beautiful. The French countryside was very pretty. It had beautiful small clusters of cottages,with red sloping roofs, strewn all over the undulating plains. Try to visualise the green of the plains and meadows, the white cottages with red roofs, clear blue sky on top, and it will be clear how breath taking it was. There were no smoke spewing chimneys, no factory sites,nothing to spoil the picture perfect setting of the place. After sometime came up some wind mills, these were very modern windmills, not like the ones that one has seen in the pictures of Holland. They were huge, sleek and meant to harness wind energy.
Belgium arrived with a simple sign on the road, welcoming us. No borders at all. Europe is amazing!There are no borders,no passport check, no Visa check, no long lines at immigration!!
I was surprised and delighted to see this peaceful co existence. Perhaps too many wars, loss of human life, and the resultant suffering has made them realise that borders and wars are meaningless.
The scenery changed gradually. The houses now also had black roof tiles. There were a lot of solar energy panels on a lot of houses. Farms started coming up. There were a lot of fields with crops, looked like wheat to me. We also saw a lot of farms with the Brussels sprouts and lots of other vegetable fields. There were a lot of cows and cattle grazing in the meadows.
Belgium is a monarchy.The main languages spoken here are  Dutch and French.Most people are Roman Catholics. There are a lot of atheists also. Brussels serves as capital of the European Union, hosting the major political institutions of the Union. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also have their main institutions in the city, along with many other international organisations such as the Western European Union, World Customs Organization and Eurocontrol.  The presence of the EU and the other international bodies has led to there being more ambassadors and journalists in Brussels than in Washington D.C.  Bayer,the pharmaceutical company also has a large presence here.
Brussels, the city is very beautiful. There are a lot of areas which are office complexes and therefore in the evenings they become deserted, as nobody lives here.Some  beautiful buildings and places worth seeing are Cinquantenaire park with its triumphal arch, (like the French Arc de Triumph), the Basilica of the Sacred Heart where Royalty gets married, Brussels Stock Exchange, the Palace of Justice and the buildings of EU institutions in the European Quarter.
Going towards the old city, one comes upon the Square, called "The Grand'Place" or Grote Markt or Market Square. All the buildings in the Square are very old and historical.This square is one of the most beautiful squares that I have seen.There are beautiful Guild houses,as well as the Town hall, and the King's house, in the Square.Some of them date back to the 15th century. There is a building called  The Swan  which is now a renowned restaurant "La maison du Cygne (house of the swan),  where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels stayed in 1847. Under the arcade of this building is a statue of Everard 't Serclaes, a medieval Brussels hero. Legend has it that striking the arm of the statue brings luck.The statue is therefore shining as everyone rubs it for luck.
The evening that we spent at the Market Square was  a memorable evening. There were a lot of roadside cafes near the square, which were full of happy people. There was a lot of group singing going on. People looked very happy indeed. There were a few people like jesters or pranksters moving around who were playing practical jokes. They would move from table to table, exchanging jokes and would also draw  people out  to dance. The happy scene of bon homie, group singing, thumping music and simply the joy of being together was quite contagious.It was a pleasure to watch their joie de vivre, and share the same with them.The food as expected, was delicious. The joy was delectable and the evening at Brussels was etched in my memory forever as a happy time!!

 Manneken Pis, is a famous bronze statue of a small boy relieving himself. There are a lot of stories which are circulated justifying it's existence. I only thought that the statue looked like a work of art, and was good. Brussels is famous for beer, I tried Cherry beer, which was delicious. There were beautiful pubs all around Manneken pis.The three things one must not miss in Brussels are Beer, waffles and fries. Mussels are also a delicacy which is a hot favourite here. The story goes around that, what we know as french fries are actually Belgian fries, as they originated in Belgium, when it was occupied by the French.


Brussels is also home to Tintin and a lot of other comic strips. They even have a museum to display the cartoons. Throughout the city, walls are painted with large motifs of comic book characters, and the interiors of some Metro stations are designed by artists. 

Some famous people born in Brussels are Audrey Hepburn, Liz Claiborn, Jean Claude van Damme, Hermes. Some people who worked here or completed books here are Alexander Dumas,Engels, Victor Hugo, Karl Marx. The fictional character Hercule Poirot was also Belgian.

Belgian glass,mirrors and hand made lace are also very famous. How can one forget the famous Belgian chocolates, the pralines, which are filled chocolates. It is said that a Doctor used to give bitter medicines wrapped in chocolates to his patients. The popularity of this style made him experiment with other fillings and today we have the praline chocolate. Brussels is full of chocolate shops with chocolate fountains. Imagine the aroma of the chocolates.Hmmmm, I guess I better stop here and take a chocolate break!!