Lost luggage; Rain; and Still Brussels Shines! 1/5/2019

Saturday Evening. Brussels

So, the luggage has not been located and the likelihood that it will be found is getting slimmer. They said that if it’s not located within 48 hours of our landing (It’s now about 36 hours), then it will be considered totally lost. We’re trying to be hopeful, but I think now that I understand how this luggage tracking works, it’s highly unlikely. Essentially, what we know is that we got a baggage claim check in Dar es Salaam and we saw it go on a conveyor belt (even had one of those very impressive VIP tags that the desk put on when we handed them the bag). But it was never “scanned into the system” as having been put onto a plane and definitely not onto any SwissAir flight. So it seems as if it’s either still at the Dar es Salaam Airport or its somewhere on the streets of Dar (probably being sold on the street to the highest bidder.)

Frankly, when someone opens up the bag they will be mostly disappointed – yes, they will find American clothing (lots of REI stuff), shoes, etc. – but they will also find lots of purchases of wonderful crafts made by different NGOs in each of the countries we visited. Don’t think that will be so appealing if it’s found in Africa. If they dig far enough and open lots of zippers they might find some American money and they will also find keys to our house and to Mike’s car and to his office… so if that person makes a trip to Oakland they will be able to find a nice place to stay!

Anyway, our two days here in Brussels have been great, despite the sadness over losing all of the physical reminders of the trip and the constant rain (drizzle and mist).

We arrived in Brussels at 9 am on Friday morning after having flown through the night and changed planes at 6 am in Zurich. Took about an hour to deal with the lost bag, and then we headed to the hotel: Le Dixseptiembre – a small place very well located. Mike immediately went to sleep and I showered and walked to the MIMA (Museum of Iconoclastic Modern Art), which focuses on graffiti and graphics. They had a show of protest graphics of the 60s and 70s, which turned out to be predominantly American posters – anti-war, ant-nuke, environment, etc. And although 1968 was a tumultuous year around the globe, most of the imagery was American. The walk to and from the museum (which is across a canal and in a neighborhood that is clearly gentrifying and filled with artist spaces) provided a good cross section of the city.

I met up with Mike at the central square in front of the Grand Palace and we strolled around, with the air wafting of Belgian waffles. There were tons of people – visitors and locals – strolling around in spite of the constant drizzle and mist. It was about 40 degrees.

Then we headed to Le Petits Oignons for a great dinner: snails with mushrooms and tarragon and other spices; Linguini with mullet botargo (roe) and organic lemon; steak tartare with pommes frites; and for dessert – panna cotta with fruit. We strolled back to the hotel and collapsed (but did turn on CNN to get a sense of what we are returning to).

Today we headed to a neighborhood about 3 miles from the hotel (walked) to the Saint Gilles area which is known for having a good many art nouveau buildings. First however we headed to a tiny little restaurant called L’Espicier.. It seats about 22 people and only serves lunch and it is just one meal, no choices. The woman who owns it, does the shopping at the market each day and decides what to cook, does all the cooking, serves the food, and cleans up..

The restaurant is only open from 11:30 to 2:30… We walked past it twice without noticing it, even though we were headed there and trying to find it. It’s about as simpler a place as you can find; used old wood tables; mismatched silverware; mismatched chairs. Food was fantastic.. simple French country home cooking.. all in one dish. Today it was some kind of pork sitting with potatoes and other vegetables. We had a nice red wine and for dessert there was a choice – chocolate cake or crepes; we tried both.

From there we strolled to an amazing shop called Le Typographie – where they have a workshop that does graphics and letterpress, and in the front they have a little shop that sells an amazing assortment of paper goods (some writing papers that they have letterpressed), and tools needed for writing; beautifully displayed, including a wall of the trays used to keep the old wooden letters for printing. And then we walked around the neighborhood to see the art nouveau facades, and finally wound up at the Horta Museum, located in the house that Victor Horta designed and lived in for his adult life.  As one of the earliest initiators of Art Nouveau, the house is a remarkable example of the detail and craftsmanship of the era, as well as art nouveau’s respect for shape derived from natural forms. But more, the building uses light in amazing ways. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed and you even need to surrender your iphone before walking through the house.

We started to walk back to the hotel, but the rain got worse so we jumped into a taxi and headed to the Magritte Museum, which is actually a building that houses three separate and distinct museums. We opted to just see the Magritte part. They have a wonderful collection of pieces I had never seen, as well as some of the familiar paintings. Best of all, they had several of Magritte’s “films” – all of which were hysterically funny.

We then walked back to the hotel in the rain (because it was really too close to take a taxi –only 8 minute walk. And then after calling SwissAir a few times in the hope of getting more information about the lost bag (without success) and headed to a restaurant we had read about called De Maurice a Olivier, which has a Michelin star. It was a 15-minute drive. When we got there, we thought the driver made a mistake since he pulled up in front of a somewhat trashy magazine store that sold all sorts of magazines and also candy, but the sign said “Librairie — Restaurant.” We peeked in and thought it was a mistake since all we could see were the magazines. But it was too late, the taxi was gone. So we walked in and lo and behold, behind the front section of the “magazine/candy store” is a wonderful French restaurant (so French that no one spoke any English). The meal was served beautifully and the food was fantastic.

I had some kind of ratatouille with escargot, followed by amazingly tender rare duck served with cooked and peeled pear, some vegetables and a shot glass of mushroom soup. Before the meal began, they brought out a selection of all sorts of tiny treats including a shot glass of cucumber soup, something avocado-y, two wonderful cherry tomatoes in a great olive oil and vinegar, and about five other morsels. We ended with flaming crème brulee. A great surprise meal.

Now I’m signing off for good — packing and sleeping take priority. We leave early in the morning… homeward bound. See you all in the Bay Area. We land around 11 pm tomorrow night (Sunday); can’t believe I’ll be at the office on Monday morning.

All the best –

Fern