Today I got my first chance to take a long walk. Since I’m going to the center city tomorrow I stuck closer to home today, exploring a few of the neighborhoods near where I’m staying. My most general first impression is that people here must greatly value green space. There’s another little (or not so little) park every time you turn around. Here are just the bigger or more notable ones I strolled along or through today:
Within a block of my apartment there’s the Jardin du Roi (Garden of the King, the King in question being Leopold II, 1835-1909, and thank heaven for google). This garden has curving paths, a small but beautiful perennial garden, a little sandbox/play area for kids, a statue of Leopold, and beautifully tended trees and shrubs, including a lush, 10-foot high holly hedge, something you’d never see in the cold climate of Maine.
Just down the hill from the Jardin du Roi are the two “ponds of Ixelles” (Ixelles being one of 19 political subdivisions of the Brussels Capital-Region, of which the actual City of Brussels is just one), which are also bordered by parkland and paths where people walk their dogs, push their babies in strollers, or (in one case, a young man I’ve seen every time I’ve walked that way) practice their street performer acts. These “ponds” are much much bigger than the duck ponds at Lake Shore Park (for you Ashtabula folks), but vastly smaller than Maranacook Lake (for those who’ve been to Readfield).
Past the south end of the southernmost pond is a much bigger park, the grounds of an old abbey (Abdij ter Kameren in Dutch, Abbaye de la Cambre in French) that now houses both a geographical institute and an art college.
Just down the hill from the Jardin du Roi are the two “ponds of Ixelles” (Ixelles being one of 19 political subdivisions of the Brussels Capital-Region, of which the actual City of Brussels is just one), which are also bordered by parkland and paths where people walk their dogs, push their babies in strollers, or (in one case, a young man I’ve seen every time I’ve walked that way) practice their street performer acts. These “ponds” are much much bigger than the duck ponds at Lake Shore Park (for you Ashtabula folks), but vastly smaller than Maranacook Lake (for those who’ve been to Readfield).
Past the south end of the southernmost pond is a much bigger park, the grounds of an old abbey (Abdij ter Kameren in Dutch, Abbaye de la Cambre in French) that now houses both a geographical institute and an art college. From the abbey/park I went back up to the main street, Avenue Louise (the one the office is on) and crossed over into a neighborhood that was more densely packed, still mostly with rowhouses but with narrower sidewalks and no treeline. I was just thinking that maybe the love of greenspace was more typical of my neighborhood than of the city as a whole when I came upon the most beautiful park yet, called Parc Tenbosch. Again there were curving walkways, beautiful trees and shrubs, and people of all ages enjoying themselves: some older men playing bocce, kids in a little playground area, couples talking seriously, people with dogs.
And over here, too, there was some sort of little monument and/or garden and/or set of pathways in pretty much every traffic island or circle.
Interspersed with garden- and people-watching, I snuck in a few practical agenda items. I found a store that sold me a sim card for the phone Cleo loaned me. Now I have 20 euros worth of phone time, which I expect to use mostly for local logistics and (the real reason I bought it at all) emergencies, of which I hope there are none. I also got a few groceries and established that I can find, and get home from, the nearest laundromat.
I am still a little shy about the language, but people I’ve asked for information or help have been friendly and helpful, and most know at least a little English. (Lucky for me.)
The weather was cool and cloudy -- just about perfect for walking.
More tomorrow.
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