More catch up - Brussels pg2 4-22-15

This is our first full day in Brussels and what are we faced with but, A STRIKE!  It turns out that all the train, bus and tram operators are having a 1-day greve, a strike.  So of course our 72 hours passes are now really 48 hour passes, luckily we have a hotel that is fairly central.   When we got out we found that managers were running a very truncated schedule and we were able to get a tram within a few blocks of our day's destination, the main historic area.   But, it also affects the museums because the museum employees can't get to work, so the one we want to see is closed today.  Drat! 

But making the best out of an irksome situation we decided to see the two historic cathedrals here.  Both begun during the middle ages, one gigantic and imposing and the other mid-sized and a bit more cosy ( if a vaulted cathedral can be cozy).   Our first was the large cathedral and it was impressive, very large, but interestingly the upper windows were damaged during some conflict and have been replaced with clear glass,  quite bright and very clean.  The nave has larger than life sculptures of saints adorning each of the pillars, and there is currently an exhibition of P. Debatty hung between the pillars down the length of the nave as well.   Heathen that I am, I was most impressed by three bell clappers that were on the floor in one of the side chapels. I can't help it I love to see what workers in earlier times were creating.   

                                  See the clapper at the base of the sculpture






detail of clapper (2 meters long), with the other ones in the upper left


After another noteworthy lunch, this time at Orphyse Chausette (I'm guessing at this translation: Orpheus Socks), this one rated as one of the top 200 restaurants in Brussels.   And definitely worth a visit, again around 30 places and hard to get a dinner reservation.  But lunch worked out perfectly for us.  We picked it based on a sign in the window that says they are part of the "Slow Food" movement, but pure chance to have seen that.

After lunch, the smaller cathedral was next on the list.  Very old and it's claim to fame is they had a virgin who was delivered to the cathedral by a woman who stole it from another city and floated it upstream without the aid of sails.  Lots of stained glass and lovely side chapels.  We got an impromptu organ recital from the organist, likely practicing before the evening mass.  This has an original Van Der Weyden, but it's extremely difficult to see as it's up high and in an obscured corner. 

The side chapels were wooden with faux stone paneling and quite lovely.

Deb was tired so I went out for dinner by myself, intending to have famous Belgian moules (mussels)and frites.  I researched online and found a restaurant that had a top 10 rating for moules and headed out.  A 15 minute walk had me in and ordering a great beer and moules, only to be told that the season for moules has passed!  Damn these European strikes, even the moules take part!  So I ended up with a nicely grilled chicken and frites.   An easy walk back to the room and the end of another nice day.