Christmas in Brussels Part 2

The plan for the following day was to revisit the Grand Place and the Manneken Pis followed by a stop at the Belgian Comic Strip Center.  As recommended by a travel wiki, brunch was served at the restaurant T Kelderke where I tried the Carbonnades flammandes à la Bière - quite good but really rather salty.  And I must say, they really like their frites in Belgium.

Christmas in Brussels

As the holidays near, I think its the perfect time to share some pictures and recollections of Brussels during the holidays last year in 2010.  Our flight was slated for Christmas Eve and suffice it to say, the week immediately before flying was rather nerve-wracking. News of airport closures and diverted flights all across northern Europe filled the news every single day while the media was flooded with horror stories of people stranded at airports waiting for days before making it home.

As departure day neared, I kept watch on developments in Brussels as the airport had run out of de-icing fluid due to various disruptions in the supply chain caused by the snowstorms. Fortunately, three days before departure, Brussel airport received sufficient de-icing supplies and the airport was reopened. As a last minute scare, the exact flight that took off the day before departure was diverted to an airport in Germany due to temporary closure of the airport. Luckily, everything went smoothly and I made it to Brussels in one go. Brussels Airport was actually quite quiet when we arrived although it was a bit disturbing to see a sea of suitcases sitting around no doubt due to the flight delays and cancellations. After getting out of the airport, this was one of the first scenes I encountered upon getting off the bus to reach my hotel in the Belgian capital's European Quarter near Schuman Metro station. In the background is the European Commission building.