Brussels,
Belgium
Including the Military Museum and Autoworld
2001
The Arch at Cinqauntenaire
Park (150 years)
The Grand-Place is the large
town square in the center of Brussels.
Each spring, almost a million
begonias decorate the square in a large “carpet”.
The Grand-Place. There are several cafes around the square to
enjoy a
Belgian beer or a fine meal.
Another ornate building on
the Grand Place.
Walking the narrow streets
of the Brussels market area.
There are lots of seafood
restaurants in the market area.
Many tempt the passers-by
with elaborate displays.
A close-up of the previous
restaurant’s seafood display.
Shellfish are very popular
here!
Another seafood restaurant.
I found this restaurant on
my first trip to Brussels.
A friend from the band
joined me for some seafood (expensive!!).
When we went back to Brussels, Spencer decided to enjoy some of the famous
seafood cuisine. He even ate
a snail -- and liked it!!
One of the most famous
landmarks in Brussels is the Manneken Pis.
This replica (the original from 1619 was stolen) of a small boy doing what small boys often do was to be removed by the civil authorities, but tourists and residents strongly objected.
Here, a group of Asian tourists pose for a picture with the famous boy.
The Manneken Pis.
The popular theory behind
the statue is that it is Belgium’s way of showing displeasure
with the rest of the world
by peeing on it.
There are over 500
ceremonial costumes the Manneken Pis wears on different occasions.
There is even a Santa Suit
for Christmas! Here, he is adorned with the suit of a
Brussels municipal street
cleaner.
St. Michael’s Cathedral in
downtown Brussels.
A side entrance to St.
Michael’s Cathedral.
Inside the sanctuary of St.
Michael’s Cathedral.
A stained glass window at
St. Michael’s Cathedral.
Just walking along the
sidestreets of Brussels.
Brussels apartments on our
walk out to the Cinquantinaire Park and the
Military Museum and
Autoworld.
Another view of the
Cinquantinaire Arch.
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Brussels Autoworld Museum
and
Brussels Military Museum
To the right of the
Cinquantinaire Arch is the Autoworld Museum.
Inside is a collection of
cars and motorcycles from European and around the world.
Another view of the inside
of Autoworld.
1906 Fondu – A Russian
design.
1910 Minerva. This car
belonged to the Belgian Court in the days of King Arthur.
1930 FN. The body coachwork consists of hand-carved
wood and hand-formed aluminum.
This car was made at the
request of the Shah of Persia.
1952 Bugatti Type 57.
A rear-quarter view of the
1952 Bugatti Type 57. Quite stylish for
a ’57, eh?
Volkswagen now owns the
Bugatti name, and is coming out with a new model with
a V-16 engine for about
$400,000.
OK, can you name this car by
looking at its trademark tailfin?
Yes, it’s a 1959 Cadillac El
Dorado.
No airbags here, just lots
and lots of steel and chrome up front to protect you.
1959 Cadillac El Dorado.
One of the first Yuppie
cars? You’ll understand when you see the
next picture.
Note the steering wheel that
folds out along with the door!
Can you imagine a head-on
collision with the ’59 Cadillac in the previous pictures?!
(From the previous
picture) Does the emblem look familiar?
It’s a 1962 BWM Isetta. Powered by a 298cc engine (that’s about 1/5
the size of the engine in a
Toyota Tercel), and built
under license from the Italian Iso design.
It was very popular.
In addition to cars, the
museum also has quite a collection of old hubcaps.
Everything here from Rolls
Royce to Fiats.
Here’s an interesting car.
It’s a 1952 Messerschmitt 3-wheeler. As
you may remember ,
Messerschmitt was a
manufacturer of German fighter planes in WW II.
After the war, the company
reverted to making cars. The passenger sat behind the driver in an
airplane-style seating
arrangement, and with an airplane style canopy overhead.
It was powered by a small
air-cooled engine in the rear.
A front view of the 1952
Messerschmitt.
And now, let’s move across the
street to the Military Museum.
The Brussels Military Museum
features a large hangar with a variety of aircraft.
A German WW I fighter plane.
A WW I Sopwith Camel.
This radial engine on an
early plane was very well restored.
The MiG-15 was Russia’s
first successful jet fighter. It was
matched against the famous F-86 Sabre from the USA in the Korean War in the
world’s first jet-to-jet dogfighting. (Actually, the F-80 Shooting Star was the
first, but was soon replaced by the popular F-86.) The American Sabre was clearly the winner, with 14 MiGs shot down
for every Sabre lost in battle. Top
speed was 1,100 km/hr (about 675 mph).
10 years later (1958 – a
very good year!), the Russians were flying their new MiG-21 “Fishbed” fighter.
Top speed had improved to
Mach 2.1 (about 1500 mph).
By 1975, the Russians were
flying the MiG 23 “Flogger”. At least
the nickname sounds more intimidating than the previous plane (“Fishbed”). Top speed was Mach 2.5, about 1700 mph)
A close-up view of some of
the MiG 23 weapons.
In addition to the military
aircraft, there is also a collection of homemade airplanes.
In addition to the
airplanes, the Military Museum features uniforms, weapons, and
other stuff from military
history.
They even had a display of
military band uniforms and instruments.
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Once we finished our
sightseeing of Brussels, we headed back to the hotel.
In the field outside our window
was a herd of deer and several chickens.
Hope you enjoyed Brussels!