A Weekend in Brussels, Belgium, to Check out BRAFA art fair

Brussels Art Fair BRAFA

Gare Du Nord, Brussels

I spent the weekend in Brussels to check out the Brussels Art Fair BRAFA. It was a very enjoyable experience, albeit one that began somewhat "violently." By that I don't mean literal violence, although it might as well have been.

My introduction to Brussels was not the scene you see to your left but the Gare du Nord, where I got off the train to connect to the Bus 20, which was to take me to BRAFA. And my goodness. This was not the most pleasant way to be introduced to the city. At all. Gare du Nord is a very, very bizarre, scary, dark, other-worldly venue. I felt like I had literally descended into hell, or, the twilight zone, at a minimum. I have literally never seen anything like this in any city I have lived including New York and Paris. Now I understand what Trump meant when he said there were parts of Brussels that is a "no go zone." I was one of those who chastised him for saying it but if he ever had the pleasure of passing through Gare du Nord, I understand why he thinks that.  Really, I think the city of Brussels can do better than what is happening in that metro. It is filled with characters who are absolutely lost. These people need intervention and the city needs to also clean up the metro! I never want to go back to the Gare du Nord in Brussels for the rest of my life.

I found myself literally running to the 20 Bus cause I saw it coming up the hill and I couldn't risk it leaving me in this place. I was completely traumatized. COMPLETELY. Panicked is probably a better word. I felt panic. Was the whole city like this, I wondered? If so, wtf did I just get myself into? I couldn't even stop to take a photo to show you what I mean. I just had to get out.

The bus driver on the 20 assured me that Gare du Nord was "special." He told me not to worry that the entire city of Brussels is not reflected in what I saw at Gare du Nord. And he was right. It did get infinitely better. The 20 dropped me off right across the street from BRAFA and this was very convenient.

BRAFA

So, BRAFA is quite an established art fair. The fact that I only heard about it this year is not a reflection of anything other than the fact that I am a total art virgin. I am just getting started with this stuff.  So you can imagine that I have never been to an art fair of this size and caliber so yes, I was impressed, totally blown away by it all. So many artworks!!! It was dizzying!

Yes, it was very posh. And yes, of course, there were some snobs there. Not as many as you might expect but I did see a few looking at me out of the corners of their eyes and there were a couple of mocking laughers too. But the overwhelming minority, majority, I should say, were highly evolved and could care less that the likes of me was there.

I did not care really, what anyone's opinion of me was. This is obviously not my typical response to these things but I really didn't care. So I must be getting old, or maturing or something. I just did not care. I had paid the price of admission and I was there because I wanted to see the art and that is precisely what I did and if there was anyone there who was perturbed by my presence, they just had to suck it up and deal with it.

With that attitude, for me, it really was a swell time. I enjoyed myself immensely. It was an education, it really was. I am lucky that I had the wherewithal to give myself permission to have that experience.

So, I briefly spoke with this American guy and he seemed not to be quite as impressed as I was. Our conversatioin went something like this:

Man: So what did you think?
Me: I was blown away! It was amazing! Why? What did you think?
Man grimaces.
Me: But then again, you must go to so many of these that you were not that impressed, is that it?
Man: Well, it is not that big. They have many others that are much bigger. I'm talking serious money, people flying in on private jets, that kind of thing.
Me: Ah, d'accord.
Man: The one at the Armory in New York. Have you been to that one? They run it, I think from Maastricht, they transplant it to New York. The Park Avenue Armory? You know that one?
Me: No, never even heard of it.
Man: TEFAF. You should look up TEFAF. This one is serious. Serious money, prices and everything. And there are others. This one is average. But it was fine. It was fine.
Me: Wow! It is the first one of its size I have ever been to, so I am a little bit impressed, I have to say. I found it amazing.

At this point, man's boyfriend showed up (I guess he had been off using the bathroom) and they prepared to leave. We said our goodbyes, wished each other well, I continued to browse around a little bit, snapped a few pics and then I left to catch the Bus to my hotel...

The Hostel

I said hotel in the last sentence above but I exaggerated. I had gone straight from the bus (Flixbus) to the art fair, so now I had to find my hotel Hostel.That was a trip. Don't even ask.  Don't even ask. It was difficult to circumnavigate Brussels transportation. Not enough is written in English (yes, I know English is not their language but still) and even so, there is no rhyme or reason that I can discern with their metros and buses. It seemed a labyrinth. I was so lost.

To be fair, I am not unconvinced that I am not a natural born traveler. I get very stressed out, very confused, very turned around, very lost, and very homesick, very quickly. I only stayed one night in Brussels and all I could think of was my own bed in Paris. And nothing was wrong with the bed in the hostel, it was very nice, very comfortable. But I wanted to go home. I did not want to sleep anywhere but in my own bed.

But I digress.

We are talking about the hostel. It was very, very nice and for the money, a great value. It is a very clean hostel, and very centrally located too. Quality Hostel Brussels Grand Place. I would highly recommend it. Really great value.

There were six beds in my room so I shared with six other girls. Three of them were a family - a mother and two daughters from Catalan. The first thing that was a bit hairy was they entered the room and the mother said in Catalan "she is in my bed." I did not understand, obviously, what she said so the daughter explained. But how could this be her bed? The woman at the front desk told me I could sleep in any of the six beds. When I entered no one was there and there was nothing on the bed indicating it was hers. How was I to know it was hers?

I smiled sweetly at them. The girls told the mother to let it drop. And she did. So that ended well but I realized that this could have been an issue under the wrong circumstances. If it had been a different set of people, for example, who had wanted a confrontation. I did not like that.

Plus, they were talking in Catalan for quite a bit and it got a little bit annoying. I am not used to sharing my room and space. I live alone and I love the silence. Especially at night, I only want to hear my own thoughts. They were yapping and yapping away in Catalan. Was this to continue the whole entire night, I wondered? And nothing against them because they were very nice even when telling me I was in their spot, but I need SILENCE!

I had to suck it up and deal. Eventually, they shut up. And fell asleep.

I had a good night's sleep, considering my homesickness. But I have to think long and hard about how I will do this in the future. The thing is, I have so many issues. I am issue-laden. I am afraid of being alone in hotel rooms, for example. Absolutely petrified. But then I have six room mates and that has its own set of problems. So what is it going to be, if I continue these travel adventures? Stay alone in hotel rooms or share rooms with others and risk them imposing their issues on me? It is something I will have to sort out.

BRUSSELS, THE CITY

What did I think of Brussels overall? Hm...it was a VERY nice place to visit. GORGEOUS. But I wouldn't want to live there necessarily, I don't think,  put it that way. I mean... I wasn't there long enough to really make an informed assessment. But based on what I saw, I think it is a GREAT place to visit but I will take Paris or New York as my base just because I think those cities better fit my needs. Although, who knows? I especially liked the center of town in the Grand Place area of Brussels.  Very charming and "European." And diverse. I really like that. Brussels is a lot more diverse than I expected and that is a good thing. They just need to do something about those migrants at the Gare du Nord. Those human beings need help.

So with that all being said, I have a new notch in my belt with Brussels. So I feel good. I bought a mug as a souvenir which I will use for breakfast tomorrow morning. Speaking of eating, I did not eat very much while in Brussels. I did not get to eat any of the famous Belgian waffles or even the hot chocolate they are famous for, for example. Why? Because...I did not want to do too much eating and drinking because...well, use your imagination. Some things I prefer to do chez moi. OK?

FLIXBUS

Okay. So, what are my thoughts of Flixbus? Well, I don't want to say I LOVE it. That would be too much enthusiasm and I need to know it better before I can make an informed judgment. But you know what? That was alright. It wasn't bad at all. I feel an addiction coming on, in fact. I may get used to traveling with this company. (You know how much I hate airplanes, right?) Yes, the bathroom at Paris Bercy was atrocious, like I said here. And this fact could really give you a bad first impression of FLIXBUS. But if you manage your body functions well by abstaining from eating and drinking 8 hours before your trip, you can eschew the bathroom and beyond that, this is not a bad way to travel at all.

 I could totally see myself doing this again. The price is unbeatable and the bus is very clean. Comfortable seats. The trip was quiet as far as other passengers so it was a little different from my experiences on; say, Greyhound. And to be fair, it is a much shorter trip from Paris to Brussels than from New York to Atlanta. But I would totally, totally, totally do this again. I am already thinking of my next trip. So many places that I would like to go!!! And this is the way I am going to do it!!! Can't wait!!!

Below, find some photos of my weekend in Brussels. Enjoy.