Brussel’s Sprouts, The Roots of a Travel Bug Gene
A lot of what a travel blog is, is the what. Highlighting what to do, what to see, and what to pack for a destination. Given that current global events don’t give much leeway to going out and determining what those “whats” are right now, I decided to take a short SkillShare class on “How to Write a Travel Blog When You’re Not Travelling.” One of the proffered ideas was interviewing someone you knew was very familiar with a destination, so I came up with the idea of interviewing my mom about her time spent abroad in Belgium as a teenager. Because she lived there from age 16-18, I thought she’d be a great resource for some “whats” of the country. I was simply searching for more information on what Belgian food, attractions, and customs made a lasting impression on her, but what I found in just a one-hour conversation with my best friend went so far beyond that. I learned more about my mom and in turn, more about myself.
And I learned more about the why of travel.
My mom moved to Waterloo, Belgium, just outside of Brussels in the seventies when her father’s work expanded to an international office. She knew she would finish out high school there and eventually move back to the States for college. My first question during our interview was a simple, “Did you travel anywhere else during your time living in Belgium?” Although there is obvious logistical ease of traveling to various countries while in Europe, I was still taken aback to hear my mom say, “Oh my gosh, I went all over,” then proceed to name a handful of destinations. England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Holland, and Austria, just to name a few.
My mom recounted a ski trip to Switzerland, where she stayed in a chalet with her classmates. She spoke about a family trip to Madeira, a resort island off the coast of Africa where she spent Christmas with no clothes (someone stole all their luggage in the airport). She painted the scene of Paris, where “they seemed to take pleasure in the littlest things that they did. It really appeared that they lived life,” especially compared to lifestyles in the US.
As we went on discussing each one of those destinations, a resounding theme echoed from my mom’s dialogue. While my curiosity was peaked on what my mom saw (Did she go to the Colosseum? Did she climb the Eiffel tower??), she stated that her most notable adventures were not “must-sees” in a destination (though she did see them), they were the people that were involved in the trip and the experiences they shared. It was the debauchery and guttural laughter among her classmates in that chalet. The memory of suntanning with her sister in my grandpa’s shirts, pinned at the crotch because bathing suits were inordinately expensive on that resort island, but the sunshine was all-encompassing and free. It was sitting in a café in Paris, away from other tourists and immersed in true Parisian culture, regarding how they savored the simplicities of the day.
When my mom spoke about her younger self and adventures through Brussels and Europe, I felt like I was listening to the narrative of a girl not so different than myself. After all, the activity I miss most about my year spent abroad in Australia was sitting in cafés for hours on end while I scribbled, doodled, and observed the buzz of energy from the characters around me. I smiled warmly as I pictured us both soaking up the ambiance of two entirely different cities, on different continents, in different decades. But with the same perspective and appreciation.
I once wrote that I love travel because every new place you visit teaches you a little bit more about yourself. When you assemble the puzzle pieces of the world in person, you’re piecing together yourself as well. While our semantic memories garnered during travel (facts, places, objects) have the capability to illuminate facets of ourselves, I now understand that episodic memories (emotions, times, unique perspectives) are debatably the most powerful puzzle pieces of them all.
You may be thinking, okay, why would I need to travel to a new place, spend all that money and tire myself out when I can have a laugh and good conversation at my weekly Sunday brunch at my favorite restaurant with $15 bottomless mimosas, delicious avocado toast, and a perfectly poached egg??? The thing is, the removal of a familiar environment, a routine, or just the comfort of something more certain, leaves you with a beautiful vulnerability with your new surroundings, and moreover the people you are there in uncertainty with.
I got to delve deeper into the concept of valuable shared experiences by also interviewing my youngest brother Russell (older than me but youngest out of the 3). He took a post-collegiate Euro trip with my mom and Aunt to explore their old stomping grounds in the Summer of 2011. Despite it being X amount of years since my mom was in Waterloo (a good daughter never discloses math one could use to determine her mother’s age), Russell was amazed that she seamlessly remembered exactly how to navigate the city. Every 5 minutes either my mom or aunt would recall an anecdote from their teenage years, becoming giddy about the memory. They went on to see Bruges, Amsterdam, and Paris, journeys that led to a turning point in their relationship as mother and son.
“Seeing these Catacombs, the Louvre, etc, while neat, I don’t think they were particularly impactful on my character, my view on the world, or my perspective. The only real character shifting thing that happened for me was getting to see my mom in a new light.”
Now, if you clicked on this article because it had Brussels in the title and are perplexed at how far we’ve come through this word journey without saying anything about the city itself at all, fear not, we are circling back now! There were plenty of “whats” my mom remembered about this Belgian capital. Because of my Grandpa’s job, they always had people visiting. My grandparents often entrusted my mom and aunt with the duty of giving these guests a proper tour of the city’s offerings. Who would have thought, my own mother, a teenage tour guide of Europe! Here are some Brussels musts that left a lasting impression on that 16-year-old tour guide:
FOODS that are a must-have while in Belgium
Pommes Frites: twice-fried French fries described by my mom as “greasy as all get out.” Served with a side mayo and no regrets. As Travel Man said, “there’s nothing more European than eating something greasy out of paper.”
Belgian Waffles: or “gophers” as my mom called them. Best when fresh and warm.
Moules-frites: Mussels and French fries, the unofficial national dish of Belgium, and official dish of my papa who loved mussels
Beef tongue, Beef tartare, or Liver Pate
Croque monsieur: classic ham and cheese
Sugar beets
Stella Artois: not technically food but an important consumable of the city. So good that my mom drank 18 of them on her 18th birthday. “Granted I quickly threw up a lot of them.”
Chocolate chocolate chocolate: Godiva was founded in 1926 in Brussels, so they obviously know what they are doing there. “You think you know what chocolate tastes like until you try real chocolate,” she recalled. “After it melts in your mouth there is no aftertaste, that good!”
Bread: “You would walk into a bakery and just die.” Sounds like enough said to me.
ATTRACTIONS
Lion’s Mound: An artificial hill commemorating the Battle of Waterloo.
Source: Claudine Daemen
Grand Place: Was often the starting point for my moms infamous tours. It’s considered to be one of the most beautiful places in the world and an official UNESCO World Heritage site.
Source: Mike
Manneken Pis: There are many legends surrounding this lovely spectacle, but as my mom remembers it, the peeing boy was the son of a wealthy merchant visiting the city. After the son went missing, the townspeople formed a search party that eventually found the boy casually urinating in a garden. As a token of appreciation for the retrieval of his kin, the merchant had the fountain built, leaving his son to live forever in infamy as one of the best dressed figures in Europe. Check out his many looks here: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/06/many-constumes-of-manneken-pis.html
Source: Graham Newson
Local Street Art: You can find a map using the link here: https://www.roselinde.me/best-street-art-brussels/
Source: Leah Smyth
CUSTOMS
There weren’t too many standout traditions to discuss, but I think it’s worth mentioning that my mom remembered everything to be much freer and safer than back at home in Michigan. Because of this, she and my aunt were given more liberties and experiences than the average American teen. Since this formidable time in life was spent immersed in a culture completely different than that of the US, my mom feels fortunate to have grown up to be more a open-minded and grateful person. When I asked her if there was anything that she thought she missed out on by spending those years abroad, I got a resounding no. “Maybe just American TV shows, but that didn’t compare to the experiences and values I garnered.”
Her advice for anyone going to live or travel abroad? Don’t set expectations, learn the language well before you go, and let the pages turn.