Royal Summer Nights in Brussels

All the stars aligned for a perfect summer evening on the last Friday before the kids start school Monday. The kids and I slept through the night and seem to be over jet lag (the worse the itinerary, the fewer nights of waking up at 2:30am for the day maybe?). It had been cold and raining since we returned, but the sky cleared and the sun shown through. The 8am to 6pm reconstruction work on our disaster of a bathroom (thank goodness this is a rental) quieted from the constant sawing, hammering and drilling of the past few days to only intermittent very loud noise. And best of all, our friends were back in town and ready to party.

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Weeks ago, Belgium’s Royal Palace announced their annual tours were back on for the first time since we moved here! We signed right up. Chris was even able to join us. We took the metro downtown and walked through the park, where many leaves were showing the first yellow branches of fall. Fall?! It’s still mid-August!! Belgium’s record-setting cold, rainy weather seems to have decided to skip summer altogether. At least we have this one afternoon (in sweaters).

Wandering through the beautiful rooms—gilt carvings, ceiling frescoes, royal busts, paintings galore, gifted treasures from royals across the world, intricate parquet flooring—was so fun. My favorites include the Mirror Room, which the notorious Léopold II designed to showcase Congo. It was finished in 2002 with 1.5 million emerald green jewel beetles on the ceiling and one of the chandeliers! Dazzling. The Large Gallery’s ceilings have three enormous paintings depicting morning, day and evening. Lovely! (Future ceiling goals)

But what does all this opulence and history have to do with us? Can it inspire and charm us peasants? YES! This sign delighted me and cracked me up: “Entertaining distinguished guests with style and dignity is important to the county’s image. Tables laid out to perfection with the most beautiful tableware are the sign of a search for excellence. The Throne Room has long been the scene of gala banquets during state visits.” The pressure is on—next time we have someone over for dinner, that table better be set or else what’s the point! Ha ha! …but really, I’m about to go masterfully set my table with the new linens I bought in Italy.

Tables laid out to perfection with the most beautiful tableware are the sign of a search for excellence.

—Brussels Royal Palace

I also loved seeing the room where Princess Charlotte married Archduke Maximillian before they became rulers of Mexico. I’m reading a fun historic novel about them. The table was set in the white drawing room where the Kennedys were received two weeks before his death.

The palace was a delight; it was everything I’d hoped it would be, with the exception of the lack of throne in the throne room. Where else could it be? Is there no actual throne?? How can we commoners get answers??

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“This is more fun than I expected,” said Eloise as we sauntered from the palace over to Monts des Arts and down to the Grand Place. “I thought it would be boring.”

Getting to see her buddies David and Breck probably went a long way toward the fun quotient. Plus, the city was ALIVE again! It was the MOST PEOPLE I’ve seen downtown since the Christmas market before COVID. Enough people to fill the café tables and provide a backdrop of sound and conversation, a sense of place. A trio of street musicians stuck up a tune outside the Museum of Musical Instruments. Brussels in Bloom dotted downtown with floral arrangements and photo ops. Late afternoon sun glistened off the golden facades of centuries-old buildings.

And absolutely best of all was pouring our favorite La Chouffe beer to cheers with friends Brittany, Colin and Nico in the warm summer evening!! Meanwhile, the kids gobbled down fries, went on adventures to procure ice cream and waffles on their own, held hands and watched the African drummers filling the Grand Place with reverberating drum beats and dance, and of course shattered the odd glass on the square’s ancient stones (that have undoubtedly seen much worse).

Now THIS is what we hoped for when we moved to Europe. Here’s hoping for more of this and less of COVID!

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