Around the World: Part Nine

To the country of Magnum chocolate

10.05.2019: Tour Day 4, Country 3, City 1

Breakfast in Paris

There was a piano at the reception area; everyone tried their hands-on the black and white keys. We had breakfast: consisting breads, fruits, juices, coffee, etc. We checked out and loaded our luggage into the bus. Our coach captain was Lubisha. Every time we boarded the bus, we got an alert message from Akhilesh, “Please check your passport and valuables”; while counting the guest heads. We would be getting a treat from him since today is his birthday as per Belgium calendar. There was a Get-to-Know-Each-Other session wherein everyone introduced themselves, their jobs and talked about their hobbies. So we got to know the singers and dancers. And that the tour should have been BMC Special since many were a part of BMC. We didn’t even realize when we crossed the France-Belgium border and were now heading towards Brussels.

Atomium

It is a landmark building in Brussels. It is a utopia: neither a tower nor a pyramid; a little bit cubical and a little bit spherical. It is a 102meter tall structure consisting of nine spheres connected to form a shape of unit cell of iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. The spheres are connected by tubes which enclose stairs, escalators and lifts. The top sphere has a panoramic view of Brussels. We reached the venue at quarter past noon for photo shop. There were water fountains as well.  Here’s a group photo:

Lunch in Brussels

We further drove to our lunch restaurant Indian Royal Palace, Strombeeklinde, Belgium. We had to wait for some time for lunch. Lunch was tasty, though I had to wait quite long for the papad. Post lunch we relished the chocolate cornetto ice cream cone. Since the cone wasn’t allowed in the bus and I am a slow eater, I had to throw the half eaten cone and get into the bus. Now we had a walking tour of the city which incuded:

Grand Place

It is a square containing the edifices: Town Hall and King’s House. The Town Hall is an asymmetrical tower with a belfry at the top. The King’s House contains Museum of the city. This square contains a number of guild houses. There was a horse chariot available for ride at the centre of the square.

Serclaes Monument (Everard t’Serclaes)

It is located on the Charles Buls Street, just off the Grand Place. It is said that the statue brings luck and grants the wishes of those who touch it.

Manneken Pis Statue

It is a bronze statue of a naked little boy urinating in the fountains basin. There are many legend stories about this statue.

Belgian Chocolate

All the ladies got into the shopping mode for the Belgian chocolates, waffles, etc. There was a variety of chocolate flavors’.

Since the walking tour was through a market, there were many souvenirs shops and chocolate restaurants. We got back to the Grand Place for relishing another cornetto. Then we headed towards our bus and drove to Rotterdam. Now we enjoyed the songs of our enthusiastic singers. Jyoti Gundawar sang "Manushya janam anmol re" while Geeta Mhatre sang "Jab andhera hota hai". The song which was hit in the group was "Zindagi ek safar hai suhana" sang by Asha Shedge; especially the lyrics "udle udle udle ho".

Dinner in Rotterdam

We reached our dinner restaurant Lights of India, Rotterdam by late evening. I was too tired to eat the dinner, so I skipped it. Post dinner we were waiting in our bus and watching the surrounding building. There were two artificial crows on a balcony. First the discussion started on whether the crows are real, and if real then why are they not flying. Then we were sure that those are artificial. Now why the artificial crows on the balcony? With such questions, we left for Hotel Novotel, Schiedam.

Women’s Special Tour B guests were also staying here. We got the keys and had to wait for the lift. There was a Coffee Party in Shilpa & Shilpa’s room. Kavita Tannirwar, Sucheta Bhujabal and I joined them. I got back to my room and had to struggle for fixing the charger into the adapter. The issue was solved after placing the pillow beneath the charger for support.

Read next: Around the World: Part Ten