Without Clothes in Brussels

If one has to loose the clothes, Brussels is probably the last place on earth where that should happen. The EU capital is so expensive, it alone should be good reason for dismantling the united Europe.

As usual my travails (!) took me to the EU capital, twice in less than a month. A record for myself. My wife jokes that I have a lady per port like sailors (I wish…), I am seriously thinking of an European affair in any case. The Jet airways put my luggage on priority and the bags never left Delhi. Mind you this is our ‘Best Domestic Airline' with direct connection to Europe and America – I personally like the direct NY and Brussels connectivity and really bad air hostesses.

I generally plan follow-on meetings, as in you land, get refreshed and walk in the office, saves time and you can excuse your inactivity to long distance air travel. More rest follows. This time I landed, I am in a great mood of walking through and I am thinking of work. The luggage belt does not yield anything for 30 long minutes. I got suspicious, and the suspicions were true. Luggage is not there. Belgium at this time of the year hovers around 7-8 degrees C. Unless you have real warm clothes you shouldn’t be thinking about it. Somebody like me who loves Sun (and gets super powers from it), is not a right person in this place without the right clothes. The paltry first compensation helps me in buying a good toothbrush and that is about it.

I reached hotel and for the first time in my life went to the shopping mall at 9AM sharp. Fortunately the hotel is in the Brussels city center so it is easier to walk into the shopping mall. What followed was an emergency shopping by a non-French/non-Dutch speaker in a crowd of sales people who can not speak a single word of English. The prices really did me in. A pair of undergarments was 29 Euros (that is Rs. 1700.38 for the uninitiated) - almost equivalent to annual income of some families in India. A tie was 49 Euros and to top it the sale-lady can not speak English and translate the sizes. This is unique in a country which is officially bilingual (Dutch and French; when you see one street having two names - life is not easy). I was at my wit's end - literally. One would think buying clothes in stereotypical box department store anywhere in the world should be easy.. well one has to try this theory.

My colleagues at work (almost) commented on clothes choices but they had no option to lump it - the cheap shirt I bought had a black rose on the side !!! Besides the amount of time I spent on this was not well spent either (after 313 Euros that is!).

Otherwise a city of no particular significance (started in 10th Century as a Fortress Town), Brussels grew to prominence only after EU was established. The most notable attraction is 'Manneken Pis' (or Pissing Boy) - rest I guess you can figure out. The only other attractions are tourist shops in shacks that have sprung up around the main city square (and at the cost of repeating - expensive departmental stores). The chocolates were overrated anyways, i.e. my son did not like them - he is our family's official expert on chocolates.

For me French girls were nowhere to be found - almost a rare species. Every time I looked for proper Belgian affair it did not materialize. Perhaps I should try Paris next time - now that would be an idea - to get into Paris without the clothes, presumably French won't mind that much. Only problem being Jet Airways does not fly to Paris (yet!)