As this episode begins, K and her friends have just left Paris and arrived in Brussels. Her travel journal was written as a series of letters to her sister Ruth (my grandmother).
July 15, 1963
Mon. eve. (Brussels)
Your letter was waiting for me at the Astoria.
Brussels’ Hotel Astoria was built in 1909, and has served as a meeting place for kings and other dignitaries over the years. K was traveling on a schoolteacher’s budget; I believe she and her friends liked to be in nice hotels near the center of town, but economized by sharing rooms.
By Brookford - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90189676
We left Paris on a 10:45 a.m. train. It was an express—took three hours. We had reserved our seats and paid for our lunch. And what a lunch—no choice except for drinks. The first course was cucumbers in a vinegar dressing—cold, pickled cauliflower. Second course chicken (a leg & thigh), potatoes, peas, bread of course. Third course cheese—I had port salud and camembert. Fourth course ice cream and wafers!!
It sounds like a tasty lunch! I checked out the food on board the Eurostar from Paris to Brussels…if you’re in Standard class, there’s a cafe, but in Premier class there is a four-course menu that includes cheese and dessert (a grapefruit and peppercorn Gâteau Basque). Port Salut and Camembert are both French regional cheeses.
After we had registered, we walked out—went to the bank to change some money, to the American Express for some information. We ended up by taking a taxi out to the World’s Fair Grounds to see the Atomium—a building I had seen before.
Built for the 1958 World’s Fair, the Atomium is an iconic building and tourist attraction in Brussels.
I did find some slides from a 1961 trip she took, and it contained this image from the first time she saw it. I wish I had her journal from that trip!
More interesting to me was the “Little Belgium,” which was “animated” with cars, etc. I enjoyed seeing it.
Expo 58 (aka the 1958 World’s Fair) was the first major international exposition since World War II, and it made a huge impact on Brussels and on the country as a whole. The Belgian pavilion included a scale map of the Belgian landscape, which visitors could view from a pedestrian bridge. This short video provides a glimpse of the attraction.
Here’s a photo of Little Belgium from K’s 1963 slides.
Our taxi brought us back to the hotel. We bathed, and I think everyone but me is horizontal. We plan to walk to the City Square this evening. Our hotel is in a more pleasant area than it was before. There seem to be many new buildings. I am more favorably impressed with the city than I was before.
The City Square in Brussels is considered one of the world’s most beautiful squares and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was about 3/4 mile from their hotel.
K took this image of the famous Brussels bird market in the main square on her 1961 trip.
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Wed. July 17
No time to write yesterday. It was a busy day, but a very interesting and satisfying one. We spent the morning shopping and packing. I had not intended to do any, but I weakened a bit. We went to a very nice linen shop very near the hotel. Then Bertha wanted some lace so we taxied to a lace shop—then to the station where we had lunch.
Linen is a fabric made from flax. After World War II, the linen weavers in Belgium formed a strong guild to support one another and promote themselves internationally. By 1960, they had opened an office in the US to promote the Belgian Linen brand and compete with the strong reputation of Irish linen.
Traditional Brussels lace was originally made of the finest spun linen thread, using bobbins, with the patterns made first and then connected with a background. Although handmade lace is available today, it is very expensive and many less-expensive versions are available as souvenirs.
By Samuel L. Goldenberg - Lace: Its Origin and History., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18470
We took a train (second class) to Bruges. It was about an hour and fifteen minute ride through some beautiful agricultural country. Some of the gardens looked as Dad’s used to.
