Fighting the Cobbles - My trip to Belgium in 2018, Part 19 - Leaving Brussels (3)

This blog continues the previous Part 18,
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/08/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_31.html

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

     

   I slowly walked through the Triumphal Arch. So close I could have a good look and could not help but to admire the details and work going into the building during these 25 years (!) until completion. I took some photos in the shadow of it and tried to cool down from the burning sun.

   Right after the Arch there is a building housing the Military Museum on the left while the right building houses the Autoworld Brussels. Actually it is not only a museum but also a venue for conventions, events and meetings. The museum displays over 250 vehicles from different time periods and different countries. The museum was inspired by King Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909). One area highlights the Belgian connection to the automobiles.

   All original Belgium car manufacturers like 'Imperia Automobiles' or 'Minerva' closed their doors long time ago but In Belgium there is still an Audi manufacturing plant in Vorst, south-west of Brussels. Volvo Car Ghent is located in the port district of Ghent and Volvo Trucks, though no more affiliated to the car manufacturer, are still produced there. All other automobile assembly plants from the big manufacturers like Renault and Opel have been closed in Belgium mostly due to European overproduction and cost cutting measures of these car manufacturers.

   Near the entrance I took some pictures and moved though the main door and looked inside. It looked all bright in the historical building, more like a clinic than a museum.

Entrance to the Autoworld Brussels (汽車世界)

   With the Autoworld the green oasis of the 'Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary' or 'Parc du Cinquantenaire' (French) came to an end and after a short walk I passed a fountain and the last trees. A fence made of wrought iron with an open gate marked the end of the park! 

   I arrived on the Avenue de Tervueren (French) or Tervurenlaan (Dutch), a major thoroughfare in Brussels. It is a continuation of the Rue de la Loi (Wetstraat) and goes underground below the whole park.

   I pulled my sports bag to the right side of the road and shared my path with some bike riders. Here the building looked very clean, mostly white with some flowers decorating the entrances or the front yards. I also noticed many houses showing crests of mainly African countries, showing embassies. One of the last buildings was the Embassy of Uganda. I noticed it because the tired flag hanging on the pole looks like two Belgian Flags stitched together in an horizontal way. But even this building had no security, on the contrary it looked very empty, without furniture...

Embassy of Uganda

   When the road become downhill there were no more houses, everything became green and natural. I ran into a group of young people trying to hitchhike by stopping cars. It might work when you are alone but four extra passengers in a car sounds too good to be true! 

   Anyway, I passed them with my luggage pulling behind me and discovered some lakes on the right side marking the district of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (French) or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe (Dutch) or more exactly the extensive 'natural' Woluwe Park. It has many lakes with birds and 170 tree species. Before 1868 this area consisted of agricultural terrains with humid grounds and a forest area of more than 15 hectares owned by the Civil Hospices of Brussels. The park was completed in 1906 and contained rare species of trees like the Japanese sophora, the Chinese cedrela etc. 

   I liked the solitude and stopped several times to take some pictures of 'wildlife' like ducks and swans but more  of the flowers and trees. I already left the city of Brussels and had the first time a sense of 'freedom'. I just leaned my luggage on a tree and ran around like an excited 10 year old; I felt so happy to be alone with nature that I did not give much thoughts on how I might look like...

   But now, as I write this, a Bible verse comes into my mind:

"The Little Children and Jesus

   13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
   14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. (Matthew 19)”

Green (and some white) Impressions beside the Road…

   As the saying goes "after every downhill follows an uphill". Houses emerged on both sides of the roads and without the trees it would get very hot indeed. Unfortunately the Belgians are a very considerate human race and not only beside the road but between the road was a very wide bike and pedestrian path which let me, despite a long but not very steep hill, very comfortable haul my luggage. Occasionally I saw trams passing me but I enjoyed my walk in the fresh and natural air under the shadowy trees...

(to be continued@
https://gerdiwanninger.blogspot.com/2018/09/fighting-cobbles-my-trip-to-belgium-in_5.html)

Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel