Whilst part of me wanted to stay in Antwerp [Anvers | Antwerpen] and visit the chocolate museum Chocolate Factory, it opened too late for me to be comfortable with the later flight schedule. Beside, I had my Art Nouveau Pass. Thus, I headed off back to Brussels [Bruxelles | Brussel], to visit the Musical Instruments Museum Musée des instruments de musique | Muziekinstrumentenmuseum. The museum is located in the former Old England department store, built by Paul Saintenoy in 1899 in the Art Nouveau style, mostly out of glass and girded steel. The building itself was pretty interesting and I found the idea of an “audioguide” with the sounds of each instrument endearing. I spent longer than I thought I would there.

I then headed off towards the central square Grand-Place | Grote Markt to find the third of the typical Belgian foods I wanted to try – moules frites. This dish comes in two servings: one of Belgian fries and another one of boiled mussels. I chose a restaurant called Brasserie Le Cerf that I had checked online the previous night. Since it was still early, I was alone in the place. The mussels can be prepared with a number of add-ons and sauces, but ordered mine plain. I thought it was adequate for the first time. The mussels came boiled with a little celery and leek, and I really liked them. I passed on the Belgian beer, because I’m not a drinker of alcohol. As an appetiser, the restaurant provided bread and butter and everything was lovely.

I wandered a little around the area and I found the shopping area Galeries Royales Saint Hubert, where I saw some lovely chocolate in a cute little Art Nouveau shop – but way out of my budget. I also saw a giant smurf, and considered a second comic exhibition in Horta Gallery. However, I was weary of the fact that my bus had to go around Brussels at the after work rush, so I decided to give myself a wide berth of time to get to the airport Brussels Charleroi. After all, I had been there before and there were plenty of shops and things to do. Unfortunately, that was Terminal 2. This time around my flight left from Terminal 1, which lacks even decent seating space. Whoops. At least there was a toilet and a fountain to get some water.

The flight was on time, but once again I had been assigned an emergency exit seat. I approached the flight attendant to explain that I have reduced mobility on my right arm, and she found someone to exchange seats with me – the biggest guy on the plane, it seemed. He probably enjoyed the extra room and empty seat next to him, and I did not have to stress. Not that I actually expected anything to go wrong, but just in case…

Since I had no checked luggage, once we landed I was out of the terminal quite quickly. I had to wait for the bus to the parking lot for a while, but I was on my merry way and home without issues and with having had great experiences, talked to great people, and met fun artists. And I’ve got a new guitar pick for my very modest collection of (now three) picks!