Clare thought Brussels seemed tourist, especially English-speaking tourist, unfriendly. But perhaps that is because our “fast” train had to stop for 3.5 hours, the first hour of which was without air conditioning, because of protesters on the track. One of the other trains in front of us on the same track had much more trouble. So, Clare was hungry, tired and grumpy when we arrived in Brussels, just before midnight.

But the city center was quite lively at midnight, although finding a place with food (rather than just drink) was a bit of a problem. So many people enjoying the drizzling weather and the lovely lights. We found a Lebanese place serving “sandwiches” which were hot and delicious. The next day close to the same area, we realized that restaurants represented many different countries along that same street.

The signs in the train and metro stations were not translated into English, and also were not color-coded like in both France and Germany. It seemed some people spoke a little bit of English, but not enough to figure out our questions. So, we took a lot of time to figure out the transportation options.

We wandered around Brussels, through narrow streets with many shopfronts. We found monuments and gardens and fun displays (look at the one with the colorful hats). Brian found an Apple store, of course.

Mussels in Brussels and beer, oh my!

The Delirium Cafe (actually a bunch of small cafes, pubs and such serving over 2,000 different beers) was a fun destination. There we are, with a meter of beers to taste! And later we shared a pot of mussels.

The Musical Instrument Museum was fascinating and really well done. We were given ear phones and devices, and we wandered around looking at old and new musical instruments. Then, enter the number displayed on the instrument and you can hear just how it sounded. Old and new alike, each with its own personality. It was hard to leave that place!

A festival, “In the Streets,” was happening but we did not witness any performances. It was advertised on the streets where people would perform their street art. Or that’s what it seemed.

Other kinds of art decorated the streets as well.

Once we figured out the Metro system, we took a train to the edge of the city to see Atomium, a gigantic atomic crystal structure built for the 1958 world’s fair. You could get a ticket and go inside, but we decided against it (we did not have time). It was just fun to see crystallography on such a huge scale.

• Europe 2022