A.M.B.G.

A.M.B.G.
I remember my examination papers in high school ended with the four letters A.M.D.G. We, students had made up a longer version of the acronym - “All may do good”, we thought the teachers wanted to give us a blessing through 4 randomly placed alphabets. We went on with this for a while, some of us even made other not so intelligent vernacular versions of the same like “Aa maaro dahyo gadhedo” (this is my well behaved donkey!!!??!!)

Our myths about those 4 alphabets were dispelled later on by our latin speaking school principal who informed us that A.M.D.G., stood for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which meant - To the greater glory of god. Trust a priest to provide us with enlightenment!!

Now you might wonder why have I gone and written about A.M.D.G. and named my blog A.M.B.G. Don’t worry no typos or loss of memory..

This blog is “To the greater glory of Brussels”, (Ad Majorem Brussels Gloriam - Yo!Diego thanks for pointing this out!!) my school principal might cringe if he heard or read this, but then, these are the few pleasures that being out of school can afford you, like uhhm… freedom of thought and speech?

The last weekend was dedicated to rediscover Brussels for the 2nd or 3rd time, this time though I had a perfect ally, my equally inquisitive and big time food lover, sis – in – law, which made the gallivanting that much more interesting. I definitely don’t think I have completely discovered the city, but these one off walks off the beaten path often land you in a new part of the city and you come back happy with the knowledge that “I saw something new about the city that I have come to call home”. Oh by the way for people who didn’t know, Brussels is home for me now, at least for the time being :-)

Actually it’s not only the fact that I discover a new part of Brussels but also a new character - something different and deeper in degrees!!

I am not trying to say Brussels is different or Brussels is great or Brussels is the best, no no no, not at all, Brussels is ordinary, very very ordinary. It has restaurants, it has bars, it has architecture, it has a central square, it has Sunday markets, it has the rich and it has the bums. It has a very ordinary transport system, it has an ugly central station and it is generally not an awe inspiring or breathtaking city

In today’s well developed, organized world, when you come to a capital city and see a block lined with 2 fries stores, a mom and pop convenience store, a funeral home, a flower store, a medical store, a hair dresser, a patisserie, an internet parlor, a night shop and a laundromat squeezed along beautiful (your conventional concept of beautiful may not apply here!) unsymmetrical houses with different heights angles and designs. You sit up and say “What??” and you make a little funny face where your lip and cheek twitch to a side and your eyes are half closed in disbelief. That’s Brussels for you!! In it’s unpredictability lies it’s beauty, something a normal traveler may get upset by, something a normal tourist may consider an eyesore is in a way an identity that you can only learn to accept and appreciate with the passage of time.

Ok, I guess the people who had a touristy inclination towards Brussels would have shut their browsers right about now.

So moving on to the people who want to read on to be nice to me or are really jobless or actually want to read what I am writing.

How many places in the world would you find chocolates, beers, fries and waffles as standard fare available at every nook and corner! I mean it, really every nook and corner!! Where in the world can you stand on the street and eat freshly cooked escargots (Snails), where else in the world will you have difficulty finding a McDonald’s? Ya Brussels probably has 2 of them. Where else can you find more than 20 establishments selling beer at 10 am in one square on a weekend but no “coffee to go”!! How many classic, almost touristy bars have a pet cat, which often goes and sits on tables and purrs along supportively to your beer sipping, while the waitress picks a fight with you? How many capital cities in the world have a forest surrounding 3/4ths of the city? And how many of those would have a restaurant right in the middle of that forest?

I remember reading somewhere that Belgium has more Michelin Stars per capita than France - the land of “cuisine”. This points out that the Belgians like their food and Brussels is a classic example with more than 2000 different eating establishments for a population of about a million. I can go on and on about what you can eat and drink in Brussels and where, but that would definitely merit another blog altogether, have a look at my sis-in-law’s blog from her weekend trip. http://seattlefoodies.blogspot.com/2005/02/brussels-for-foodies.html

I guess, I have gone on enough about Brussels now, time to sign out. Those of you who know me, pay me a visit and rest assured of the best beer sampling tour ever. Those who don't know me go visit Brussels anyway.

Following off from my last blog www.blurredrandomness.blogspot.com, the soundtrack of Garden State won the Grammy for the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture!! Yay, there was merit in that recommendation!! Ok that was me blowing my ugly trumpet, that ain't gonna win any awards. Moving forward I think I am going to park my blogs on www.suspendedamitation.blogspot.com from now on. See you here once in a while.