180 years plus 1 day

Alley way in Liege

A Belgian postbox in Liege

The bandstands are being disassembled. The white lawn chairs are being stacked. The red carpets are being rolled up. National Day is over and Belgium is back to normal. No one seems to be hung over from last night's festivities. The streets and sidewalks don't look any dirtier and the random Belgian flag is slowly waving in a summer breeze.

This is a sleepy Brussels. Many people decided to desert the city. Lucky for them. I am stuck in Brussels with the baby. My husband is in the States taking care of business and probably enjoying a bagel and lox. My baby is on vacation which really means that her daycare is closed so the minders can get a well deserved break. It is hard work being with the baby all day. Since she is only 16 months, I am limited in what activities I can do with her. For the past week, we have gone to Rue Nueve which is the shopping pedestrian area in Brussels. It is not a particularly pretty area. In fact it is quite ugly. Rumor has it that the government wants to make it even uglier by adding some sort of roof over the stores and make it into a covered walkway. It's a dumb idea because on the odd nice day, people want to shop in the sun. Don't do it!!!

As I was walking with the baby at 11 am, I saw people sitting in various brasseries drinking beer. Yes, people do drink beer that early. My brain is still foggy at 11am and a beer would just knock me out. But I guess Belgians have something to celebrate. The sun is shining, the weather is nice and warm and the country is one day into a new national year.