On Saturday went to the old Brussels city slaughterhouses which S. had discovered in her wanderings. It had been abandoned when S. saw it before, but on Saturdays it is teeming with people. It was by far the largest market either of us had ever seen. It was acres of people selling everything from produce to underpants. The best part about it was that a lot of the vendors were trying to lure you by calling out there wares and prices in sing-songy voices.

After that we toured the Cantillon Brewery which is the last operating brewery within the Brussels city limits. The building was ancient and they still make their beer the old-fashioned way. They beer is fermented only with natural air-borne yeasts that filter in through holes in the attic. Unfortunately for us they weren't brewing when we were there because they have to stop from May to September because there are too many bad microorganisms in the air. It was a self-guided tour, so we were pretty much left on our own to wander around the old (possibly haunted) brewery. Then we got to have a couple of glasses (a gueuze and a kriek) on the way out.

Then we checked out the Zinneke Parade--which is possibly the most incomprehensible and insane parade of all time. The theme of the parade was Brussels in the future--or something like that. People marched in all kinds of crazy costumes, for instance from a time when bugs will rule the earth. Another group envisioned a time when tango-dancing kitchen implements will rule the earth. Also it seems there will be a lot of face-painting and drumming in the future. And it's just possible that strange characters riding pink fur bicycles will rule the earth.

--Jack

Also we had a fantastic gyro with Andalusian sauce at the slaughterhouse market. Jack was worried I'd get the meat in the standard unleavened "pitta", which is actually more of a tortilla, but I resisted his efforts to get me to order it with bread, since I have enough trouble ordering off the regular menu and I hadn't actually had the tortilla yet and thought it might be interesting. However, it arrived tucked inside a large circle of fluffy and delicious bread with the top cut off. With a side of fries. Heavenly.

The gueuze beer style is something one must become accustomed to, because it really doesn't resemble other beers much at all and can be quite a shock. Jack had gotten one prior to my arrival that we drank shortly after. The Mannekin Pis is featured on the label of the Cantillon beer, joyfully peeing out what one can only imagine is the gueuze (or perhaps lambic). Initially neither of us liked the flavor, which can only be described as sour, but we managed to finish the entire wine-sized bottle that first evening. So we knew what we were getting into. The kriek, on the other hand, is a different story. We had purchased one of those (perhaps St. Louis brand) during the EU open house, and it tasted kind of like a light beer mixed with cherry kool aid--sweet, but not wine-cooler sweet, and not entirely as refreshing as I would have hoped. The one at Cantillon was very different: the gueuze was dialed up and the fruit dialed down. Another surprise, but not altogether unpleasant.

The best thing about the parade, in my opinion, was that it was composed of the citizens of Brussels, divided into 5 neighborhood groups. Each group had a separate sub-theme and materials they were supposed to focus on (electronics, plastics, natural materials, etc.). Lots of community organizations participated, and there were a lot of kids of all ages. It looked like some of the costumes and other items broke right off the bat, and some of the kids were pooped by the time they got around to us, so you definitely got the sense that it was an amateur production (Jack's photo notwithstanding). One of my favorites was one that my neighborhood participated in, with a gigantic papier mache man sitting on top of the float, drinking water, and, well, creating new water out the other end. It's a cycle that most people don't seem to appreciate as well as they should. Didn't get a photo of it, unfortunately, but did get one of the tangoing toothbrush and whisk.

-s