Yesterday was my first experience with the public transit system. Brussels has subway, tram and bus systems, which all accept the same card that you must purchase and validate before riding. I wanted to ride out to an area of town (conveniently referred to as "Brussels II--The Comeback" on my map) where there is a giant swath of green in the middle of which lives the royal family. The farecard machine was a little confusing at first, until I realized how similar it is to the voting machines in Alexandria. So I got a card good for 5 rides and was on my way (I think I might have also voted to separate Flanders into Wallonia into autonomous European states--wasn't too sure about that bit).

The Metro system wasn't difficult to navigate once I was in it. With my multitude of maps I was able to assist a young man from Antwerp in finding the location of his dermatologist's office and getting him on his way. The royal gardens were a bit of a disappointment given that they were largely hidden behind a high brick wall topped by barbed wire, which for some reason they fail to mention in the guidebook. However, it was in a park-y district, so I just went to another, less fortress-like area directly across the street. I saw the Atomium, one of those crazy buildings you find scattered about the planet which were put up for some World's Fair or Expo or something and which are frequently rounder or more spherical than normal buildings, which is currently being restored to its former shiny glory (here's a self portrait--I'm the bright dot in the center). Had lunch near these musical sculptures, one of which was very lulling as the water dripped on various lengths of closed pipes, creating muted tones. Visited the monument to King Leopold I, which had a pretty boss stone spiral staircase up the back. People were probably wondering why I was photographing the wrong side of the monument, as the statue was obscured from my perspective.

Down the hill from here was the Royal Homestead. I saw that they were letting people onto the grounds so I figured I might wander around a bit and maybe I'd bump into His Royal Highness and could ask him to intercede on behalf of the Americans unhappy with the current administration. Maybe he'd agree to stage an intervention or something. But no, they get you all the way in there (like a 1/4 mile walk) an THEN they hit you with the 2 Euro charge. I decided, partly out of laziness and partly out of a herd mentality, to go ahead and pay the fee since it wasn't too outrageous. Where did I end up? The spectacular royal greenhouses, which are open a short time each year when everything is in bloom. It was pretty awesome. There were acres and acres of indoor plantings of palms, ferns, begonias, fuchsias, geraniums, hydrangeas, and on and on. Part of the tour was outside, so you could see the beautiful yet inaccessible lakes shown on the map. There was a ton of extremely elderly people, forcing me to walk at a pleasantly contemplative pace. Probably for the best. There was a bathroom with an attendant in a black and white uniform...probably the King in disguise out to hear what the commoners were saying about him these days. Also, at the gift shop, among the various items featuring plants, were some postcards of family portaits of the royals. One appeared to have been taken circa 1989 at a JC Penny's in a mall somewhere--it just had that vibe.

I took the tram back, which was noteworthy both for its extreme slowness and stifling lack of ventilation. It was recommended as a way to get around town while getting a chance to see the sites, but good viewing can only occur if you get a seat (since the windows stop at approximately eye level when standing), and since the cars are so narrow there aren't a lot of seats to go around. Part of the ride was underground, and the tram stopped in the tunnel for prolonged periods and the airlessness became more airless when there wasn't even a breeze from outside to get in. This in spite of the fact that all the windows were open, but I think since they're all on one side no cross-ventilation could occur. Perhaps I'll give it another chance when (a) it isn't in the 70s and sunny, and (b) it's not during the afternoon rush.