TAKEAWAY: Caught in morning traffic, taking a detour and rediscovering one of my favorite cities.
Sometimes a little morning traffic congestion provides the serendipitous tour that makes the day start just right.
So it was this morning for me as I left my hotel in Brussels on the way to the airport——flying to Stockholm. My driver was apologetic: “Sorry, sir,” he said in a heavily French accented voice, “but this morning lots of congestion, so I will take an extra five minutes and go around the traffic, if Ok with you.”
What followed was a refreshing series of twists and turns around those narrow streets of quaint Brussels, a city that I have always enjoyed as it combines that rare mix of modern and classic architecture, with an added plus: I often feel that so many of Brussels’ oldest buildings do need a good coat of paint, or maybe just a good hosing down. Then as I thought this morning, let’s not do that. Something would be gone. The tour this morning made me feel as if I was part of a 1950s movie, yes, in black and white.
If your interest is in typography, you need to do this little tour (sorry I cannot give you the navigational details), so you can enjoy the variety of fonts utilized to advertise the various shops.
My favorite signs happen to be at those exquisite chocolate shops——a chocolatier in every corner could be Brussels’ big selling marketing campaign. But I also liked the retro, neon sign for a cosmetic store that read Make Up Store——obviously a sign and an establishment created before the days of Botox and instant plastic surgery to enhance, to delete or to alter what is there.
And caligraphy still plays a big role in the restaurant world of Brussels; even as early as 9 am, one can see restaurant employees dressed in impeccable white using white chalk to list the “carte de jour” on blackboards that have been doing their job for probably half a century, and which appeared totally oblivious to high tech competition. For color, see the “alimentation” stores, usually at the corner of a bustling intersection: fruits of all colors pile up like pyramids.
Along the way, Brussel’s palaces, the Parliament building, parks that provoke me to get out of the car, abandon my flight and start running. Next time.
Suddenly, we entered the busy highway, where the city’s personality disappears, it could be Munich, Barcelona or Cape Town. I turn my attention to my iPhone. But I already knew that the day was off to a good start.
Brussels wakes up with a sprightly step, and I was happy to see the city hopping into action.
As I runner, I already know that detours can be enlightening. This morning’s experience reaffirmed it for me.
TheMarioBlog post #402