MY WORLD - Braine l'Alleud

I had a bad infection at a tooth and therefore had to go to the dentist to get it pulled out. She lives in Braine l'Alleud which is the next little town close to Waterloo, in fact it could count as one city. We even share the Waterloo Lion with them and the battle field.

Dentists are usually poor people and live in little huts, as you can see here. (this is a joke of course !) When I had one tooth less and a sleeping cheek I did a little walk through the town.

Some people were already sitting outside drinking their beer

the streets are quiet narrow and as it was a Monday there were not many people around

the market place with a fountain which was on strike

Flowers to buy

and people sitting on a bank chatting. Spring has finally arrived !

A very old advertising pillar survived

the church tower

another little street with a lot of restaurants

The city hall

and an old bistro

After my little walk my cheek started to hurt and I quickly returned home. My World was the dentist today !

BRUSSELS - St. Gilles

In the center of Brussels a lot of the beautiful manors and old historical houses have been demolished in the 60th to make space for ugly modern glass boxes. Fortunately there are some municipalities which have been spared and have kept their original look. One of them is St. Gilles.

It is one of the nineteen municipalities in Brussels. Particular architectural delights are found in the dozen or more Art Nouveau houses . Several of those houses have been recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 2000.

Saint-Gilles is also known as one of the centers of artistic and student life in Brussels. Today, Saint-Gilles is one of the densest municipalities of the Brussels. Half of the population are foreign nationalities, the majority are Morrocans, followed by Spanishs, Portugueses, Italians, Greeks and also Britts.

So lets do a little walk through St. Gilles

Beautiful iron balconees everywhere

The imposing town hall, built between 1900 and 1904, looks larger than it is, and bears a splendid resemblance to a French château with Venetian overtones.

a memorial for fallen soldiers in WW II

Spring arrived and the first people are sitting outside the cafés

another very stylish house

and now, believe it or not, we arrive at the prison !

The prison of Saint-Gilles, was built between 1878 and 1884, in Tudor style, and looks rather like a medieval castle or a fort with its towers and gates. It is the largest prison in Brussels. The reputation of this prison is not very good because it is very old fashioned inside and houses too many inmates.

There were some women standing outside the door, probably waiting for a husband, a brother or a father.

The carved wooden door is quiet impressive

Just in front of the prison is a little parc and houses

It must be interesting to live just in front of a jail !

(St.Gilles for those who wants to know more about its history).

WATERLOO - Office Park

When I moved to Waterloo in 1975 the old sugar factory "La Sucrerie" existed as it had been built in 1836. When the factory was closed it remained there empty or was sometimes used for workshops but it became more and more neglected until finally the city with other investors created the "Waterloo office park"

This picture I found on Internet and shows you "La Sucrerie" after it had been restored. The white building had once housed the main office and became now the best Hotel in Waterloo.

This is one part of the original building restored.

in which is now a quiet expensive but very good restaurant

Quiet a lot of companies have their main office here, like Ikea

same view from the street

smoking a cigarette outside, the "Grand Hotel"

Here is also my bank ! As all banks they are very poor and since last year even got some money from the government.

For insurance companies it is the same. They have real beautiful offices

Need some money ? Master card makes it possible

For lunch hours or just a rest from hard work

there is a fountain

and a pond with banks around

Delivery entrance

and just in front of the Office parc is this nice Pub named "La Pomme" which means the apple. They have nice food, snacks or only drinks and even a place to smoke. Lots of employees are here during lunch hours.