Bulex!

Recently I celebrated another year of my life turn into past tense. Fortunately, I find my life pretty awesome these days, so I could pass the day with a smile on my face.

On the occasion we met with friends to have a tasty diner, few drinks, and whole evening of chatting.

We visited two places which surely deserve post on their own. And it will come. But it was my birthday, we focused on enjoying ourselves and spending time with friends so let's leave the reviews for next time.

What I absolutely have to share with you already now, is the party we went to afterwards - Bulex!

I think Chris started talking about Bulex on our first date, and he never really stopped. Great parties, unique locations, funky music. It was the ultimate party, at least so it appeared in my imagination. And there was always a reason why I couldn't go and see for myself. One being, they had a long break in throwing those parties, then the holidays, then pregnancy. You can imagine how thrilled I was to finally go and see - and how scared I was to have my expectations growing out of control.

So after having a diner and few drinks, our friends decide to go home, and we turned on our night owls mode and seeked a party. Like the old days. We arrived at the address, in front of the fancy entrance of the Marivaux hotel, and looked around, but there was no party there. We were pointed to go around, to the street Saint-Pierre. And there - the party was everywhere!

There was a bit of queue to get in. But who cares, when you have a wind orchestra playing in the street and people are having fun! Bulex took over the backstreet completely. 

The idea of Bulex was to have parties for everyone, no selection. The parties are thrown in unusual places in Brussels, abandoned buildings, old stadiums etc. For some time Bulex was travelling around, for some time it had its permanent location, then for some time it was gone. Now it's back. At the ancient cinema Marivaux (I do believe it's a permanent location for the parties, at least for some time).

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The cinema, as you can see, is abandoned. I am surprised it is even allowed to get people in (but i wouldn't be surprised, if it really wasn't). What is interesting, the cinema itself is a protected monument of Brussels! Build in 1924 by the company PATHE, it was designed in Art Deco style and could seat 1500 people.

In the 60s the place was renovated and lots it balconies, gaining two additional rooms.

In the year 1991, due to Kinepolis setting in place, PATHE decided to quit its business in Belgium and left the building abandoned. There's been plan to restore it, which was supposed to be started in 2000, but as we can see - it never really happened.

Now the building lost most of its glory. And it's a great place for a party with an underground feeling.

There was main stage playing music called "Gypsy electro". And was really that. Play the song Kalashnikov over and over again with added beat, and you will get the feeling. It was fun though, and I much more prefer it to pure dance/electro whatever else. Gypsy, oldschool, kitch parties - rings my bell.

There was a smaller stage playing some other kind of music. We didn't stay long there, so i don't know. But there's choice - so it's nice. Of course there are bars organized to get some drinks, but strangely, we didn't get anything. I guess we're officially old.

About that. It's a great party. Before our lives changed we would probably stay until we could feel the morning breeze on our faces as we go back home. But we didn't. We had to drive home, so we couldn't drink (at least one of us, and alone it's not fun). We had to get up in the morning, and be responsible and everything. We also don't care about picking up people of different (or the same, whatever rings your bell) sex  And I am not saying parties are all about drinking and flirting.... Somehow still, bouncing on the old cinema rows, I felt like I don't fit there that well any more.

We moved a bit, shot some photos and set direction home. We're a bit more household animals these days. 

I still recommend that party for anyone who looks for something else. Something different. Party with no selection, where everyone is having fun together. Party where you can wear your favourite party dress, you can go in jeans and sneakers, or you can wear a bunny costume. And just have fun!

Check out Bulex website and, if you want to know about next party, like them on their Facebook page. To all the night owls out there - live long and prosper! And have a drink sometimes to your old comrades who retired to a family life :)

Picnic in the park - Parc de Mariemont

For some weeks now, I think we're being really lucky with the weather. No matter how miserable the week days can be, weekend comes bright and sunny. It's how the life should be, if you ask me. 

We managed to use this luck to enjoy the last picnic in the park this year. This time in the Parc de Mariemont.

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As before, you can see information about park itself here, but check out also website for the Mariemont Museum which lays just in the middle of the park.

Despite the colder air outside, it was definitely more crowded than the last time. It's also only half an hour drive from Brussels.

It's hard to stand a competition to lovely Parc de Beloeil, really. This park is different, so maybe I shouldn't even compare them at all. What I found most stunning in it was.... the trees! There's amazing amount of beautiful ones, each in its own way. Half of them could make the main attraction of the whole smaller park somewhere else.

There is quite some amount of grass fields both at the entrance and in the middle of the park. It was perfect place to lay a plaid, since it was a bit too cold in the shade already - it was end of September after all.

If you go for a walk you'll find some wilder parts and a bit hidden treats - like the beautiful florarium and the altar of the Buddha.

Some parts are so wild you can come across dangerous trees. We didn't dare to come closer. It might bite.

The site was created as a royal estate and a hunting park for Mary of Hungary (so says Wikipedia). The castle build for her, is long destroyed. The remains are very picturesque. I yet have to complain on lack of artistic skills to catch the spirit of the place - because it really looked more magical than on those poor pictures.

There is Orangerie in the park, which, I sadly admit, we were too lazy to see. It was so comfy on the blanket...

As for activities, this time I managed to take a picture of the games that are available for kids. There's a crowd surrounding them all the time.

Besides that, there were of course kids running around, rolling down the hills, climbing up the trees, playing, laughing and yelling. 

And while kids where at it, their parents were enjoying beer in the pub or at the temporary stand. If you gather plastic cups you get your beer in, you could exchange them for a strawberry plant! Apparently this was the same on the last picnic - it just missed my attention.

People craving for some more quite could always go for a walk into deeper parts of the park mentioned before - these were mostly kids free.

I don't think I was the only one to appreciate the trees of the park. There was an orchestra on one of them! Really, they hanged themselves on the branches and played. Quite impressive.

Altogether, I really enjoyed the event again. Great way to spend a Sunday, everyone will find something for themselves - whether you come to have a family day with kids, enjoy lazy afternoon drinking beer with friends or go for a romantic walk with your love (and I had it all!).

It will definitely go into my calendar for the next year. And while I'm on the topic, check out the calendar I have shared on this very blog. Even though the idea for the blog is to write about the places I've seen and events I have already attended, I figured it might be nice to share some of them in advance, so whoever reads it - can decide to join. I only added it today with the schedule of Nocturnes, but I hope more will come soon. If you know any nice places to visit and events to attend (we're especially craving for cold-weather kids-friendly kind of stuff) don't hesitate to share it!

Winter is coming!

Parc des étangs

When I met Chris we used to live just 10 minute walk from each other. He was renting an apartment just at a side of fancy place Flagey, I was living up the Arabic Malibraan street, around the cultural mix of Arabs, Poles and all the EU nationalities working in the close by EU institutions. We liked the bars, the restaurants, the nightlife. We liked Ixelles.

And then we learnt we're going to have a baby. We tried to arrange our 1-bedroom apartment to fit in two people and a crib. We tried hard. But it didn't work. We needed new place.

Long story short, we had to say goodbye to the lively Flagey district, the bars of Cimetière d'Ixelles and the European districts around the Pl. Luxembourg. We found ourselves in Anderlecht. The "other" side of Brussels. North of the Canal.

Now, most people that know anything of Anderlecht, know the bad. I saw people giving me the "oh, I am so sorry for you" look when I just mentioned our new home. But you know what? We are loving it!

Anderlecht can look pretty grim and industrial in many places, so no wonders people have a bad image of it. But as usually, it depends on a certain place. There's no hip were we live. Not many bars, restaurants, no people speaking every language on the planet. There is no fancy houses, with big gardens and bigger cars in front. In exchange we get calm neighbourhood, all the shops within a walk or short drive, lots of grannies that would steal the baby if they only could, and young families just like us. And a park. Big and beautiful park.


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Closed by two big streets (Avenue Marius Astrid and Boulevard Maurice Careme) and a highway on top of it, surrounded by concrete apartment blocks from the 60s.... This park is pulling it off! And yes, it is so important it is on the list of protected monuments.

It is bigger than you would expect it to be. First time we decided to have a walk there, it felt as if the park kept revealing itself in front of us indefinitely. The impression is strengthened by the surroundings of the Parc J. Vives across the street, and a no name green site, with another lake, extending beyond the highway and hosting the badminton club with a cozy pub upstairs.

You can see lots birds wandering around, sometimes all over the avenue as well, so you got to be driving carefully (unless you want a fresh duck for diner, which I only assume would be completely illegal).

It's a pleasure to walk around the park (with a stroller in my case), but you can also get some rest on one of many benches "with a view". Back in the summer we also spontaneously thew a little picnic there on the grass.

There is an area in the park completely closed for visitors. It provides shelter for the park's wildlife. It's not really possible to see what's inside, but the flash of my camera apparently scared to death _something_ in there, so I just stopped taking the pictures, and focused on the outside.

There are several fountains all over the lake (which are turned down for the winter), but one is especially eye-catching, being several meters high and, good wind provided, sprinkling water all around the banks.

I feel like providing a word of explanation here. The park is beautiful and very green. On the day I was visiting it though, it was grey and rainy. Neither my camera nor I can take beautiful photographs, therefore the photos don't really show how pretty the park can look. They do show though, how it looks when it's depressingly grey outside, which I think is still pretty good.

That it the greenest picture I managed to take that day.

And if walking, sitting and running is now for you, you can always try the game of Pétanque. In the warmer days this place is full of people playing, but even when I was already running away from rain that caught me walking, I had to stop to take a picture of a man playing. Alone. In rain and cold. I call it a spirit.

I hope it is needless to say, that I am happy to have this park nearby. It only proves that in Brussels, the most amazing places are very often hidden from those who don't to look close enough.

Greetings from the 22nd floor of the concrete block!

 

Update!
While walking to find La Roue which I have just posted about now, I couldn't help myself, but took some photos of the park with nicer weather. I just have to add them :)