LisbonJet's Travels: Brussels

Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts

Sunset while flying between Brussels and Lisbon

In-flight, May 2025

Just a few photos of yesterday's flight:

Aircraft the Airbus A319-112, tail number CS-TTR, named "Soares dos Reis".

Brussels, Jeanneke Pis

Brussels, May 2024

Brussels was the first city I was able to visit while on a layover since I started my aviation career in 2007. And since that time it has always been a favorite of mine. Operations for Brussels Airlines out of Brussels to Africa destinations were very common in my ACMI days.

I think Brussels has so much to offer to a visitor: nice architecture and museums, beer, waffles and chocolate, moules-frites, places to have fun by night, etc...

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Comics Art Museum

I started my rest day in Brussels with a visit to the Comics Art Museum which has been on my Brussels to-do list for such a long time! Of course you can't escape from Tintin and its creator Hergé.

I was very surprised to find a comic strip on display about the big 1755 earthquake in my hometown - Lisbon:

The ticket for an adult has a cost of 13 € - a little bit expensive in my opinion - but all in all it was a good way to spend some time.

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Jeanneke Pis

On this layover I was able to finally spot the famous Jeanneke Pis statue/fountain. Usually the focus is put on the Manneken Pis statue which I had already seen plenty of times. Maybe because Jeanneke Pis is placed in a dead end street it doesn't get much attention as its counterpart.

However, that dead end street is also where you can find a very famous beer bar in Brussels: the Delirium Café.

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Central Brussels

Next couple of photos show the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and also the Galerie de la Reine part of the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries complex.

And finally a photo taken at the iconic Grand-Place (which was overcrowded because it was the Ascension public holiday) and another one of the tower of the Town Hall seen from distance.

I don't know why but I am usually blessed with good weather and blue skies in Brussels. Of course I ate one gaufre au chocolat and by the end of the day I felt good with another pleasurable stay in Brussels. Looking forward to coming back again.

New Year's Eve in Paris...

Brussels, January 2013

... where I had a nice supper with friends and sipped some champagne. No fireworks could be seen at Rungis though...

Then, on the 1st day of 2013, I went to Brussels for a two nights layover. A great start for me since Brussels is one of my favorite Capitals in Europe.

A few pictures of the city taken after a prolonged and tasty lunch at O Bifanas restaurant (a portuguese one in Brussels):

La movida...

And the irresistible Grand-Place with always something new to appreciate.

This time the navity scene...

I think the donkey and the cattle were really fired...

... and a beautiful light and music show at Grand-Place:

Happy New Year!

The Greek islands tour

Greek Islands, October 2007

I was more than a month without flying. Our L-1011 went to maintenance and among other works, an important and mandatory modification in the engines was due. This process took a little bit longer than it was expected.

When the aircraft finally arrived from maintenance, I was immediately assigned for a short notice ACMI flight for Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium. We would be replacing an A320 on the triangular route to the Greek islands Rhodes and Heraklion.

This was also the first flight of one colleague as a purser and was being examined, so it was a special flight for all of us who wanted things to go just fine and without problems, making it easier for her. For this long journey we had an augmented crew of 8 flight crew members and 11 cabin crew! I didn't even have my own jumpseat since they were all occupied (CS-TMP had 10 jumpseats for cabin crew).

We departed empty to Brussels with TCW 424F callsign in a 2h30min run.

Initial cruise...

Another airplane crossing...

Empty cabin...

These dirty windows were really in need for an urgent cleaning...

No passengers means time for some fun in the cabin... Still waiting for the reverse photo :)

Looking afterwards...

Looking forward...

Someone said that after the modifications, the engine noise sounded better. For me, a RB211-524B engine always plays music all the time!

Start of our descent towards Brussels... Speedbrakes!

Final approach, flaps!

And finally at Zaventem (Brussels) Airport!

Then we boarded catering and passengers. During boarding, I recall one passenger noticing the different aircraft and telling "Je n'aime pas cet avion. C'est trop grand!". Well, definitely passengers can't decide whether the L-1011-500 is a big or a small aircraft. If you remember, on another flight, someone was worried if such a "small" plane could cross the Atlantic Ocean... For me it was just the right size... not too big, not too small.

But we also had some elderly passengers (don't know if it was their first time flying) completely amazed with the airplane and fascinated with the experience of flying.

So we took the passengers to the Greek islands all night long. Flight time was 3h20 from Brussels to Rhodes, 1h00 from Rhodes to Heraklion and 3h15 in the return flight to Brussels.

We arrived in Brussels when the sun started rising. It was a very, very foggy morning! As I didn't have a jumpseat, I landed in the cabin together with the passengers and I couldn't see anything outside. The aircraft was already on its final approach and it didn't move one millimeter away from its steady descending path. If I didn't know I was inside an airborne plane, I could swear I was in terra firma! More, I couldn't even notice the landing gear touching down and visibility was still nil! Only when the aircraft started braking and decelerating I knew we were on ground.

After landing I talked with a cabin crew colleague telling him that almost for sure an autoland was performed. He said I was crazy and that an old aircraft like the L-1011 probably didn't have such capability. I stood quiet and smiled to myself. When the last passenger got out, I went to the cockpit and told the Captain "Great landing!". He replied... «it was not me, it was "George"». And I smiled again, proud of my aircraft :)