LOW COST TRIPS AROUND BRUSSELS: KASTEEL VAN GAASBEEK

Kasteel van Gaasbeek

Here's some basic Flemish for you: Kasteel means castle. Gaas stands for gauze, while beek means brook. To this we add the common-knowledge fact that van is the same as of, and we arrive at a perfect translation of the whole name. Yes, my friends, Kasteel van Gaasbeek is no more than the Castle of Gauze Brook, and who needs Dutch classes anyway if such excellent toponym translations are available with just some good will and a bit of google. There we went a few weeks ago - to the Castle of Gauze Brook, formerly home to one weird lady, today a real door to the past, which miraculously made us look under 26, so that we could pay the reduced fee.

Destination: Kasteel van Gaasbeek
Transport: DeLijn bus 142 from Midi to the Gaasbeek stop.
Equipment: picnic, walking shoes and a camera.
Cost: DeLijn ticket (1,50 € one way) plus 7 € entrance fee (unless you are - or look - under 26, then: 5€).

The bus conveniently stops right next to the castle park entrance which, in case you still have doubts in spite of its grandeur, is clearly marked with enormous signs informing that you have indeed reached Gaasbeek. The park is huge, very beautiful, and features several lakes, lanes, paths, bits of forest, meadows and lawns - perfect for any outdoor activity from hiking to biking to picnicking.

Any way you go, you will eventually arrive at the castle itself, which, placed on a hill, towers over the park and its lakes. Now the tricky part: do your best to look under 26 and the nice ticket lady will give you a cheaper ticket even if you admit that your real age is 27, while for some people even 33 (I'm sure some people won't mind this indiscretion). For the price of 5 € you are handed an audioguide and off you go... to the garden, where you await a human guide as well.

Gaasbeek park

The two guides complement each other - human giving you the number in three to four languages, audio chirping into your ear in your language of choice. Effect: human guide smiles with appreciation when human non-guides in unison and complete silence turn to a painting or piece of furniture described by the audioguide whispering in their ears. Human guide then answers non-guides' questions, while the audioguide patiently waits until a new number is announced by its human counterpart. In this happy way you take a tour around the castle and you find out that:

• the castle's last owner, Marquise Marie Arconati Visconti, was a very strange lady;
• the castle's last owner, Marquise Marie Arconati Visconti, liked dressing as a boy in her 60s.;
• the castle's last owner, Marquise Marie Arconati Visconti, constructed several secret passages and hiding places, so that she could a) meet her lovers and b) spy on the other people in her household;
• the castle's last owner, Marquise Marie Arconati Visconti, had a relative who liked dressing as a Turkish prince (or something to that effect);
• in the middle ages people washed twice a year - a general remark which caused a lot of giggling;
• people used to sleep in a sitting position, as lying was reserved for the dead;
• XV-century toilets looked like thrones.

Horses in Groenenberg

Enriched by this knowledge, you proceed with your visit. Upon appointment and having paid an extra fee, you can also take a stroll in the French garden, which is still kept in a traditional, XVI-century way and thus very fragile. Apparently, very beautiful, too. Appointment-less, however, we explored the park instead, and found a picturesque chapel, as well as - wait for it - a "Pavilion of Pleasure", whose purpose, sadly, remains unexplained.

If all this is still not enough for you, leave the premises, cross the street and wander off to Groenenberg, another huge garden (although a bit less well-kept), full of old trees (including three sequoias) and horses. In addition, it is nearly deserted, and will be perfect if what you're looking for is a secluded spot. 

All in all, an excellent trip within 30 minutes from Brussels, perfectly doable once you've dedicated three to four days figuring out your itinerary on the DeLijn page, which might just be the least user-friendly website ever created. Apart from that - Gauze Brook rules!