Having been in Brussels in mid-November, I was back there during the first week of December, for a workshop in IP-backed finance that our office organised together with the European Commission. During this week our office also offers a Christmas cocktail to the great and good in Brussels, including invitees from the Commission, the European Parliament, member states, and various public and private sector bodies. It is considered an important event, and several of my fellow department directors travelled to Brussels just for this event. I normally do not attend this event, but this year, because I was in town anyway, I did.
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But I start with some photos of my colleagues. My old department had a Christmas cocktail at lunchtime on Tuesday, and I photographed a few of my former colleagues. Here, Lila, Inma and Claire pose for me:
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Carmen and Blanca:
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Backlit Stephanie, and Nicholas:
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That evening, we had the monthly wine tasting at the office, and another former colleague, Charo, was there:
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Charo was seconded to our office for several years, but she is now back in Madrid at the Ministry of Culture. But she retains the connection with the office, including her membership of the wine club:
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Of course I continued my pre-work bike rides. One morning the dawn light over the harbour of El Campello was particularly nice:
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The guard tower, contructed in the mid-16th century as part of a network of such observation towers designed to defend the Mediterranean coast again pirate raids:
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On Wednesday around noon I flew to Brussels, arriving at the Sofitel hotel on Place Jourdan around 4 p.m. My room was on the 7th floor with a nice view of the square. The small structure in the centre of the square was of particular interest to me:
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A ground level view of that structure. Maison Antoine is one of the best friteries in Brussels. And that is saying a lot since the Belgians take their fries seriously:
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The bars lining the square all permit fries from Maison Antoine to be brought in and consumed along with a beer:
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I bought a serving of fries, topped with mayonnaise, and enjoyed them with a good Belgian beer in the bar in the preceding photo, as a late lunch:
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Having fortified myself with fries and beer, I made my way to the site of the cocktail, a grand old gentlemen’s club called Cercle Galois (they only started admitting women as members last year, leading me to question why we use them, but that is another story), close to the royal palace. It was grand indeed:
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The executive director of our agency, João Negrão, delivers a brief welcome message:
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We were marking the introduction of a new pan-EU IP right, craft and industrial geographical indications, similar to what exists for food and drink, but for products such as Limoges porcelain or Murano glass. There was a display of such products from all 27 EU member states along the walls of the ballroom, including some porcelain from Boleslawiec, a town in Poland not far from the city where I was born:
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My colleague Maria chatting with a member of the European Parliament:
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I chatted with these four ladies from the European Commission, photographing them in the process, as I do:
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On Thursday morning it was time to get to work. The workshop on IP-backed finance included people from the European Commission, financial institutions, business organisations, accounting experts, and other participants who could have something to say on the subject. My colleague Inge was the moderator. Here she is getting some last-minute technical assistance from a staff member of the conference centre where the workshop took place:
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Everybody seated and ready to go:
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At lunchtime, I took a group photo on request:
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In the afternoon, workshop over for the day, I walked back to the hotel, changed into comfortable clothes, and walked to the bar on Place Jourdan for a beer. Next to it, Chaussée de Wavre looked pretty with the decorations reflecting on the wet pavement:
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I had arranged to meet up for dinner with my former trainee Romy. I also saw her when I was in Brussels in April, when she came from Bruges to meet me. This time it was a lot easier, as she is now living in Brussels, working for a consulting firm. We had agreed to meet at the Christmas market on Place Brouckère, so I took the metro to Rogier and walked on Blvd. Adolph Max towards our meeting place. The first part of the walk took me through a rather seedy part of the wide boulevard, but even the sex shops seemed to be in the holiday spirit:
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I met up with Romy:
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We proceeded to walk around the Christmas market:
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We ended our walk on Grand’ Place, looking magnificent this evening. After taking in the scene, we had dinner at one of the restaurants on the square, and then said goodbye:
On Friday the workshop continued, and then I flew home in the afternoon. No photos from that day.
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On Saturday morning I walked down to our beach to enjoy the sunrise:
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I do not think one is allowed to camp on the beach, but in the winter you can away with many things:
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On Sunday morning, I cycled to Aigües and happened on the preparations for the Christmas market on the main square:
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The mulled wine stand was already doing business:
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The weather was quite cooperative:
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There were not many customers at the early hour, the sellers (many of whom were from various charities) were setting up or chatting:
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Detail of the Christmas tree in the centre of the square:
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Conversation:
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Fashion statement:
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In the afternoon, it was still warm enough to go for a beer at 100 Montaditos. I put my 90mm Leica lens on my Fuji camera to capture people and dogs on the beach from the comfort of my table on the promenade:
I have been in Brussels 3 times in 2025, and have made a small gallery combining photos from the visits, in April, November and December. It can be seen here.