Every Friday night in Brussels, from June through September, hundreds of rollerbladers gather to skate through the streets of town in the Brussels Roller Parade. The last Friday of the season, Reid and I joined them.
We showed up at the starting line, Place Poelaert, around 7:30PM where there were people renting skates and practicing. I had brought mine with me from the US, but Reid was able to rent a pair for just 10 euros. There were all levels, from those jumping off steps and skating around lined up bottles to those just hoping to keep their balance on flat ground. At 8PM, the Roller Parade began.
Each week, the route changes, but it runs for about 3 hours, about 20-25km. Our route took us by Chatelain, up Porte de Namur, by Parc Cinquintenaire, down to VUB, near the Bourse, and so on. It’s very organized with volunteers blocking cars, a bus following with medics, and even police on skates. People on bicycles followed the skaters and residents peeked out of their homes to cheer us on. With so many skaters, it’s pretty slow, and we had several breaks where they handed out whistles, glow sticks, water, Red Bull, and candy.
Reid and I stayed toward the back where she was able to sweet talk one of the volunteers into letting her hold onto him down the hills. After 13km though, we were getting exhausted, and we knew we still had two big tunnels left, so we stepped out and hopped on the bus to ride the rest of the way.
Even with our early departure, we had a great time. I really haven’t rollerbladed since I played roller-hockey in NC almost 6 years ago, but it reminded me how relaxing I find it. There were some difficult parts – on cobblestones and up hills, but the group energy really keeps you going. I hope to join in out a few more times next Summer.
For a while at the beginning, Thomas followed along on foot and took photos. I’ve posted a few of them on Flickr:
- Brussels Roller Parade (9 photos)
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What a fun activity. I’m glad that you two participated and Thomas captured the pictures.
It really was a wonderful night of thrills. So glad we did it. And thank goodness for Ludwig letting me hold onto his waist down the steep hills!