I was expecting some sort of protest. I couldn't listen to the radio – I don't speak the right language – but surely there were right-wing shock-jocks whipping the masses into a frenzy on the airwaves at that very moment. Surely there were howls of derision coming from somewhere.
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But not on the ground. Not there outside the Stock Exchange building in the centre of Brussels. There it seemed peaceful and happy, despite the impromptu picnic that was happening right in the middle of what should have been a very busy street.
And this was a regular occurrence, it turned out, a "sit-in" on the Boulevard Anspach, one of Brussels' main transport arteries, organised by a group called "Pic Nic the Streets" as a way of reclaiming the city's spaces for people who don't have cars, or don't want to use cars. On that sunny Sunday afternoon the road had been blocked off by families with blankets spread out on the bitumen, eating cheese and other snacks; young people drinking from big bottles of beer; older stagers standing around and chatting.
Boulevard Anspach
What was oddly missing from this scene was the cries of anger from the people whose day it must have been disrupting. There were no honks of horns in the distance. No waving of fists at the latte-sippers enjoying a quiet protest in the outdoors. It seemed, in fact, as if most people were on their side.
And these sit-ins have been making a difference. A few weeks after I left the city, even more of Brussels' streets were due to be sealed off to traffic permanently, many in the area near the Stock Exchange, allowing a larger network of pedestrian-only pathways through the most popular parts of the city.
It sounded like a great idea to me. After all, some of the world's best cities have huge patches of their central business districts dedicated purely to people on foot. Up north in Copenhagen there's an extensive network of pedestrian malls – the Danish capital, as usual, is at the forefront of anything clean and green.
New York wasn't always so pedestrian friendly, but the 2009 opening of the High Line – an elevated railway line turned pedestrian pathway – changed all of that.
The High Line
The Chilean capital of Santiago might not be exactly pretty, but its huge network of malls makes it a breeze to wander around. And the same goes for Budapest, and Amsterdam, and Prague, and Vienna: so many of those cities' major thoroughfares are open only to people on foot. It's great.
But how about in Australia, this country with the ideal climate for being outside and wandering around? How are we faring? Poorly. Obviously.
Melbourne has its laneways, and a small section of Bourke Street closed off. But it's nothing to write home about. Sydney has a piddling section of Pitt Street sealed, and that's pretty much it. Brisbane has a few malls; Perth is the same. But there's no real dedication to pedestrian ease.
The problem is that Australians just love their cars. We're quite American in that sense. If we're going somewhere, it's probably in the car. Investment in public transport in our cities pales in comparison to spending on roads. We like to drive. And we don't like the experience disrupted.
Think of the howls of protest that met plans to put bike lanes on a few of Sydney's streets. Or the kerfuffle that accompanied the idea to pedestrianise a large part of George Street in the CBD. Those plans have all been approved, thankfully – but it wasn't easy.
Contrast that, once again, with the sit-in "picnic protest" in Brussels, where pedestrians had blocked off a street for no better reason than to reclaim part of the city they'd formerly been denied – and who could argue that on a beautiful summer day there was anything better to do than sit down on a blanket in this great area and enjoy a few beers and something to eat?
It's a different attitude, and one we could stand to adopt here in Australia. There's really no need for city dwellers' over-reliance on cars. Not just in the interests of the environment, but in the interests of having a city that's enjoyable to live in.
Close off streets and you get more cafes, more bars, more shops, and more people to patronise all of them. You get forced reliance on public transport networks. You get communities that people actually want to spend time in, instead of fleeing the minute they finish work.
You get a nicer place to live. And somewhere to have a picnic.
Do you think Australia should have more pedestrianised spaces? Which cities are the most pedestrian-friendly?
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See also: The 20 coolest streets in the world to walk
