BaltimoreJewishLife.com | Terror Alert Makes Brussels Surreal For Residents, Tourists (Video & Photo Essay)

Brussels - Brussels is more accustomed to the toing and froing of European diplomats than to truckloads of soldiers patrolling the streets. Its stores and markets should be bustling in the runup to Christmas.

But three days of the highest terror alert and unprecedented measures that have closed down the city’s subways, schools and main stores, has created a very different atmosphere as the Belgian capital tries to avoid attacks similar to the ones that caused devastating carnage in Paris.

“It’s fitting since Belgium is the birthplace of surrealism but there is an otherworldly feeling here,” said Jan Van Gent, a retired pharmaceutical manager. “This is like a Magritte painting, to see these soldiers in a nice town where they don’t belong.”

Others weren’t convinced the government’s actions were anything more than a PR move.

“They have a lot of attention on them now so they have to prove they’re doing something, but I don’t know how much difference this will make,” said Maxime Legena, an IT technician. “We don’t really know how big this threat is because the government hasn’t said very much.”

But he did appreciate one unintended side-effect of the attempts to shutter the city: “My drive to work was much faster today because there’s nobody on the streets.”

A woman looks at a sign (in white) that reads "school closed for security reason" at the entrance of a nursery school in Brussels, November 23, 2015, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. REUTERS/Yves Herman

On Monday evening, Prime Minister Charles Michel announced Brussels would remain at the highest alert level for another week unless there are any major developments. He said that schools and subways would start to reopen on Wednesday.

Michel said that decision was “a clear signal that we want to gradually return to normal life” and thanked the Belgian population for their understanding, noting that the country was facing an extremely difficult situation.

Brussels native Jacqueline Vander-Poelen, who lives near the city’s Medieval Grand Place square, said the noise of police operations and reporters scurrying to cover them made for an annoying weekend.

“What’s making me scared is the alarmist journalists saying there’s going to be another attack,” Vander-Poelen complained. While she couldn’t remember any other instance where the city shut down so completely, she said residents would likely accept whatever measures were necessary to defeat extremists.

Some Belgians have developed their own style of acceptance, however. When Belgian authorities asked people to stop commenting on ongoing police raids on Sunday, social media users responded by flooding Twitter with pictures of cats, including some snaps of kitties holding up their paws like captured suspects.

Nishith Mehta, a tourist from Mumbai, was taking sunrise photos of the Christmas tree inside Grand Place and said the military presence was reassuring.

“It is better to be cautious than (to) see what happened in Paris,” she said.

While high school student Michel Evangeline appreciated the day off and was busy taking photos of soldiers downtown, he was convinced his terror-prompted holiday wouldn’t last long.

“They cannot shut down everything like this,” he said. “Even the McDonald’s is closed and that is very strange.”

An empty school yard following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status to maximum because of a ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack. The Metro line remains closed and all Belgian school are closed. The Belgian government said it had concrete evidence of a planned terrorist attack that would have employed weapons and explosives. (Credit: EPA)

A soldier on security duty outside the metro station "porte de namur" following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status to maximum because of a ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack. The Metro line remains closed and all Belgian school are closed. The Belgian government said it had concrete evidence of a planned terrorist attack that would have employed weapons and explosives. (Credit: EPA)

A Belgian soldier patrols in Brussels’ Grand Place as police searched the area during a continued high level of security following the recent deadly Paris attacks, Belgium, November 23, 2015. (Credit: REUTERS)

Belgian soldiers patrol in central Brussels as police searched the area during a continued high level of security following the recent deadly Paris attacks, Belgium, November 23, 2015. (Credit: REUTERS)

A woman walks past a closed subway station outside EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. The Belgian capital Brussels has entered its third day of lockdown, with schools and underground transport shut and more than 1,000 security personnel deployed across the country. (Credit: AP)

Belgian Army soldiers patrol outside EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. The Belgian capital Brussels has entered its third day of lockdown, with schools and underground transport shut and more than 1,000 security personnel deployed across the country. (Credit: AP)

French police officers monitor the border between France and Belgium in Neuville-en-Ferrain, northern France, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. Belgian police launched more raids in Brussels and beyond early Monday, detaining five more people as they continued their hunt for a fugitive suspect in the Paris attacks. (Credit: AP)

A French gendarme officer patrols in front of the Arc de Triomphe, on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, Monday Nov. 23, 2015. French President Francois Hollande will preside over a national ceremony on Nov. 27 honoring the at least 130 victims of the deadliest attacks on France in decades. (Credit: AP)

People shop in a nearly empty arcade in the center of Brussels on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. The Belgian capital Brussels has entered its third day of lockdown, with schools and underground transport shut and more than 1,000 security personnel deployed across the country. (Credit: AP)

Belgian Army soldiers patrols in the center of Brussels on Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. The Belgian capital Brussels has entered its third day of lockdown, with schools and underground transport shut and more than 1,000 security personnel deployed across the country. (Credit: AP)

A security officer watches people visiting the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market on the first day of its opening in Berlin, Germany, November 23, 2015. The security measures in public places were increased after recent deadly attacks in Paris. (Credit: REUTERS)

German police conduct a control at the German-Belgian border in Aachen, Germany, to check vehicles and verify the identity of travellers November 23, 2015 as security measures increased after recent deadly attacks in Paris. (Credit: REUTERS)

Belgian soldiers and police patrol in central Brussels as police searched the area during a continued high level of security following the recent deadly Paris attacks, Belgium, November 23, 2015. (Credit: REUTERS)

The entrance of a closed school is pictured in Brussels, November 23, 2015, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. (Credit: REUTERS)

A woman passes by a closed entrance of a shopping center in Brussels, November 23, 2015, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. (Credit: REUTERS)

Belgian soldiers patrol outside the European Commission headquarters as police searched the area during a continued high level of security following the recent deadly Paris attacks, in Brussels, Belgium, November 23, 2015. (Credit: REUTERS)

A sign that reads "school closed" is pictured at the entrance of a primary and nursery school in Brussels, November 23, 2015, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. (Credit: REUTERS)

Police check and arrest people in front of Brussels central station in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Brussels remained on high alert level 4/4 for a third consecutive day, with the subway closed and schools shuttered as police questioned 21 people taken into custody during anti-terrorism operations. There are fears that a key suspect in the November 13 shootings and bombings in Paris may be hiding in Belgium. (Credit: EPA)

Soldiers guard outside 16 Rue de la Loi, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, following the terror alert level being raised to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Brussels remained on high alert for a third consecutive day, with the subway closed and schools shuttered as police questioned 21 people taken into custody during anti-terrorism operations. There are fears that a key suspect in the November 13 shootings and bombings in Paris may be hiding in Belgium. (Credit: EPA)

Police officer and soldiers on security duty on the Grand Place following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status to maximum because of a ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack. The Metro line remains closed and all Belgian school are closed. (Credit: EPA)

A tourist poses in front of a military truck on the Grand Place following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status to maximum because of a ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack. The Metro line remains closed and all Belgian school are closed. (Credit: EPA)

A women walks past a closed school near the city centre following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 23 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status to maximum because of a ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack. The Metro line remains closed and all Belgian school are closed. The Belgian government said it had concrete evidence of a planned terrorist attack that would have employed weapons and explosives. (Credit: EPA)

epaselect epaselect epa05036986 A Police officer and soldiers stand guard in the ‘Rue des Bouchers’ street, famous for it’s restaurants, following the terror alert level being elevated to 4/4, in Brussels, Belgium, 22 November 2015. Belgium raised the alert status at Level 4/4 as ‘serious and imminent’ threat of an attack, the main effect are closing of all Metro Line in Brussels, all soccer match of league one and two cancelled countrywide. The Belgian government said it had concrete evidence of a planned terrorist attack that would have employed weapons and explosives. EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ (Credit: EPA)