And finally the plane landed on earth. Walking down the stairs, we nearly froze to death. Brussels, center of the European Union, capital city of a country where more than eighty percent of its population will be over 65 year old by 2020.

Our eyes were tired from the sleepless night, but the icy coldness of the weather kept them peeled.
Before noon on November 30, shortly after our arrival at the airport, we were warmly received by Farzad Farhangian, a counselor at the Iranian Embassy, and invited to the ambassador’s official residence for the next night’s dinner.
After the journalists from Germany, Ukraine, and Brazil, we Iranians were the fourth group of journalists invited to the European Union. Based on a “win-win” principle, equal numbers of seven men and seven women from nine Iranian newspapers, Hamshahri, Jam-e Jam, Iran, Etemad Melli, Etemad, Ressalat, Kargozaran, Etelaat, and Siassat Rouz, and four news agencies, Mehr, Fars, ISNA, and ILNA, are now in Brussels, which seems to be the transparency center of the united Europe.
In the city, passing through the streets, we saw no bustle and hustle. The streets seemed to be deserted; the city was in silence. And the sun hardly shined.
It seemed that we were the only ones on the scene. A long way away from our homeland with active minds, we were there to get answers to our questions, to see how the European Union works, and to become familiarized with the EU’s three main decision-making institutions, the parliament, the council, and the commission.
It was an ideal opportunity to meet EU officials and get to know them; to see the great challenges the union deals with and its strenuous efforts to create a united continent, and to disseminate that information to the world. A union of 27 member states -- 27 sovereign powers!! -- with a population of over 500 million, facing a global financial crisis.
It was a good chance to get some experiences and finally make judgments on the actions of the union’s institutions, their goals and desires.
Oh! How awful to be in the European Information Center, a cradle of democracy, civilization, and transparency, and to have no access to computer equipment for receiving world news.
Iranian journalists -- the union’s official guests -- were treated like tourists!
We have had a pretty hectic schedule. From the beginning to the end of our trip, there was no time or opportunity provided for the group to file news reports or disseminate information about the meetings to Tehran-based offices via the Internet!
Arriving at the New Hotel, located just 200 meters from the European Parliament, we were informed about our working programs.
On Sunday, the programs included a five-hour sightseeing tour of Brussels and the dinner party of Iranian Ambassador Ali-Asghar Khaji.
Several meetings with EU officials, including members of the parliament, the council, and the commission, Monday’s working lunch with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana’s spokesperson Cristina Gallach, Tuesday’s meeting with EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and finally Wednesday’s meeting with Javier Solana were some of the main programs of the seven-day trip.
After 30 minutes, we were warmly welcomed by two members of the European Journalism Center (EJC), Alexandra Labao and Branka Kostovska, in the hotel lobby.
The European Journalism Center, which is based in Maastricht, Holland, is an independent, non-profit institute that trains mid-career journalists and media professionals. It has a staff of eighteen. And the Brussels branch of the EJC, which has a staff of twelve journalists, hosted the group of Iranian journalists.
When they took their leave, we went to our rooms to lie down and take some rest.
(To be continued