While many of the other Western European capitals attract more attention and longer stays, Brussels’ beer, chocolate and Grand Place give plenty of tourists reason enough to make a stop here. If you give Brussels more time than Grand Place, though, you’ll find the city is a funny mix of a lot of influences. Historic charm, EU politics, hipster trendiness, edginess, multiculturalism, and its own special surreality all blended into one city. There’s a lot to Brussels that makes it stand out in Europe the more time you experience its different parts.
I came here for…well, let’s call it a business trip, huh…basically me and a couple of other students were chosen for a trip to Brussels to see the European insitutions and the city itself based on how active we were in our schools in the issue of European Union…nice, right?
The first day we didn’t manage to see much because we arrived quite late and especially I was little tired (12 hours from my hometown to the airport in a night bus…10 hours more than the person who complained about the “long journey” the most!), so here are just a few of my first impressions of the city. Enjoy!
I love flying so much! This time we had a delay (about three hours, I started to dislike Austrian Airlines right away), but that feeling you have when the plane is taking off…so so amazing and rewarding.
Our hotel was right next to the Berlaymont in the European Quarter!
Brussels with its Paris-like architecture might be interesting and nice, but for me…Amsterdam is Amsterdam. At first I thought it’s gonna be similar in some point of view, but I haven’t spotted any signs of the Dutch culture maybe except the signs in metro stations.
Basically whole town looks like the photo above, enormous mixture of old and modern architecture. Old English pub right next to the post-modern building of the European Commission. So exciting.
The famous Maes Pils (beer) and Appelsap (apple juice).
In that building was actually some sort of a cabaret and opera, but I didn’t dare to step in. Maybe next time!
Belgian waffles!! Oreo on the left, speculaas on the right.
Me after the waffles. I rather never wanna know how many calories did the waffles contain!
There are no signs telling you where to go to find the “peeing boy” – Manneken Pis. You can only watch the showcases and the more items with his effigy are present, the closer you are to the statue. It works!
What’s your bet, how big is the statue, that it’s got such an internation success?
Two meters?
Nah.
One meter?
Also nah.
…..
Would you believe, that one of the most known statues in the world is only 61cm tall and it’s situated in such a corner, that without asking a person in the nearest shop, you wouldn’t even find it?
And some souvenirs, another “pilsje” and chocolate peeing boys!
Well how strange did that sound.
Have a great day!
Asequibles 