A Delightful Weekend in Brussels

If Brussels were a person, it would be the poor relation, the one who always turns up at family reunions in the same, slightly shabby old tweed jacket. While some cousins are relating how well they have done, and how rich they have become (Paris, Berlin, London) and others tell how they are sending their kids to the best business schools (Warsaw, Prague), Brussels stays quiet, but nevertheless manages to exude, in a quiet, almost smug way, a sense of a life surprisingly well lived. Brussels could say, okay I’m not so rich, but I have a choice of several good bread shops within walking distance to get fresh baguette or rolls for breakfast, and on the way back home I pass a great wine shop, a fantastic cheese shop and that bar where all the best new bands play. I may not be as rich, shiny, spectacular as you lot, but I have a very nice way of life.

Brussels is the capital of Belgium, a country whose two parts, the Flemish speakers and the French speakers are so utterly separate in culture and politics that it keeps threatening to fall apart, the Flemish people perhaps becoming part of the Netherlands, the French people perhaps, or again probably not, becoming a new province of France. So it is probably good for Brussels that, as the administrative center of the European Union it is also in a sense the capital of Europe.

The city has about one million inhabitants, and seems small for a capital city. The city’s central point is the Grand Place, or great square, with its buildings constructed mainly between the 15th and 17th centuries in a variety of styles including gothic and baroque. One of the buildings is the Town Hall, the others were originally guild houses but are now mainly shops and restaurants. The Grand Place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the prettiest square not only in Brussels but one of the prettiest in the whole world. I once visited Brussels during a soccer World Cup qualifiying match between Scotland and Brussels and the Scotland fans, in their kilts and a surprising number of them carrying (very good) champagne bottles had turned the square into a giant party. Magic! as the Scotland fans would doubtless say in their Scottish dialect. My mother, who was with me, thought she had arrived in heaven.

Around the square are narrow streets, some of them medieval, and a surprising number of restaurants, a suprising number of which are pretty good. The last time I was there, we were visiting cousins who have lived in Brussels for two years now and they took us to two of their favorites. The first was a simple but good restaurant on the rooftop of the Musical Instruments Museum which is commonly referred to as mim. We sat outside on the roof terrace where we had fantastic views of the city surrounding us and ate fish, or beef tartare, or hamburgers with salad and some of the best French fries I have ever tasted. I did wonder why they are called French rather than Belgian fries, since Belgium is so very clearly the home of fries, traditionally served with mayonaise. We also enjoyed some of the beer for which Belgum is rightly famous. The actual museum is not particularly interesting, best just take the elevator straight to the restaurant on the top floor. A couple of days later we wanted to go somewhere more special, to celebrate a birthday, and we went to Toucan sur Mer, a brasserie on the avenue Louis Lepoutre, where we gorged ourselves on seafood including sea urchins and oysters and drank some very nice white burgundy. Another good fish restaurant I remembered from a previous visit is close by, also in the center of town: La Belle Maraichere, on place Ste Catherine, a pretty square which has several good restaurants. But in fact one of the nicest things about Brussels is that you can walk into a café and be almost sure of getting decent food which frequently includes mussels (a local specialty) and French fries.

Our cousins live in a quiet area called Montgomery, approximately 10 minutes by bus or streetcar from the center. The hotels are somewhat cheaper here, the streets are quieter and totally charming, with shops selling bread, cheese, wine, bars and cafés.

 

Favorite tourist sights in Brussels

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium which consists of four separate museums: Ancient Art Museum (XV - XVII century), the Modern Art Museum (XIX & XX century), the Wiertz Museum and the Meunier Museum. The Ancient Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum are both located on Rue de la Régénce 3, not far from the Grand Place.

Many tourists like to see the Manneken pis, a statue of a urinating boy on the corner of rue de L'Etuve and rue du Chêne and is considered a Brussels icon.

The 19th century covered shopping gallery called St. Hubert gallery.

Antiques shops and art galleries around the square known as Le Sablon.

The Belgian Comics Strip Center on rue des Sables where you can learn more about Tintin, the famous Belgian boy detective.

Chocolate! Probably every chocolate lover has a favorite brand of Belgian chocolate. Mine is Pierre Marcolini; other famous makers are Leonidas, Neuhaus, Godiva, Galler; all have shops in the city center. Marcolini’s is at Rue des Minimes 1, there’s a branch of Godiva just opposite and Neuhaus is just along the road.

To sum up
Brussels is not a world-center tourist attraction like London, Paris, Berlin or Manhattan. But it is a very pleasant place to spend a weekend.