Brussels is one of Europe’s best kept secrets. The uncharitable might add ‘and rightly so’ but they would be missing the point – that it is unlike any other European capital is part of its charm.
With just over 1m inhabitants, the city is large enough to have an international feel but small enough so that big-city problems – grid-lock, pollution and snarling crowds – are absent.
Were it not for its legions of eurocrats, diplomats and ex-pats, Brussels could be mistaken for a large prosperous provincial European town. But their deutschmarks and euros ensure the city generates a buzz.
Brussels’ small size is a great advantage, especially for first-time visitors. It is possible to walk to nearly all major attractions within the city and those sights a bit further out are easily accessible via trams, metros, buses or taxis.
At the crossroads of European trade, the city dates from the sixth century and boosts a 15th century town hall, the Grand Place, that dominates the main square.
The beautiful 17th-century buildings that face the square originally housed the medieval craftsmen’s guilds. Gilded and gabled, some of them now boast serious restaurants that compare, if not surpass, the best Paris can offer.
The Belgians take great pleasure in eating and think nothing of spending hours around the dinner table. The maze of narrow pedestrian streets that radiate out from the Grand Place are packed with good, reasonably priced pavement restaurants that are popular with locals and tourists alike. The restaurants compete for business by constructing elaborate still-lifes of fresh fish and meats on pyramids of crushed ice.
If you like Belgo, the mussels and chips emporium in Covent Garden, you’ll love eating out here – frites and mayonnaise are ubiquitous and mussels are on nearly every menu. Whatever you choose, it will probably be washed down with one of Belgium’s famous beers. With 600 different labels, there’s bound to be one you like, though some, it must be said, are an acquired taste. Banana flavour is surely confined to a small niche market.
Not far from the Grand Place is the Mannekin Pis, a statue of a small boy urinating. Quite why the 18-inch bronze is so popular with tourists is unclear but the little lad continues to attracts hordes of tourists as he has since 1619. Sadly, the immediate area is suffocated under shops selling cheap Mannekian Pis tat ranging from biros to place mats and everything imaginable in between.
A gentle way to pass the time is to browse one of the city’s elegant 19th-century glass and marble shopping arcades. The shops give clear evidence what Belgians really feel passionate about – and its not clothes.
Fresh-cream chocolates are treated with almost religious awe and are displayed with a panache that most countries would only consider appropriate for precious gems. Set off with satin ribbons and silk flowers and presented on silver filigree trays, the chocolates really do look too good to eat. One bite of a truffle chocolate with its bitter shell dusted with cocoa concealing a creamy centre will be enough to convince you that Swiss chocolate is but a poor imitation.
But there’s more to Brussels than beer, chips and chocolate – the city has an abundance of cultural appeal. With around 70 museums celebrating everything from lace to Tintin, there is pretty much something for everyone. Brussels is certainly an eclectic city. From the surrealism of Rene Magritte’s paintings to the down-to-earth pleasure the city takes in its food, it’s an ideal weekend destination – if your digestive system can stand it.