I am a third-year Computer and Business Studies student at Warwick University. I do my best to rate...
I am a third-year Computer and Business Studies student at Warwick University. I do my best to rate the opinions of those who have rated mine, and will try especially hard in the case of those who have provided helpful comments on my reviews.
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The Dutch tend to feel a distinct superiority over their southern neighbors. Being half-Dutch, I felt that my August 1999 stay in Brussels would be profoundly unimpressive, especially since I had seen the wonders of Paris, Avignon, Rome, Venice, and Florence only a few weeks previously. I was in for a rather pleasant surprise.
Immediately after arriving at Bruxelles-Midi station, I was booked in to Sleep Well youth hostel by a representative. On the way there, I was impressed by the well-organized metro (subway) system. “Efficiency” was not a word I liked to associate with Belgium, but I was forced to concede defeat this time. There was even an illuminated map in each station, showing the position of the approaching train relative to the other stations on the line.
I would also recommend Sleep Well, an excellent hostel quite recently established (c. 1994), with clean, affordable facilities.
The first sight I encountered was the Grand Place / Grote Markt (remember Belgium is a bilingual country). This looked very impressive, with old, majestic buildings, and amiable cafés and bars all round it. There was a light show there at night (a regular occurrence), accompanied by classical music. The buildings were brilliantly illuminated, more or less in time with the music, but the novelty of it all soon wore off.
I ran into Belgium’s national symbol, Manneken Pis, while walking down a street leading off the Grand Place. Two Belgian locals, hearing me speak English to an Australian from the hostel, tried to make an issue of us coming to Brussels only to see the statue, and without even knowing the history behind it (?). Undeterred, I went on to see Jeanneke Pis, the less-famous female equivalent of the aforementioned statue.
I was too short on cash to have a bucket of mussels, but was able to have a top-class cream and chocolate waffle, another Belgian specialty. I also tried a few Belgian beers. Leffe almost instantaneously shot to the top of my favorite beers chart, even beating San Miguel, the previous number one. Brewed since the thirteenth-century, it is characterized by a rugged yet pleasing taste. There are many different varieties, all neatly set out in a picturesque menu, ranging from 6% to 14% alcoholic content.
I even ran into the red light district in Brussels, near one of the main train stations. It was nothing like the one in Amsterdam, comprising a street or two at most, and appearing quite deserted. There were hardly any “window shoppers” at all. But then again, Belgium looks on prostitution rather less kindly than the Dutch do, so this is perhaps understandable.
The next and last day of my stay in Belgium involved an excursion to the Waterloo battlefield. I had bought a combo package from the travel center in Bruxelles-Midi train station, which paid for transport to and from Waterloo as well as access to the numerous museums and attractions. I took the train from Bruxelles-Midi to Braine-l’Alleud, and from there took a bus.
The most visible attraction was the Lion of Waterloo, erected in the 1820s at the spot the Prince of Orange was seriously wounded. Unfortunately, in its construction, earth was taken from the surrounding area, altering the landscape. Further away from it, though, the rest of the field is more or less as it was in 1815.
Walking over the memorial-strewn battlefield was interesting enough for me, since I have an intense interest in this particular battle. To top it all off were several museums in the area, not to mention the Visitor’s Center and the Panorama building. However, I would not recommend a visit to anyone who did not know a moderate amount about the battle. The museums had a sizeable collection of battle relics, but were spread out over the wide area of the battleground. I doubt many would enjoy walking quite long distances across a field that did not capture their imagination, just to see another museum. If the museums were more concentrated, I think some idle interest could be attracted (though I am certainly not maintaining things would be better that way).
In conclusion, I would whole-heartedly recommend Brussels for a short stay. It does not appear to have quite the long-lasting cultural appeal of, say, Florence, but has enough places of interest and things to do to keep one occupied for a good few days.
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I've visited Belgium fairly regular over the years, due mainly to having relatives in Antwerp, and I agree that Brussels is a very underrated destination. I was there for two weekends last summer, and spent some very enjoyable evenings in the bars on the Grote Markt - Leffe is close to the top of my list of Belgian beers as well :)
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