"Brussel: the city that won't let you... " a Brussels Travel Page by OlafS

Brussel (the real name of this city, I wonder where that 's' at the end came from), once the most important city in the entire Dutch-speaking part of the world, now the largely (but not completely!) French-speaking capital of Belgium, Flanders and the European Union. It's big, it's dirty, it's crowded, it's in fact the biggest mess I've ever seen. Old and new architecture are mixed in a way that is nothing short of tasteless. Old buildings are falling apart, many others already have. At times you even get the feeling that you are leaving the centre and entering a new neighbourhood. Some neighbourhoods look very uninviting. And yet, I like this city. There was a time when I visited at least once a year, but that was long ago. My first visit after several years only lasted a couple of hours. We had taken a friend to Leuven who needed to do something there that would take her about two hours. Having both seen enough of Leuven we decided to spend that time in Brussel, which seemed close enough. It turned out to be one hour of sightseeing, and about two hours to get out again. Before we returned to our car my wife suggested to go back in the Summer, when we had more time. But once we left Brussel she vowed never to drive in this city again. Thankfully she changed her mind. The second time we visited the city things went a lot easier. It seems it takes some practise.

Somehow I prefer to explore a city on my own. That's why I returned, by train this time, to have a long walk and to add a few pictures of churches to my collection (read about that on my homepage). The weather could have been better, it could also have been worse, but I did get to see a lot of the city. Good places, bad places. Beautiful and ugly. This is a city of big contrasts. Late in the afternoon I met with VT-member Diplomat and a friend of his for a few local beers. A day well spent. What a shame I had to take the train back at 20.00 h. I would have loved to explore more of the nightlife. And make more pictures like this one. Nice, isn't it?

A small but important point about this page and my tips; you'll find that I use the Dutch names of buildings and streets. This is an originally Dutch-speaking city. It only became mostly French-speaking due to the discrimination of Dutch-speakers by a French-speaking ruling class, something which is going on until this very day. The Dutch names of streets and buildings are usually the original ones, most of the French ones are translations without any historical importance. I can understand why people use the French names instead, considering the reality that this is mostly a French-speaking city, but I look at this city as a part of my own background, my culture and history. I will use the real names out of respect for this city's history.