Sign in with Facebook"A tale of two cities...or more" Brussels by Sjalen
Brussels Travel Guide: 5,565 reviews and 11,826 photos
The "Capital of Europe" has many faces which makes it hard to make up you mind about her but there are some real gems. As a former expat in Brussels for more than five years (I left in 2002), I have a sort of love-hate relationship to her. One day it rained and rained and the streets were full of dog fouls and blackened houses, people quarreled over whether to speak French or Flemish in this officially bilingual city and there was nowhere I could take a small child. The next day, I went to work amongst people speaking a minimum of eleven languages between us, spring came earlier than it would in Sweden and up popped some surreal art installation or wonderful jazz evening. Most cities benefit from good weather but no more so than Brussels with its already often dark houses. It is a completely different city in sunshine which you unfortunately do not get enough of.
Brussels itself is only the core of the city, sprawling out in a peculiar fashion here and there on the map, and is surrounded by more than a dozen other municipalities that us foreigners also bundle up as Brussels but which are separate entities to the locals and if you move here you will soon find that you are a citizen of Ixelles, Etterbeek or something rather than Brussels. There is one public transport system and the hospitals are shared but depending on where you live, you have a special garbage collecting system and belong to the cable TV company of the "commune". Some communes are more Flemish speaking and some more French speaking, although today French seems predominant in all these city communes whilst Flemish is the language of the surrounding fringes. Historically, it was not always so, and Brussels is in fact the capital of Flanders which is why you will see a lot of yellow flags with the black Flemish griffin on in the city as you walk past Flemish ministries and other administration.
I find it strange that a city sells itself on internet with the ad "Go to Brussels - it's so close to Paris!" but nevertheless, I shall always look upon Brussels with that special feeling you can only have for the place where your child was born...
- Pros:international, surreal, in the middle of it all, architecture
- Cons:rainy, no seaside/central river, the constant language divide, dog poo
- In a nutshell:Juno could not have had two more different faces
Reviews (72)
Manneken Pis
Tourist Traps
(3)
"Is that it?" everyone says, just like they do with the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, and it is perhaps the best... more travel advice
Sablon
Things to Do
(23)
The Petit and Grand Sablon ("sand pile") is one of my favourite city centre parts. You get to see the Notre Dame church... more travel advice
Galeries Royales St Hubert
Things to Do
(23)
I could have put this under shopping but I already have an unusually high amount of shopping tips for Brussels for being... more travel advice
Antiques
Shopping
(8)
Brussels is a great place for antiques and nowhere more so than around Place du Grand Sablon. To be ctd. more travel advice
Sjalen's Related Pages
Brussels Travel Guide
Member Travel Pages
- "More than a decade in Brussels"
- "Say Brussels?? K! let's go to find The Soul"
- "Gothic treasures , art nouveaux - a royal city!"
- "BRUXELLES - BRUSSEL - BRUSSELS"
- "Brussels"
- "Brussels, Capital of Belgium"
- "Bruxelles, ma belle"
- See All...
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Latest: May 14, 2013
Comments (61)
Chocolates, wafels, frites, had it all in Belgium. Nice tips here, thank you.
I visited Brussels last week. I liked that city very much. Ciao!
I'm loving your tips!!!! Will be back again later. Cheers, Marina
In case you need economical vegetarian food for lunch and dinner please contact 0488775294
excellent infos and great pics ! Autoworld is a place I would like to visit and it is nice to see that children could take a seat in such an airplane, not many place allow that ;-((
good pages! makes me want to go back; moules, frites, beer!
This is also a very good page but I can´t understand you feel safer in Bxl then in Stockholm? And the language discussion... well this is Belgium!!! Greets Vince
You managed to name off all of my favorite Belgian beers and favorite restaurants and pubs! More memories flooding back... Cheers, Mark
Great page for a beautiful city.
Very helpful Brussels trip and excellent pics. Thanks for sharing.