"Brussels: the best kept secret in Europe " a Brussels Travel Page by GillianMcLaughlin

I first visited Brussels in the late 1980s... to see Bob Dylan in concert. I was not particularly impressed (but then again I was tired and hung over for most of the time). I started visiting Brussels in 1990 for work, and for 5 years went at least once a month. I moved to Brussels in 1995 on a 6 month contract. I left in 2002, reluctantly. I go back as often as I can.

In my 7 years there, I ran an unofficial hostel for friends and family and the city never failed to impress even the most cynical of visitor. What it is about Brussels is hard to define.

It is certainly no accident that Belgium in general and Brussels in particular provided such inspiration and such a welcome to the surreal art movement: nothing about this city is what it appears to be.

How can you sum up a city of such amazing and wonderful contrasts? A city that very recently was tearing down national treasures and replacing them with concrete jungle and urban motorway. A city that today cherishes what it has and does its best to make up for the ravages of the sixties and seventies. A city that hosts major international institutions (the EU and NATO) and yet struggles to define its own linguistic and cultural identity.

Brussels panders to the tourist thus far and no further. To get near grasping the heart of this city, understanding what makes it tick, realising why people arrive for a few months and stay on to retirement, you need to scratch the surface a bit.

Brussels is one of those rare gems of Northern Europe that would sit quite happily in the south of Europe: a ray of sunshine in early March will bring people out onto the terraces of cafes around the city. Many visitors feel that the speed of service in cafes and restaurants is also akin to that of some southern destinations... time certainly has a diffeent feel here.

I have been looking forward to starting these pages here. I don't want to take you to the major tourists sites: before starting I looked at what is already there - it is good, and any repetition I could make would be a pale imitation of what other residents and visitors have posted up on this site. No, I'd rather take you to the places and to the people that have made this city such an amazing place to visit and such a great place for me to live in.

Come see
where Audrey Hepburn was born
the first railway station in continental europe
the best place to view the carpet of flowers
the most interesting shops around the flea market

Fasten your seatbelt, you're in for a bumpy ride! (Well, you will be when I get it all finished... watch this space)