Overview
The
European Parliament has found its ideal home in Brussels (
Bruxelles in French,
Brussel in Flemish). This inland
capital city of Belgium, bordered by The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, is a multicultural and multilingual city at the very heart of the EU. Indeed, it claims with some justification to be the ‘
Capital of Europe'.
Belgium celebrated its
175th anniversary of statehood during 2005, but the history of the nation's capital goes back much further. Brussels was already a thriving trade center by the Middle Ages. The
Bruxellois have inherited the wisdom of ancestors who lived under Roman, Spanish, Austrian, French, Dutch and German domination - their country winning independence only in 1830.
Today, Brussels boasts a
highly skilled and
adaptable workforce. Despite the population of Belgium numbering only 10.5 million, with Brussels itself a little over a million-strong, the
Bruxellois have the ability to compensate for their small numbers with skilled diplomacy, compromise and negotiation.
These striking traits are followed closely by a highly intellectual and
offbeat sense of humor, underpinned by a strong sense of the bizarre. This may help explain why the
Surrealist art movement, pioneered by René Magritte, took off in Brussels. A playful and irreverent approach to life is also manifest in the Belgian love affair with the
comic strip, popularized worldwide with Hergé's boy hero,
Tintin.
Language is a complex and serious issue in
bilingual (French and Flemish) Brussels, as well as being a focus of communal tensions, more of which surfaced in the early part of 2005. Some 85% of native
Bruxellois speak French as their first language.
Ironically, Brussels is also capital of Flemish-speaking Flanders. However, the
linguistic debate also takes a lighter form, with constant puns and word games forming a complex web. For instance, while a top-notch restaurant is called Comme Chez Soi (Just Like Home), a less prestigious establishment calls itself Comme Chez Moi (Just Like
My Home), with more than a twist of irony.
Yet the image of the city suffers abroad, due to its very diversity, as well as the self-effacing nature of its
quirky inhabitants, too modest to blow their own trumpet. Brussels has no symbol to rival the sky scraping Eiffel Tower, aside from the tiny but famed
Manneken-Pis, a statuette of a urinating boy.
The first visit to Brussels, uncolored by expectations, is therefore all the more rewarding. Narrow
cobbled streets open suddenly into the breathtaking
Grand-Place, with its ornate guild houses, impressive
Town Hall and buzzing atmosphere. It would be difficult to find a more beautiful square in the whole of Europe.
The medieval city is clearly defined by its narrow,
labyrinthine streets, making it easy to distinguish the later additions, such as Léopold II's
Parisian-style boulevards (Belliard and La Loi) today lined with embassies, banks and the grand apartments of the bourgeoisie and close to the glitzy new
EU quarter.
The working class still congregates in the
Marolles district, in the shadow of the Palais de Justice, although this area is on the up-and-up. New immigrant communities are settling in the rundown area around the Gare du Nord.
Neighboring
communes,
St-Gilles and
Ixelles, draw an
arty crowd with their ‘in' shops and restaurants. These are worth the trek, if only to glimpse some of Brussels' finest
art nouveau buildings, the style developed by
Bruxellois Victor Horta, the son of a shoemaker.
With a pleasant
temperate climate (warm summers and mild winters) and a host of sights and delights to entertain, Brussels offers the visitor a great deal
more than just beer and chocolate (although excelling in both)....
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Tourist Information
With the exception of the Grand-Place and the narrow streets nearby, sightseeing in Brussels is relatively crowd free. Brussels offers a remarkable choice of some 90 museums, some tiny, and some international in scale.
All museums have bilingual labelling (French and Dutch/Flemish). English is not always used but English-language leaflets are usually available. In recent years, signposting (for drivers and pedestrians) of Brussels' top museums and major monuments has been improved, making sightseeing even easier.
The city's architecture is often breathtaking, especially in and around the historic Grand-Place, which is easily covered on foot and is home to a cluster of alluring museums dedicated to topics as diverse as beer, chocolate and lace-making.
Certain sights and sensations are obligatory, such as glimpsing the trickle of water flowing from the Manneken-Pis and making a wish while touching the ghoulish bronze statue of Charles-Everard de T'Serclaes - said to bring good luck.
However, the city has much more to offer. The public transport system works well enough to safely deposit the walk-weary tourist in Brussels' distinct districts: the modern Quartier des Institutions Européennes; aristocratic Sablon, near the Place Royal; vibrant working-class Marolles, south of Grand-Place; St-Gilles, with its splendid examples of Victor Horta's art nouveau architecture; and Heysel, far out to the northwest, with its memories of the triumph of the 1958 Exhibition and the Stade Roi Baudoin, site of the 1985 Heysel stadium disaster.
Tourist Information
Brussels International-Tourism and Congress (BI-TC)
Hôtel de Ville, Grand-Place
Tel: (02) 513 8940.
Website: www.brusselsinternational.be
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800, Sun 1000-1400 (winter); daily 0900-1800 (summer); closed Sundays Jan-Easter.
Passes
The Brussels Card (website: www.brusselscard.be) gives free access to museums and STIB public transport for periods of either 24, 48 or 72 hours. It also offers a 25% discount for the Visit Brussels tourist bus (see Tours of the City), along with reduced prices in selected shops, restaurants and bars. A guide to all the city's many museums is available at www.brusselsmuseums.be.
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