Brussels

On the 16th of June I managed to catch a cheap 4 hour Megabus ride from Paris to Brussels and found a hostel for two nights. A day and a half was about enough for this city. They speak primarily French here but also a good deal of English. The beer is also much more affordable here. One sports bar was selling some delicious Belgian beer at only 2 Euro a piece; it would definitely cost 5-8 Euro in Paris.

A fortnight after arriving in Vienna I spent my only full day in Brussels (the 17th). It was rather overcast and rainy, but I still was able to see much of the city. In the morning I met four guys from Atlanta at the hostel and we went on a search for a cafe with Wi-Fi and breakfast, to no avail. Instead we just settled on getting Belgian waffles at a sweets shop. These are very delicious, but I would recommend only getting strawberries on top. Anything more, like the Nutella I put on it, makes it much too sweet. (Aside: Europeans are crazy about Nutella. They use it instead of peanut butter, it seems) We also visited Manniken Pis, a famous fountain of a boy peeing. Apparently such statues and images used to mark where the poor could sell urine to leather makers, but now it serves as a tourist attraction which, like the Mona Lisa, is smaller than expected.

Manniken Pis

Grand-Place

Panorama of Grand-Place

I then split off from my roommates for the afternoon to catch a free walking tour offered by volunteer students. Our guide took us on an interesting, though perhaps unorthodox, tour of the northwest side of the city center. He told us quite a bit about the city and its history, both good and bad. He especially focused on the zoning and urban development of Brussels. It was hard to tell whether he liked or hated the layout of the city, as he would seem to go back and forth between criticizing how the layout is nonsense and yet praising it for adding to the character of the city. As a few examples: the city is made up of 19 municipalities, each with its own mayor; in many areas there is a sharp contrast between wealthy and poor districts simply by crossing one street; and centuries ago they built over their river so that the British couldn't lay siege to the city center.

Our Belgian tour guide

In Europe the outside of many buildings are protected by law; one can only modify the interior. Here is an example of the outside of a building that was just built around and now resides indoors.

On the side of this church there is a urinal. Well, there is no 'urinal'; just a designated zone people can use to literally pee on the church. Yeah, things are a little odd here.

A view of the city from the top of an eight story parking garage; it was rainy out

The stock exchange

The tour finished at the Cantillon brewery, where myself and some other travellers enjoyed local gueze beer. The taste of this beer is hard to describe; it's a very strong and distinct flavor. The words dank, sour, and fruity come to mind. Apparently it's brewed without adding yeast; instead, local bacteria in the air do the job but it takes three years to brew. I liked it but one must drink it slowly. Many Belgium beers are known to be quite strong; often they are triple brewed and end up being 10-12% alcohol.

Some other travelers I met on the tour made my trip seem short. A couple from Australia said their trip was almost over - they had been traveling for three months and had only six weeks left. And a girl from Sacramento had been traveling for five months already in southeast Asia and has five months to go in Europe! I cannot imagine...

Later I met back up with my roommates and went out to explore the Brussels nightlife.

Myself, four guys from Atlanta, and five Luxembourgian girls we met.

The next morning it was time to catch a train to the Netherlands. Fairwell, Brussels!