Not that I would’ve wanted, but I fell asleep on the bus, missed getting off at Rotterdam, and woke up in Amsterdam. That’s another story but I decided to visit Brussels in Belgium, just because it was in a short bus-ride-distance of the Netherlands. I was going to meet a friend later in The Netherlands after Brussels.
The plane landed at another airport in Brussels and we had a little delay. A bus ride and a metro later, I reached the hostel in the late evening. For a guy brought up in India, the European winter nights were surprisingly short; and a lot of Irish friends of mine wouldn’t advise traveling in winters. However, I was there in the city center of Brussels.
Nothing seemed so special at first when I peeped out of the metro. The buildings looked dull and perhaps it was starting to hit me that most of the European cities exhibit the same monotonous architecture. However, the center of the city was buzzing in the lights. The first night, I would come to know that the name of the streets was in French, and people speak French here. Upon asking a few questions, I would know that Dutch is also spoken in the capital. Depending on the location, Different cities of Belgium preferred either French or Dutch.
Brussels boasts of attractions, museums, and landmarks; but my favorite in the city has been the comfort food it offers on every corner. The crackling fries served in paper cones at the mobile vans, the remarkable Belgian beer at the micro-breweries and the world-famous Belgian waffle served in every corner of the city were top of my list. The waffles here are called ‘gaufres’ and loaded heavily with different ice creams, chocolate, fresh fruits, and many taste-buds pleasing spreads.
The Grand Place, the central square of the city, was eventful with small groups of tourists as well as the locals on a winter Monday night. With the reflections of the light on the cobbled street pathways, the city was shining. Knowing that I would come back here again, I called it a night. On my way back to the hostel, I passed by Theatre Royal de la Monnaie (the opera house).
By the time I got out of the hostel in the next morning, I would’ve made friends with a guy from Costa Rica. He suggested buying a ticket for the famous hop-on-hop-off buses for a day. These buses run in almost every European city and are a very convenient means for sight-seeing. Even though I have never liked the idea for that bus, I decided to give in this time. We went all over the city overseeing the touristic landmarks from the bus for about two hours and then decided to visit a few of them.
Unanimously, Atomium was the first place we wanted to see. The architecture stands tall at 102 meters and embodies the importance of science. The massive inter-connected spheres represent the cell of an iron crystal. The whole structure is composed of ladders and escalators. Five open-to-public spheres conducted exhibitions, and the top sphere offered a restaurant with an elegant panoramic view of the city.
While we were waiting for the hop-on-hop-off bus at the Atomium, I savored my first waffle of the many in the city. I parted with my friend as he wished to visit the Museum of musical instruments. I chose to go to an outdoor flea market called Place du Jeu de Belle. Constant drizzling rains meant that the market did not operate in its full functionality. Not so far from there, I went looking for Manneken Pis, one of the weirdest and popular attractions of Brussels. A bronze statue of a little boy peeing in a fountain represents the jovial nature of the locals as they dress up the boy in accordance with local events. I have had a really hard time finding the statue though as it was super tiny.
Brussels serves as the headquarter for the European Union where the social, political, and economic policies of the EU are taking shape. While researching for me studies, I have developed my fascination for the way in which the European Union operates. The next morning, I walked for an hour observing the busy city life as I reached the European District. The parliament of EU, the European Commission, and various council buildings are there near the historic Leopold quarter. The visit to the EU parliament is completely free of cost and presents a great opportunity to see the second-largest democratic electorate in the world.
Later, I paid a brief visit to the Cinquantenaire Park. It was built by King Leopold to celebrate the fifty years of Belgian independence. There are three museums in the park, but I visited the Arcade du Cinquantenaire – a monumental triple arch, located in the center of the park.
I would later bump into my friend again at Mont des arts (mountain of arts). We would see a colorful sunset there while talking about our encounters in the city.
While walking on the streets of Brussels, I was offered a lot of day trips from the city. The locals always insisted on visiting the lesser-known cities of the country. Many of them showed me pictures from Bruges and Ghent. Appealing photos of the cities seemed very enticing, but there’s always going to be a next time.
Loved it; the atomium got my attention. Very good read!
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Good one 👍
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Lovely read
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Just amazing 😍
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Beautiful
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