Today’s post will be dedicated to the capital of Belgium and the city known for beer, waffles, and chocolate, Brussels! I got to stay in Brussels for a little over week while on a work assignment and got to experience the beautiful architecture of old Europe, amazing beer selection, and exploring what the city had to offer. I would say that I was not impressed by the food taste while staying in Belgium. Brussels is currently ranked 4th in Europe in the amount of Michelin star restaurants, and I did get to try a few. Those restaurants had pretty good food, however, other regular restaurants that I have visited did not impress me with the taste. Brussels is not a huge city with most of the things worth visiting located in the center of the city, so let me show you what is there to see!
Located in the heart of Brussels is the Grand-Place de Bruxelles, the main square in the city. It is quite a beauty and features a number of exquisite buildings, such as the city’s town hall, the museum of the city of Brussels, and many guild houses, which served as headquarters for different professions back in a day. The buildings feature beautiful ornaments, elements of architecture and are covered with the golden paint. All of these buildings look very harmonious with each other and viewed together give you a glimpse into the architecture of the past. There are cafes and restaurants located on the square so you can enjoy a cup of coffee or waffles with a beautiful view.
Once you step away from the Grand Place, you find yourself in a myriad of tiny streets that all intertwine to create a network of bars, cafes, restaurants, and various shops. What I did enjoy about Brussels is that almost all of the restaurants had tables set up on the street. The weather was just perfect to enjoy the food and drinks on the patio instead of sitting inside. Within a five minute walking distance from the Grand Place, there is Mont des Arts which is a small garden with a beautiful view of the city. Right next to the garden, there is a Royal Place, which used to be the original palace and is the former site of Brussels’ main market.
Moving along from the Royal Place you will find yourself near the current palace of the Belgian monarch, King Philippe. Unfortunately this palace is not used as a residence, therefore, I did not get to see anyone from the royal family. The building itself is beautiful and huge! The floor area of the palace is almost 356,000 square feet (33,000 square meters)! I guess this was still not enough to convince the current royal family to remain in this palace seeing how they actually reside in another palace located in the outskirts of Brussels.
I also got to visit a small town called Leuven on the outskirts of Brussels. Leuven is considered a college town with majority of the population consisting of students attending the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. This university is actually the oldest Catholic university in the world still in existence which is pretty astonishing! Also it is the largest university in Belgium with a large Dutch-speaking student body of approximately fifty thousand students.
Similar to other towns I got to visit in Belgium, Leuven has preserved its architecture and walking around makes you feel like you are back in the middle ages. Tiny winding streets, small brick houses, beautiful cathedrals – all of these combined made for a fun excursion. Leuven is also home to my favorite beer Stella Artois, so I could not miss the opportunity to visit its birthplace. The funny thing is that Stella is considered a cheap beer in Belgium, similar to how Americans view Coors Light. I do believe, however, that for some ironic reason, Stella tastes worse in Belgium than it does everywhere else in the world. Or maybe I just got used to amazing beer in Belgium and forgot how Stella actually tastes!
I enjoyed spending time in Belgium and getting to visit different cities located near Brussels. As a big beer drinker, being able to taste various types of European beers was quite a tasty experience! While Brussels is not as much of a tourist attraction as Rome or Paris, there is still quite a few things to do and see. Based on my experience, I would not plan on spending a whole lot of time in Belgium. Rather, I would spend a day in each of the major tourist destinations such as Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, and other cities that I did not get to visit, but which I heard are just as beautiful. Indulge yourself in the world of beer, waffles, and chocolates, and enjoy the serene atmosphere of old Europe!
