Brussels – The most surprising city in Europe

Talking to friends recently about travel, (most of them have never traveled outside of the United States), a question was asked “which European city would you most like to visit?” The usual suspects reared their heads, London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona. When asked my opinion I recommended “Brussels.” Not as exotic or renowned as my friends expected. But Brussels is a surprising city, just as Belgium is a surprising country.

Belgium has three official languages. An estimated 59% of the Belgian population speaks Dutch (often colloquially referred to as “Flemish”), and French is spoken by 40% of the population. Total Dutch speakers are 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while French speakers comprise 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 0.87 million or 85% of the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the Walloon Region. Brussels is predominately French speaking.

Like many smaller European countries, (30,000 square miles, about the size of Maryland), Belgium has been used as a pawn and a battlefield by the bigger European powers. Waterloo is a few miles from Brussels and the killing fields of WWI were centered in Belgium, particularly Ypres. But this is not about war or politics, more of a celebration of a modern day cultural center.

Built in 1956 for the World’s Fair, Expo 58, the Atomium is an homage to the future

Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main center for international politics. Its hosting of principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has made the city a polyglot home of numerous international organizations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants. The presence of the international brigades has given the city a real cosmopolitan flavor, unusual for such a small city (about 1,000,000).

The Brussels restaurant scene is a lively mix of haute cuisine, hearty Belgian favorites, and food from all over the world. The top Brussels restaurants rival the best Parisian restaurants; so, alas, do the prices. But one of the joys of the city is the quality and value of its smaller, neighborhood restaurants. You’ll find everything from tapas bars to African buffets, as well as excellent and affordable bistros and plenty of good Vietnamese, Italian, and Portuguese restaurants.

Brussels contains over 80 museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. The museum has an extensive collection of various painters, such as the Flemish painters like Bruegel, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens. The recently opened Magritte Museum houses the world’s largest collection of the works of the surrealist René Magritte.

The city is also a capital of the comic strip; some treasured Belgian characters are Lucky Luke, Tintin, Cubitus, Gaston Lagaffe and Marsupilami. Throughout the city walls are painted with large motifs of comic book characters, and the interiors of some Metro stations are designed by artists. The Belgian Comics Museum combines two artistic leitmotifs of Brussels.

For a European capital, Brussels is young, founded about a 1,000 years ago, so it lacks the iconic landmarks of some of it’s more ancient European neighbors. But if you like to walk safely in a cosmopolitan environment, eat good food and drink fine Belgian beer, in between other cultural offerings, Brussels the beating heart of Belgium is a place to visit.

AFTERTHOUGHT French fries should really be called Belgian Fries. Street vendors and restaurants alike, offer the twice cooked Frites they are really tasty, don’t ask for ketchup, they only offer mayonnaise, but in several varieties. My favorite was a delicious curry flavor.

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