Underrated Brussels

For me, including Brussels on my trip was a no-brainer. I love chocolate, I love waffles. How could I skip Brussels? Then I started reading message boards. People seemed to hate Brussels. It's dirty, there's nothing to do there, it's boring, blahblahblah. Rick Steves pushes nearby Brugge instead - Brussels isn't even in his "Best of Europe" book.

Is Brussels the most exciting city in the world, or even in Europe? No of course not. But it's quaint, small and accessible, charming, and quirky. Where else can you make a lunch out of fries (look at the picture, click for a bigger one, just look at them!!!), a waffle, and chocolate samples and say it was among the better meals you can remember in a long time? I like to think of it this way. Any city that has as its symbol or 'mascot' a statue of a little peeing boy (Manneken Pis) must be a fun place. And let's not forget two of its more notable museums - the Musical Instruments museum and a museum for Comic Strips. How can people say this place is boring!?

And I think Brussels IS fun. Would you want to spend weeks there? Probably not. But the 2-3 full days we spent there were quite enjoyable indeed. We got to see the spacious palace - open during the summer - for FREE. The Grand Place is breathtaking and, though quite different, it rivals any of the lovely piazzas in Italy. Many of the chocolate shops give out samples - and let me tell you, the chocolate IS different. You will never eat Hersheys or Nestle again.

As for dirty, see my entry about Lisbon for more about my opinions on cities that seem "dirty" - because to me, "dirty" is not a bad thing. To me, "dirty" equals real. Brussels is real. People love their beer and their mussels and their fries and their chocolate. Yes, there are seedy things. The enclosed market area near the Grand Place with creepy people selling a lot of leather and hip-hop clothes was bizarre indeed. But there are also cool cute things and very upscale shops in the nearby Sablon area.

Brussels is probably not worth making a special trip for. But if you're going to go to Paris or Amsterdam or other places nearby, I think Brussels is worth a couple of days, if for no other reason to wander around, eat like a pig, and just be happy. I don't have as many deep or profound things to say as I did for Lisbon or Copenhagen, but I still think Brussels is misunderstood and underappreciated. So give it a shot!