Brussels – impressions
Brussels calls itself the capital of Europe. Although I don’t know how accepted that claim is, it makes sense to me. I cannot separate out the residents from the visitors to the city (of which there are many), but there is a definite multi-national character about the place. While on the surface, it strongly resembles Paris in many ways (with everyone speaking French supporting this illusion), the sum total of the people make it different.
It is not pretentious; it is not a city with an attitude. Time seems to flow a bit faster than in Paris, with a less dreamy feeling to it. Things happen here. People come here for a reason, even it that reason is just to shop.
And shopping it has. Street after street of shopping, and food. Even in mid-winter the streets in the shopping district were swarming with people.
Ah yes, the people of the city. They are alive, they are enjoying themselves, and many times they seem to not worry about anything beyond the current moment. It felt, in the winter, like St. Petersburg felt in the summer – groups of teens and young women walking down the streets laughing, holding hands, giggling. Couples in love, both young and old, hanging onto each other, with timeless looks in their eyes. The future and the past.
The architecture in the city seems similar to Paris to my untrained eye, although the narrow, tall buildings with sharply peaked roofs seem more prevalent somehow. And there are the European parks that I have grown to love (they form the destinations of my walkabouts). There is a certain formality about the two I visited that I did not see in either Paris or St. Petersburg (although less formal than England). No, it is not that everything was geometrical. Indeed, I think they located their parks where there was interesting topology, favoring “bowls” that you could look down into. But even when looking wild, you get the impression the paths were crafted, designed and controlled. They seemed to be a bit more about design and luxury compared with utility, perhaps. Beautiful, however.
And then there was the food. We will start with the first food group, chocolate. Belgium is the capital of the chocolate world – I doubt many will dispute it. Never before have I seen more chocolate. Good stuff, and even affordable. And I should know – I researched the topic completely. Yumm.
Waffles. No crepes in this city, but waffles. I had one. Quite good, with chocolate and whipped cream. But I missed the romantic idea of crepes in Paris. And chocolate is tastier.
Beyond that, the stores and restaurants seemed to match those of Paris. You had your standard repeating sets of stores, and multi-ethnic restaurants – not only French, but Greek, Spanish, Indian, Italian, etc. The food I had was quite good, although I had a limited sample (save my one “big” dinner, which was great). The desserts were French standard – in other words, perfect.
Oh, and one final thing – something completely unanticipated by me. Effective in January, 2007, Belgium has banned indoor smoking in all public buildings (except bars, I think). And I understand that the rest of Europe is following. This is the beginning of a new age indeed.
I wonder what’s next?
Brussels calls itself the capital of Europe. Although I don’t know how accepted that claim is, it makes sense to me. I cannot separate out the residents from the visitors to the city (of which there are many), but there is a definite multi-national character about the place. While on the surface, it strongly resembles Paris in many ways (with everyone speaking French supporting this illusion), the sum total of the people make it different.
It is not pretentious; it is not a city with an attitude. Time seems to flow a bit faster than in Paris, with a less dreamy feeling to it. Things happen here. People come here for a reason, even it that reason is just to shop.
And shopping it has. Street after street of shopping, and food. Even in mid-winter the streets in the shopping district were swarming with people.
Ah yes, the people of the city. They are alive, they are enjoying themselves, and many times they seem to not worry about anything beyond the current moment. It felt, in the winter, like St. Petersburg felt in the summer – groups of teens and young women walking down the streets laughing, holding hands, giggling. Couples in love, both young and old, hanging onto each other, with timeless looks in their eyes. The future and the past.
The architecture in the city seems similar to Paris to my untrained eye, although the narrow, tall buildings with sharply peaked roofs seem more prevalent somehow. And there are the European parks that I have grown to love (they form the destinations of my walkabouts). There is a certain formality about the two I visited that I did not see in either Paris or St. Petersburg (although less formal than England). No, it is not that everything was geometrical. Indeed, I think they located their parks where there was interesting topology, favoring “bowls” that you could look down into. But even when looking wild, you get the impression the paths were crafted, designed and controlled. They seemed to be a bit more about design and luxury compared with utility, perhaps. Beautiful, however.
And then there was the food. We will start with the first food group, chocolate. Belgium is the capital of the chocolate world – I doubt many will dispute it. Never before have I seen more chocolate. Good stuff, and even affordable. And I should know – I researched the topic completely. Yumm.
Waffles. No crepes in this city, but waffles. I had one. Quite good, with chocolate and whipped cream. But I missed the romantic idea of crepes in Paris. And chocolate is tastier.
Beyond that, the stores and restaurants seemed to match those of Paris. You had your standard repeating sets of stores, and multi-ethnic restaurants – not only French, but Greek, Spanish, Indian, Italian, etc. The food I had was quite good, although I had a limited sample (save my one “big” dinner, which was great). The desserts were French standard – in other words, perfect.
Oh, and one final thing – something completely unanticipated by me. Effective in January, 2007, Belgium has banned indoor smoking in all public buildings (except bars, I think). And I understand that the rest of Europe is following. This is the beginning of a new age indeed.
I wonder what’s next?
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