After my healthy WWOOF experience, I could not think of a better place to go than Brussels. Leaving aside the current situation with Brexit and the EU project, Brussels is famed for its chocolates, its waffles and its beer, rather than its sprouts, the capital city of Belgium is only about half a day’s bus ride from the farming community where I had been enjoying my workcation. So I hopped on an early morning bus and was there in time for lunch.
I had already imposed a budget on myself which stated that I would indulge on food in each destination, and then try to enjoy the rest of the city for free or cheap, but I just did not know where to start when I arrived in Brussels. I asked for advice at my hostel about where to get the best waffles and the receptionist joked with me to say “Just pick one, you won’t be disappointed”. I’m going to stick with her tact of not championing a particular waffle houses, kiosk or street vendor, because the three sets of waffles I ate (in two days!!) were all truly scrumptious. I would hate to promote one place whilst knowing that all of them are just as tasty as the next.
On my first night in Brussels I went out for Belgian beers with a few of the people I had met at the hostel. I’m not a huge beer drinker, but my comrades assured me that the beer was beyond compare. We sat in a small square in a café opposite a popular waffle house with an open air waffle window. It wasn’t raining so we sat outdoors under little blankets that the café owner brought to us. One of the girls introduced us to a game she had invented called “waffle toppers”, which was based purely on people watching. All you had to do was guess which topping (or lack of topping!!) they would choose to have on their waffles. It sounds silly but it was a really fun way to pass a couple of hours.
The next morning we all want down to the Brussels Museum in the Town Hall. The entrance fee is only 4 Euros if you have a student card (or free if you visit on the first Sunday of the month) and I would say that it is well worth a visit if you find the time. Although there are some fantastic displays about the history and the culture of the city, the thing that I found most interesting was the display of costumes for the Manneken Pis.
The Manneken Pis (“Peeing Boy”) is a famous statue of a naked boy urinating into a fountain which has stood near to the Grand Place for nearly 400 years. A few times a week the statue is dressed in a costume by the city, and it is customary for visiting dignitaries to bring an item of their traditional dress for the statue to wear. All of the best costumes are displayed in the museum. It’s quirky but fun.
Brussels is a great city to walk around in the late Spring. There are lots of unique things to do, including spotting the aforementioned “Peeing Boy” statue. If you are particularly eagle-eyed, you can also spot a “Peeing Girl” and a “Peeing Dog”, which are slightly less famous.
The city is full of out outdoor spaces where people are relaxing and making friends. As the “capital of Europe” (read home of the EU) it is also a very international city, meaning that you should be able to find a lot of home comforts here. I am told that the population has become a little more reserved in the past year, given that the city has been involved in a number of large-scale terrorist incidents, however I did not notice this at all. Most of the people I interacted with were just happy that tourists were still visiting the city.