Brussels is brill (Sights & Attractions in Brussels in general)

Member Name: gaultier100

Product:	Sights & Attractions in Brussels in general
Date:	06/08/01 (379 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great sightseeing, Friendly people, Easy to get to

Disadvantages: None

If you fancy a day out, why not go to Brussels? It has something for everyone and more besides. Plus, you can go by Eurostar like we did and get there in about two and a half hours from London Waterloo, which is nothing compared to how long it takes by train to get anywhere halfway decent in Britain. And if you make an early start (we caught the 7am train), you can be biting into a waffle smothered with maple syrup by about 10.30am (European time).

But Brussels has so much to offer besides food, although they do fantastic chips and chocolate to die for. And I do mean die for – you can get practically any type of chocolate here in any shape and size and it’s all excellent quality – look for chocolate that is slightly bitter – this means it has a higher cocoa content and is therefore better quality. However, this is just one of many great things about Brussels – one of the others is the sightseeing which is all relatively close. You can go into the centre and down past the tourist trap shops to find the Manneken Pis – a delightful statue fountain of a little boy peeing. It seems this little chap is the local revered hero – rumour has it that he saved the city by putting out a fire by doing as nature intended. And so now you can get Manneken Pis corkscrews (ouch! Guess where they put the screw part!), dolls, fountains, postcards, lace dollies, mugs and anything else you can think of, in the shops surrounding this emblem of Brussels. The most tragic thing is that because the statue is naked, people over the years have made little outfits for him, from Santa to Elvis, all with a little hole for him to pee through – there’s about 600 of them in a local museum.

But if a little more culture is what you’re after, then head a little further on to the Grand Place – the town square which is full of ornate and captivating buildings that will leave you speechless at the craftsmanship that went i
nto them. Here you will also find lots of museums, covering chocolate to cartoons. However, if museums are your thing, don’t go on a Monday as most of them will be shut. The square is all cobbled as are many of the surrounding streets and so pictureque that you’ll find just strolling down them is an utter pleasure. If walking isn’t your thing, then you can always get a tour by horse and coach – it’s really the best way to travel!

And finally, another reason to go to Brussels is the people are all wonderfully friendly and polite – the majority speak English and are happy to chat and help poor lost tourists. The best thing of all is that Belgium is bilingual, although we found that most people speak French there. However, so as not to offend (the language there can be a contentious class issue), it’s probably best that you speak English at first. And if you want to get out of the centre, you can always take their version of the tube – the transport system here isn’t as regular as the tube but is also a damn sight less busy. However – a word of warning – you may not have to buy a ticket, as it seems that the barriers are constantly open and there’s no ticket inspectors – the carriages are too small to move in generally. We had the theory that it’s probably only foreigners who buy tickets out of naivety!

I would really recommend Brussels as a great day out, although I don’t know if I’d go there for a holiday as you can pretty much do most of it in a day. But I’d certainly go again.

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