Once upon a time I was looking for a job. Having just completed my Bachelors in Hotel and Hospitality Management and just returned from my summer break which included a summer programme at Cornell University followed by a spontaneous decision to go to Nepal and Bhutan for fun just because I could I returned to the reality that it was time to do something serious and focus on my career. So I sent my CV to the head office of my previous employer and told them I was ready to come back to work, they replied asking me where I would like to work and I responded with “doesn’t matter, preferably somewhere in Europe but generally speaking I am prepared to go wherever the job will take me” and thus, was sent to a city I never planned on living in – Brussels. I packed by bags and before I knew it had checked into the hotel that was going to be my new workplace, located directly on Avenue Louise. Brussels, I must say, is a city unlike any I had ever experienced before. It is probably one of the most cosmopolitan cities I have ever lived in – but in a very different way than any of the other cosmopolitan cities I have lived in the past (Vienna, Paris, Vancouver etc). Unlike these other cities in which generally speaking the local language is the same as that of the entire country, in Brussels it is completely normal – and possible – to work in any one of 3 possible languages. Although Belgium in general is a Flemish speaking country, it is French which is mostly spoken in Brussels combined with some English and even German due to the European Commission which is located right there. Because of the very different cosmopolitan feel of the city I instantly was able to feel oddly at home, as it had reminded me of my previous years in Paris but also allowed me to fall back on my English and German when necessary. The bureaucracy and administration of the country was refreshingly easy to understand compared to countries like France (where opening a bank account could easily be compared with pulling teeth) and I felt welcome like any other local person there, was very lucky to have quickly and easily found an apartment located only 5 minutes walk from my hotel and my bank was also located just around the corner, I had everything set up in a matter of  weeks.

Location & Climate

Locationwise cities like Brussels, Paris and London and the ideal place for a crazy person like me that easily gets bored (don’t ask me how I ended up in Glasgow). These three amazing cities are linked by an amazing invention called the Eurostar and another amazing thing of an Airport hub, a true gateway to the world in which generally €90 (per trip) would get me to any place I wanted to be including another one of these amazing cities and a place I call home – Vienna.  At this point I simply must also mention Brussels Airlines, which provides a marvellous service from point A to point B with perfect service, price and comfort/ambiance for these short flights.

Climate wise I would say the Brussels, like London and Amsterdam (and the cities in Scotland for that matter – I don’t seem to be very lucky weather-wise when it comes to relocation) unfortunately could be better. In terms of weather Paris and Vienna win. Brussels, although easily comparable to the other rainy cities I have mentioned is a completely other story. It’s not like Glasgow or London where you can have several rainy days in a week, in Brussels it honestly felt like it actually rained at least once a day, always at completely different times but definitely at least once a day (don’t quote me on this, is just the general impression I got after spending a year and a half there). If it rained in the morning you usually would get amazing weather for the rest of the day, if it was sunny in the morning you could almost definitely count on it raining sometimes later in the day, usually sometime in the evening. Another general observation I made while living there is that Brussels most definitely had the pinkest sky I can remember. It always seems to have an intense pink hue that reminded me of the name of the movie “vanilla sky” (I loved this and would often spend a morning or evening on my terrace doing nothing but enjoying this natural beauty). I guess at this point I may mention another really interesting feature is that Brussels is located on two levels and an elevator connects these, like in a final fantasy (7) video game.

Architecture and Statues

While living in Brussels I noticed that architecture played an important role in the history and design of the city. It was a common thing to see couples walk the streets and stop to look up at the buildings then pause to have a look in their guidebooks, which sure enough had something to say about the different building styles. My friends and colleagues there told me that this was due to the fact that Brussels is well-known for its architectural diversity, in fact because permission must be granted from the city which followed a certain style during certain periods it actually is possible to tell which era a building in Brussels was built and it’s age just by having a quick glance at it if you know your stuff.

You can enjoy various different examples and styles of architecture throughout the decades in Brussels as a result of this, there is a strong art nouveau presence and my personal favourites include the Grande place, gothic to the bone and the palace of Justice (see title image of this page) in which the law courts of Brussels are found, dominant and impressive with its Roman architecture. I worked in the Hilton on Avenue Louise which today is known as The Hotel, located just around the corner from this amazing building. Because of the location and height of the hotel it offers an amazing view of the city and skyline and boasts an amazing views of the palace as well, impressive especially towards sunrise and set (I often stayed here as well and was able to enjoy this as a result, let’s just say my favourite thing to do was just sit on the windowsill and watch the city sleep at night).

The thing about architecture is that we foreigners, expatriates or tourists (whatever it is we are at the time of visiting a place) often come across funny stories relating to architecture in different places. A friend told me that if you look at the main Building on the Grande Place you will notice that the three main doors are not perfectly aligned and central. Apparently this is a miscalculation of the architect, who then took his life as he couldn’t cope with the mistake he had made. I head a similar story in Prague as well… My favourite story about the Grande Place is the one about the statues located on the top of the buildings. If you look up you’ll notice that a lot of them are pointing in a different direction. If you start at the first statue and follow where is points to the next and do this for the next and the next etc you will end at the statue located in the centre at the tip of the main tower which points to the sky. I was told that the story behind it is that of a woman who had a child for which the father was unknown. If you asked one person he would say it is the next person etc until finally you arrived at a priest (haha) which is why the last statue points to the sky. Not sure how true this is but these stories are always fun.

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Since we are discussing the Grande Place I should also really mention how amazing this, the gothic design and vastness of it all is really remarkable and this is a favourite place for both locals and visitors to meet and hang, lots of markets, events and festivals are held here throughout the year, the most remarkable ones being the laying of the flower carpet every second year and the Christmas display, which includes a light show to remember and free Opera from the balcony of the main building. The buildings on the Grande Place each represent the different Merchant guilds, which had significant influence on the city, were wealthy and powerful. In the middle ages houses did not have numbers but were named and you therefore can clearly see which guild is represented by which house. For more info you can read this on the Guild houses up. I suppose at this point perhaps I should mention the most popular statue of Belgium Manneken Pis, the statue of a little boy relieving himself in a fountain. I was a bit surprised when my friends showed this to me as I didn’t really understand what the big deal was (it really is a very small statue of a little boy) but I suppose in a way it is cute and often you will find it dressed in different outfits donated by people (like a little doll), at Christmas for example you will often find it dressed up as Santa. There are many stories behind this statue and why it is so significant, you can read this up on the link above, I suppose my favourite version of the story is the one where the city is on fire and the little boy did what he could to help and saved the city by reliving himself on the flame and prevented it from spreading thus saving the city. I should also mention that the Manneken Pis has been stolen several times and the current one therefore is a replica, the original replacement statue which is replaced is located in a museum and another fun fact is that the statue is sometimes hooked up to a keg of beer and mugs are filled and given to people passing by. Because the Manneken Pis is cute replicas can also be found at various locations around the globe including Japan and a female version named Jeanneke Pis also exists and is located in Brussels as well. Finally I’d like to mention the comic strip route which leads you to several buildings on which comic strips can be found. This is a popular, free thing to do as it kind of resembles a treasure hunt in which you follow a map and go from one place to the next until you’ve finally seen all of the strips, in whih many famous Belgian comic book heroes such as Tin Tin, Lucky Luke and so forth.

Culture and lifestyle

Brussels is one of the most interesting cities I have lived in. Already bilingual in French and Flemish due to the history of Belgium and Brussels, the presence of the European Union offices adds English and German to the mix, you may of course also come across other languages as a result of this. In fact, I felt strangely at home in Brussels just because I could speak English at work and with people I would meet and French which I was used from my time in Paris. A multicultural city like this without a doubt is the perfect place for a multicultural (or geographically confused) person, especially for someone who loved both their time in France but also their English-speaking, in my case Canadian roots (that would be me). That being said I did notice that the Flemish and French are not necessarily the greatest fans of each other, that of course is related to the history, difference in language and also the unequal economical development between the two (I don’t want to go too much into this but these things can be read up by going over the Economy of Belgium on Wikipedia). What I personally love about Brussels is that it is not only multicultural but feels very young, there is a strong influence of students and art and an evening out therefore feels grown up and accompanied with conversation.

Food and drink

Chocolate, deep fried food, waffles and beer of course also has a strong influence as the history of this is great in Belgium, dating back to the age of the first crusades. Beer was brewed and distributed by French and Flemish Abbeys as a method of fund-raising. There are over 650 different types of beer which exist in Belgium and are brewed at over 180 different breweries. A favourite amongst the ladies are fruit flavoured beer known as Kriek, personally though I prefer a good old Monaco (in France) or Tango as it is known in Belgium, beer with syrup/cordial. Beer is a cultural thing and stronger and special beers are served in branded glassware, another fun way of serving is the Metre, on which Beer is served on a tray one metre in length (see picture). Many traditional Belgian dishes use beer as a main ingredient and are accompanied by matching beer as well.

 

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