Weekend in Brussels

After the amazing trip in Northern Scandinavia, a weekend in the capital of Belgium, Brussels awaited. 

Having heard lot of conflicting opinions about this city we had mixed feelings and, to be honest, low expectations (which i guess always works as an advantage cause one ends up appreciating things more).

Brussels Gare Central

So we had bought tickets a few days ago but there is always a chance to show up at Amsterdam Centraal and buy tickets there. Seats are not numbered, we saw many people standing so i guess there are always available tickets. The journey lasts 2:30 hours and there are trains every hour!

So leaving on Friday evening we could enjoy a full weekend in the capital of Europe! The first impression after coming out the (impressive i would say) Brussels "Gare Central" station is that of an open and friendly city. People were sitting outside, enjoying their drinks and dining in the fine weather! 

The city itself is by no means a place one would call "beautiful" (compared to other Northern European capitals) but certainly enjoys a special character. The "European air" blowing can be felt all around and gives Brussels a special status. Worth paying a visit at the European quarters and the newly opened Parlamentarium for understanding how the European parliament works, what are the foundations of the European Union, key people and even (with the help of technology) participate in one of European Union Parliament sessions! It is for sure a "must no miss" in Brussels and tours are offered in all of the EU official languages. Unfortunately, although we really liked to visit, EU parliament is closed for visitors in the weekend. Promised to visit again on a weekday just for that!

Parlamentarium

No visitor can miss the Grote Markt, the Central square of Brussels which is (totally justified!) one of the most beautiful in the world! It is amazing how the Belgians have managed to create such a nice place but have neglected to update everything that is 5min walk away from that! Possibly Grote Markt raises standard so much that one would expect all Brussels to be like that (and of course are not!). A stone throw away lies a small alley with around 10 Greek restaurants! It surely feels like being to an island. Having tried souvlaki at the one called "Plaka" i can certainly tell that this is nothing compared to what you find in Greece but i am pretty sure it was as good as it can get. What surprised the most is that we met the owner who came to our table, sat with us and even treated us the drinks. It was certainly a nice surprise!

Grote Markt

While researching what to do in Brussels, i had looked up the monuments and came across this church, Sacre Coeur. We had no clue where is was so using our GPS navigator it wrote something around 3km so we decided to walk there. Nice walk to a part of Brussels that tourists seldom will go but we ended at some tiny church which was by no means what we were looking for! Asking locals we found out that the real thing was nowhere close but was at the other side of the city!! We finally visited but it was late and the church had closed long time ago. Even from outside looks impressive!

Atomium (Detail)

Atomuim

Other places worth visiting in Brussels is the Atomium, located outside the city but easily accessible with metro. The monument is pretty impressive from the outside but we decided not to visit as time did not allowed and we had made up our minds to visit Mini-Europe which lies close by. Its an impressive museum that has miniature buildings from all EU countries! Spent a good 2 hours in there before we returned to Brussels for our last stop, the Cinquantenaire park and the Museum of Armed forces. Having built a lot of model planes as a kid this was like a paradise! So many planes i had seen only at a scale of 1:72 or 1:48 all of a sudden were there in 1:1! This brought a lot of memories back but had no chance to complete the tour as the place closed (we entered just 15 before it closed and no-one said anything!).

In the evening after buying a bag full of chocolates and Belgian beers (the best!) we embarked on the train back to Amsterdam! This city challenged us to study and find out more about the EU, its history and the big European family.

Grote Markt

Overall it is hard to say i did not like Brussels. Even as a tourist i have visited cities that i enjoyed but could not live there. Although this was not one of my favorite places, the European Union atmosphere is very appealing and would enjoy going back there again just for that...