A weekend in Brussels

To continue my list, OIE (only in Europe) would I, upon finishing a 'Law of the EU' exam, immediately hop on a train to visit Brussels ('the capital of the EU') with my French friend and stay at the home of her friends (one of whom works for the EU Commission - the 'watchdog' of the EU). I went just for the weekend with a single set of clothes, backpack and no real plans. Travel tip: if you are like me and find yourself without a towel, just use the host's hairdryer to blow-dry your body after a shower.

The spontaneous decision to go to Brussels was later vindicated by a news article (International Herald Tribune) in which I read that Copenhagen's (the alternative destination) iconic Little Mermaid statue had been temporarily taken to China for the World Expo.

Brussels startled me with its extreme decadence sitting side by side with derelict, decrepit, graffiti'd buildings. As the home of the comic-strip, there were cartoon characters decorating walls around the city. In those rich areas that were not defaced by graffiti or left empty, there was a real Disneyland feel with cute-sized hedges, cathedrals, medieval houses, fountains, lawns and cobble-stones.

AALL (As a Leiden local), I was not used to the amount of cars on the road, the lack of bicycles, and even Brussels' relatively tame level of car-smoke; and realised that the Dutch do have it good. And the mosquitos! Mais pourqoui, ce n'est pas les tropiques! But AALL I was able to recognise the Flemish language, which is essentially Dutch, used alongside French.

Touristy things I saw: the EU Parliament complex (with limited access due to the EU summit on how to deal with the bankrupt Hellenic state), the Magritte Museum (located in Brussels' central museum complex and dedicated to its homegrown Surrealist artist), le Grand Place, and later, Mannekin Pis (Brussel's overrated iconic statue of a little pissing boy) and his sister Jeanneke Pis (also overrated and also peeing). Le Grand Place (or Grote Markt) is a large cobble-stoned market square surrounded on all four sides by impressive building facades. Reputedly one of the best market plazas in Europe. On one side however, the relief decorations are recognisably asymmetrical. This mistake lead to the designer's subsequent suicide, so the story goes, by throwing him/herself out of the bell-tower of the same building.

At the end of one day of sightseeing, we caught the train out to the outskirts of town where, ten years ago, I had visited the Atomium (a giant atom structure) on a family trip. The Atomium was still as shiny today. On the way back, I was drawn to an adjacent art deco/Gotham city/Berlin style building. We went inside to find that we had stumbled upon a Fine Arts expo. Inside were stalls promoting luxuries such as fine Belgian chocolate, exotically-scented candles, chandeliers and collectable original manuscripts and letters from famous thinkers and composers. In the next exhibition hall was a Geek 'Magic' card game convention that did not garner as much interest.

Food and drink
Belgian beers in dark bars decorated with puppets (most of which were evil and grotesque) and old metallic advertisement signs. Local insider tip: take a Kwak beer at the hidden Toone theater with some Gouda cheese with mustard and celery salt. This I did on Saturday night with French-speaking companions Severin, Guillaume and Nahry who were kind enough to translate every sentence that I missed.

Coconut beer, served in coconut shells.

Kip-kap: a side dish of ham that is similar to Vietnamese nem chua, served with mustard and pickles and gherkins.

Tinned escargots, bought at the supermarket.

Belgian chocolate in the form of sauce on a pork dish.