Brussels

Sunday was a day off from academic activities. So, as I anxiously anticipate the unveiling of the brackets taking place later on this evening, I can ruminate a little bit about the city I will be in until Wednesday.

Brussels is certainly not an A-list tourist attraction, but it is in no way a dead city. There are multiple areas full of restaurants, live music, chocolate shops, etc. It is impossible to walk around downtown Brussels and not find a lively pub to walk into. It also seems to be a reasonably safe city. I've heard one police siren the entire time I have been here, and seen women walking the streets alone all hours of the day. The center tourist spot in Brussels, “ Le Grand Place” (saying it with a French accent makes it seem much more special) is an open square surrounded by fantastic baroque architecture as beautiful as any other city I've seen in Europe, besides perhaps Brugge. (These cities include Barcelona, and Helsinki) On one end is a fantastic cathedral, with the rest of the square surrounded by buildings each with their own ornate carvings and designs.

As far as occurrences one sees in Brussels that one would not see in America, there are many, but they are more European than distinctly a character of Brussels. You see narrow streets, cobblestone streets, cobblestone walkways with restaurants on both sides for multiple blocks. Also, Men in three piece suits going to work riding a bicycle, many buses but no taxis, and large statues of ancient leaders. Things Belgium are well-known for across Europe and the rest of the world include chocolate, and beer. I visited museums dedicated to both today and, thankfully, both contained free samples. I am not really a museum person, so I was happy to walk around the exhibits briefly, take the samples, and leave. The chocolate is fantastic, the beer is interesting. Most Belgian beer contains too much flavor for my taste personally. I've had “white” beer which had hints of lemon, and another which contained mint, and I was not a huge of either. Most importantly, however, a culmination of the two; chocolate beer, does exist. I haven't had it yet but I promise to before the end of the trip.

One more thing I found interesting about the night life in Brussels was the variety, or lack thereof, of restaurants to go to for dinner. I would guess that about 85 or 90 percent of the restaurants in Brussels specialize specifically in seafood, or are Asian. The seafood thing kind of makes sense. Brussels isn't on the coast, but probably a couple hours away from the north sea. Most of the seafood restaurants advertise their lobster, but I have not tried any. Partially because I believe New England to have the best lobster in the world, and partially because most places it costs about 40 euros, the equivalent of over 60 dollars. The Asian thing completely perplexes me. I can't really understand why a city on the west coast of Europe who's major business function is to run the European union would have a large Asian population. There are entire blocks that consist of Asian restaurants. Unless European government officials have a notorious appetite for Vietnamese cuisine that I don't know about, this will continue to confuse me.

Brussels may not be the tourist capital of Europe, but I certainly have nothing to complain about.