Brussels for business
I was in Belgium last month for an EU trade seminar in Brussels. It was so hard for me to write this travel story for the newspaper when I realized that there was nothing amazingly unusual about the city--at least for tourists. I would really love to live there though.
I went to nearby Ghent after the seminar and hope to make a little video, but for now here's the travel story on Brussels published before the New Year.
Buckling down in Brussels
Posted on December 29, 2011 07:44:19 PM here.
THERE ARE said to be two types of cities in this world: those you take vacation leaves for and those you visit for work.
People save up for Paris. They plan holidays for Amsterdam. And only when the euro zone needs rescuing do they take an hour’s trip to Brussels.
Even the city’s Web site concedes the association, declaring the Belgian capital as “sized for tourism and meetings”.
Under this catchphrase is an endorsement from no less than the organizers of the 19th European Alzheimer Conference.
If the marketing ploy fails to lure, tourism officials can’t be blamed.
After all, other than Brussels’ claim as the seat of the European Union, there appears to be little that makes the city stand out.
Chocolates and beer -- Belgium’s expertise -- are commonplace elsewhere anyway, with neighboring Switzerland and Germany quick to offer up rival samples.
One of Brussels’ shopping streets, Rue Neuve, is remarkable only for the way it induces deja vu on hapless pedestrians. The same non-Belgian chains H&M, Zara, and Promod have multiple outlets lining the short strip.
The city’s cobblestone streets are familiar, the art nouveau buildings recognizable, and multilingual residents so accommodating, tourists might as well be anywhere else in Europe.
History offers an explanation. The country saw its conquerors range from the Romans to the Vikings. Its territory was split among the Dutch Republic, the French Empire and even Spain at one point.
The country’s capital has since then remained cosmopolitan, tolerant to outsiders and thus conducive for work.
It coddled writers like Philippine national hero Jose Rizal -- who moved there in 1890 to pen El Filibusterismo on Rue Philippe de Champagne -- and artists like Belgian surrealist René Magritte. He is the one known for painting fruit atop faces of the subjects in his portraits.
Today, Brussels is often disparaged for its pragmatic niche as a convention hub.
But it cannot be denied: the city plays a gracious and efficient host to people who come to get things done.
Its insistence on a polyglot habit, manifested in translated street signs and train announcements blared in various tongues, is a courtesy to visiting envoys and a salve to regional tensions.
Its Sunday food market at the Gare du Midi, which features produce ranging from Italian cheese to Turkish pastries, assures of choices for the homesick, wherever they may hark from.
And when Belgium’s trademark comfort food of waffles or fries fail to hit the spot, a tall glass of Leffe, Hoegaarden or any other beer from the country’s 178 breweries should do the job.
In the morning, another crisis is averted, another treaty is forged, and it all happened on Brussels’ watch.
Finding your way around the city
WHAT TO RIDE: Bus 12 and 21 shuttle commuters between the airport and the city center for up to 5 euros. Trains stopping at the central station also bring in people from provinces of Belgium and beyond.
WHERE TO STAY: Crowne Plaza Brussels-Europa sits right smack in the quarter where most of the European Union institutions hold office.
As the area becomes a ghost town after office hours, the nearby metro station Maalbeek is the no-fuss portal to the more livelier parts of the city.
A cheaper alternative: The bright and roomy Gîte d’Etape Jacques Brel, which is nearer the city center, charges 18 euro for a bed per night.
WHAT TO DO: Tourists crowd around the Grand Place which hosts a light show in the winter and the statue of the peeing boy.
Keep an eye out for Tintin and other characters from Belgian comics painted on building facades.
Requisite Belgian friteries and chocolatiers abound in the area. Fries are best taken with mayonnaise; manons are a good choice for chocolates.
If you have time for just one museum, make it Magritte’s, which his part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts complex.
ANOTHER OPTION: Get lost in the maze of stalls at the Sunday market outside the Gare du Midi, a train station.
Spices, cheese, leathergoods, meat and roasted poultry are just some of the products vendors will hawk at the top of their voices (in various languages, of course).
Duck from ambulant rotisseries there pairs well with a cold can of Jupiler pale lager.
SMARTPHONE APPS: Download Brussels Map and Walking Tours onto your smart phone to have a free comprehensive guide in the palm of your hand.
The free app from the city’s transport agency STIB meanwhile uses the GPS on iPhones and Android devices to locate the nearest bus or train stop.
The TripAdvisor app does a similar job by providing a list of top voted attractions within a user’s walking radius.
I went to nearby Ghent after the seminar and hope to make a little video, but for now here's the travel story on Brussels published before the New Year.
Buckling down in Brussels
Posted on December 29, 2011 07:44:19 PM here.
THERE ARE said to be two types of cities in this world: those you take vacation leaves for and those you visit for work.
People save up for Paris. They plan holidays for Amsterdam. And only when the euro zone needs rescuing do they take an hour’s trip to Brussels.
Even the city’s Web site concedes the association, declaring the Belgian capital as “sized for tourism and meetings”.
Under this catchphrase is an endorsement from no less than the organizers of the 19th European Alzheimer Conference.
If the marketing ploy fails to lure, tourism officials can’t be blamed.
After all, other than Brussels’ claim as the seat of the European Union, there appears to be little that makes the city stand out.
Chocolates and beer -- Belgium’s expertise -- are commonplace elsewhere anyway, with neighboring Switzerland and Germany quick to offer up rival samples.
One of Brussels’ shopping streets, Rue Neuve, is remarkable only for the way it induces deja vu on hapless pedestrians. The same non-Belgian chains H&M, Zara, and Promod have multiple outlets lining the short strip.
The city’s cobblestone streets are familiar, the art nouveau buildings recognizable, and multilingual residents so accommodating, tourists might as well be anywhere else in Europe.
History offers an explanation. The country saw its conquerors range from the Romans to the Vikings. Its territory was split among the Dutch Republic, the French Empire and even Spain at one point.
The country’s capital has since then remained cosmopolitan, tolerant to outsiders and thus conducive for work.
It coddled writers like Philippine national hero Jose Rizal -- who moved there in 1890 to pen El Filibusterismo on Rue Philippe de Champagne -- and artists like Belgian surrealist René Magritte. He is the one known for painting fruit atop faces of the subjects in his portraits.
Today, Brussels is often disparaged for its pragmatic niche as a convention hub.
But it cannot be denied: the city plays a gracious and efficient host to people who come to get things done.
Its insistence on a polyglot habit, manifested in translated street signs and train announcements blared in various tongues, is a courtesy to visiting envoys and a salve to regional tensions.
Its Sunday food market at the Gare du Midi, which features produce ranging from Italian cheese to Turkish pastries, assures of choices for the homesick, wherever they may hark from.
And when Belgium’s trademark comfort food of waffles or fries fail to hit the spot, a tall glass of Leffe, Hoegaarden or any other beer from the country’s 178 breweries should do the job.
In the morning, another crisis is averted, another treaty is forged, and it all happened on Brussels’ watch.
Finding your way around the city
WHAT TO RIDE: Bus 12 and 21 shuttle commuters between the airport and the city center for up to 5 euros. Trains stopping at the central station also bring in people from provinces of Belgium and beyond.
WHERE TO STAY: Crowne Plaza Brussels-Europa sits right smack in the quarter where most of the European Union institutions hold office.
As the area becomes a ghost town after office hours, the nearby metro station Maalbeek is the no-fuss portal to the more livelier parts of the city.
A cheaper alternative: The bright and roomy Gîte d’Etape Jacques Brel, which is nearer the city center, charges 18 euro for a bed per night.
WHAT TO DO: Tourists crowd around the Grand Place which hosts a light show in the winter and the statue of the peeing boy.
Keep an eye out for Tintin and other characters from Belgian comics painted on building facades.
Requisite Belgian friteries and chocolatiers abound in the area. Fries are best taken with mayonnaise; manons are a good choice for chocolates.
If you have time for just one museum, make it Magritte’s, which his part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts complex.
ANOTHER OPTION: Get lost in the maze of stalls at the Sunday market outside the Gare du Midi, a train station.
Spices, cheese, leathergoods, meat and roasted poultry are just some of the products vendors will hawk at the top of their voices (in various languages, of course).
Duck from ambulant rotisseries there pairs well with a cold can of Jupiler pale lager.
SMARTPHONE APPS: Download Brussels Map and Walking Tours onto your smart phone to have a free comprehensive guide in the palm of your hand.
The free app from the city’s transport agency STIB meanwhile uses the GPS on iPhones and Android devices to locate the nearest bus or train stop.
The TripAdvisor app does a similar job by providing a list of top voted attractions within a user’s walking radius.