La Ruta Viajera: Brussels

Brussels Belgium

From its awe-inspiring medieval heart to its 21st-century shrine to Surrealism, the new Magritte Museum, Brussels provides visitors with much more than just beer and chocolate, defying its unfortunate dull reputation as the home of EU bureaucrats. In fact, Brussels is a vibrant, innovative city. Its compact city center is filled with bars, restaurants, and museums lining cobblestone streets. Unsurprisingly, most tourists flock to the Grand-Place. With its elaborate Flemish guild houses, imposing Town Hall, and lively ambiance, it would be hard to find a more stunning square in all of Europe. It rightfully holds a spot as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is the city’s crowning glory. Venture next to the nearby Royal and Sablon districts, bustling with art galleries and antique shops. Ditch your map and wander down countless side streets, uncovering flea markets, art-deco houses, and boutique shops. The Bruxellois take pride in their modest, intellectual sense of humor, underlined by a deep appreciation for the absurd. The city has a longstanding romance with the Surrealist art movement, led by René Magritte, and with classic comic strips, embodied by Hergé's boy hero, Tintin. There's a poignant irony in the fact that the city's most famous landmark is the Manneken-Pis, a small statue of a urinating boy. Meanwhile, all of this coexists with world-class art collections, exquisite cuisine including mussels, fries, waffles and whelks, some of Europe’s finest and unique beers (literally, there are thousands of varieties), and master chocolatiers. The city’s cultural calendar is filled with events for everyone, from the massive, boisterous Foire du Midi street fair every July brimming with stalls and fairground attractions to the legendary Christmas Market that takes center stage in the Place Sainte Catherine with 240 stalls, a skating rink, a Ferris wheel, and numerous rides. One of the biggest events is Art Brussels, showcasing the city’s edgier, creative side and a hub for art connoisseurs from around the world. If you’re a Euro-loving national, check out the European Quarter, centered around Schuman and the Berlaymont. Its most vibrant part is the Place du Luxembourg: all its bars fill up around 6pm on weekdays with some of the 20,000 diplomats, politicians, and civil servants who live in the city after Brussels became the center of international politics following WWII. Open your eyes and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by all that Brussels has to offer.

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Brussels Natl (BRU)

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