Destination 》Europe 》Western Europe 》Belgium 》Brussels
Year Visited: 2005 – April
I visited Brussels few times for business trips between 1998 and 2005. These were short, one week trips, so I had time only in the evening, after work, to walk around its historic town center.
Brussels is the capital city of Belgium and the administrative center of the European Union thus often considered the EU’s capital city. Brussels is also a home to the headquarter of NATO.
When Brussels became the capital city of a new country in the 19th century, many buildings in the old town were destroyed to make way for brand new ministries, palaces, schools, army barracks and office. Though center of the city, the Grand Place, the most beautiful square, with history dating back to the beginning of the 13th century, has been restored in late 19th century. The Grand Place has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
I stayed in the historic Old Town of inner Brussels, so most my time, after work, was spend exploring streets around the Grand Place-Grote Markt.
Before arrival of digital camera, I didn’t took any pictures during my trips to Belgium. All pictures in this post are from my trip to Brussels during Apr 2005.
The Grand Place (French) or Grote Markt (Dutch) is the central market square of Brussels, surrounded by guild houses, the city’s Town Hall and the Bread House, dating mainly from the late seventeenth century. In 1695 the French army bombarded Brussels and destroyed most buildings housed in Grand Place. They were all rebuilt except the Town Hall. The square is considered to be one of the most beautiful town squares in Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
During my this visit to Brussels, 1000 “Trash People” sculptures made by German environmental artist Ha Schult were placed on center of the Grand Place as part of the exhibition called “Grand Place People”.
The beer culture of Belgium is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Beer, known as “barley wine”, is famous throughout Belgium, which has some 200 breweries and 2,500 varieties of beer. Every single Belgian beer has it’s own matching glass. UNESCO considers that the beer culture plays an important role in the daily life of the country as well as at festive occasions: this is particularly true in the capital! Brussels hosts numerous festivals centered around beer, and has an ever increasing number of micro-breweries and breweries producing craft beer.
Enjoying a glass of Chimay Blue, 9% ABV darker ale, brewed by the monks at Scourmont Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Chimay, Belgium.
After most trips to Belgium, I flew back to home in Dallas; other than in 2001, we drove to the Netherlands before flying back to Dallas and in Jul 2005, I went to Ireland for a weekend stop-over before flying to Dallas.
Window on the World 