Brussels, home of beer and the EU.
Me and a few friends went to meet a mate who had previously lived in Brussels. He now lives in Stockholm but we fancied meeting somewhere else this year, given that he know Brussels like the back of his had it seemed like a wise choice. We only had a few short nights there but felt we managed to fit so much in. The city is truly beautiful and as well as being famous for it's beer and of course home to the EU, it has so much more to offer.
We were there during the 2018 World Cup Final, so as you can imagine the city was alive with energy. Personally I'm not actually into football that much, I mean I watch and enjoy the World Cup and Euro's but that's about it. That said we did manage to see the whole Belgium team which was cool.
The main reasons why were there was of course to take advantage of our friends knowledge of the city and have a good old catch up with friends.
We ate some amazing food, drank some brilliant beers, visited some some incredible sites and met some lovely people. Here are some of my recommendations of things we did.
1) The bar in which you stand on the tables. The bar is called Le Corbeau and just seems like your regular bar to start with, people sitting at tables, eating, chatting etc. Then randomly one guy just gets up on the table, then another, bit random I would have though had our friend John not told us this happens. We then made the step of getting up from our seats and also standing on the table, bit awkward to start with as the place was empty. It is however good to get in quick, within an hour the place was rammed, music louder, lights dimmed and every inch taken up at ground level and table level. It's a great novelty as usually you'll get told off for being on a table. Made the evening a bit different and fun. Great idea from the bars point of view too, why waste all that space above a table when you can have people in it buying drinks. Because you might end up sharing a dance on a table with someone you don’t know, it’s very easy to make new friends. Just be careful not to fall down if you’ve drunk too much beer. Here's a link to their page: http://www.lecorbeau.be/
2) The square where all the EU Commission staff hang out after work. Next to the Place de Luxembourg so easy to find. This is a great fun and a great way of meeting some very interesting people. There are bars all around the square if you fancy that but most people grab some food and drinks from the local store and just chill in the square on the grass, it was a great atmosphere, almost felt a bit festival like, just a lot more suits, I was obviously in not in one though, shorts and t-shirt all the way.
3) The peeing boy. Along with other things Brussels is very famous for this, not much to look at, tiny statue of a boy peeing, that's pretty much it. Worth seeing if you've gone all that way, just to say you have seen it. No longer than about 10 seconds is needed on this one.
4) Parc du Cinquantenaire. This is a very grand, historic and beautiful park, it is very large and a great way to spend an afternoon. There are a couple of cafe's and bars in there too for refreshments. The Cinquantenaire Arch is a must see, more exciting than the above attraction and is in one of the above pictures.
5) Delirium Beer and Bars, Delirium is one of my favorite beers and is widely sold all over the place, especially in Belgium. There is a row of bars near to the peeing boy statue which are all owned by Delirium, on their street they have put a statue of a peeing girl so if you Google Maps that you'll be on the right street. Check out some of their beers here: https://www.delirium.be/
Finally not one of the places to go but an essential to know, to ensure you don't get left short, you have to pay to use toilets everywhere, even in bars where you have bought drinks, there's usually someone on the door wanting some money so always have a bit of change on you, usually about 50 cents - 1 Euro per pee. There's also giant flower pots knocking about.