Visiting Brussels

Brussels caught me off guard almost immediately. I didn’t arrive expecting Belgium’s capital to be one of the most beautiful cities I’d ever visited, but once I started exploring on foot, the architecture completely changed my impression of the city.

This was also the first trip where I carried a real tripod with me. I can’t imagine how disappointed I would have been if I hadn’t, because Brussels became even more impressive after dark. Historic buildings throughout the center were illuminated in different colors, and I ended up spending a lot of time walking around at night taking photographs.

Exploring Central Brussels

I didn’t take a guided tour in Brussels and spent most of my visit exploring on my own. That meant I probably walked past plenty of important buildings without realizing exactly what I was looking at, but it also made the city fun to discover. I could wander down a street without much of a plan and suddenly come across another palace, church, monument, or enormous public building.

Grand Place at Christmas

The center of historic Brussels is Grand Place, or Grote Markt, surrounded by some of the city’s most elaborate architecture. I visited about ten days before Christmas, so I also happened to arrive during one of the busiest and most festive times of the year.

I passed through the square several times and noticed it became much more crowded in the evening. A large Christmas tree stood in the center along with a nativity scene, while the surrounding buildings were illuminated after dark.

For someone who had just started carrying a tripod, I couldn’t have picked a much better place to use it.

A Wedding at City Hall

While exploring City Hall, I went through an entrance that led into a small courtyard and found a large group descending the steps surrounded by photographers and people filming them.

My first thought was that I’d somehow stumbled across an important delegation from an African country.

Then everyone started gathering around the couple in the center and posing for photographs, and I realized I was probably just watching a wedding.

Afterward, the group released balloons into the sky.

Shopping Around Grand Place

Around Grand Place I came across several shopping areas, including a beautiful European-style arcade covered by a glass roof. Shops lined both sides of the long passage, while another nearby mall felt considerably more modern, with clothing stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, and cafes.

Surrounded by Food

I don’t think I’d ever visited a city where I was bombarded by so many good smells just walking down the street. Chocolate, ice cream, pastries, waffles, and other sweets seemed to be everywhere.

There was one unfortunate moment when I got a disgusting whiff of escargot, but otherwise Brussels smelled like constant temptation.

Most of what caught my attention was Belgian, although I also found American and Asian restaurants and even an “Australian Ice Cream” shop.

Belgian Chocolate From the Source

There were so many chocolate stores in Brussels that I honestly wondered how they could all stay in business.

A few months before this trip, I had taken a chocolate tour in Washington, D.C. We visited several chocolate shops there, and naturally many of them were Belgian companies. That made it even more interesting to arrive in Belgium and try the chocolate from the source.

With so many shops to choose from, I came up with a simple strategy: instead of buying a large box from one place, I bought individual pieces for around 50 cents from several different stores.

It was basically my own unorganized chocolate tour of Brussels.

Street Performers and Christmas Music

With Christmas approaching, there was plenty happening in the streets. I came across mimes, dancers, musicians, and singers throughout the city.

One performer was entertaining people in the middle of the road while traffic was stopped. Elsewhere, a crowd was singing Christmas songs in several languages, including English, French, Dutch, and German.

It fit Brussels surprisingly well. Belgium itself is divided between different language communities, and the capital felt even more international than I expected.

Accidentally Finding the Carillon du Mont des Arts

Not taking a guided tour meant I probably missed some famous places, but it also meant I occasionally found them completely by accident.

At one point I walked underneath a building and wouldn’t have thought much about it if I hadn’t noticed a crowd gathering on the other side. When I looked more closely, I realized I had just walked directly underneath the Carillon du Mont des Arts.

I had seen it before in paintings and movies throughout my life but had completely forgotten it existed until suddenly seeing it in person.

The carillon dates to 1958 and includes figures representing people and characters from Belgian history and folklore. Its bells sound throughout the day, along with melodies associated with Belgium’s Flemish and Walloon communities.

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

One of the most impressive churches I visited was the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. Religious buildings have occupied this site for around a thousand years, while construction of the present Gothic cathedral stretched across several centuries.

As impressive as the church was above ground, I found what was underneath it even more interesting.

Below the cathedral are archaeological remains from the earlier church that once occupied the site. I always find it interesting when a city doesn’t simply replace its history but literally builds new layers on top of it.

The Atomium

I have a bad habit when traveling. I’ll visit somewhere interesting, decide the lighting isn’t quite right, and tell myself I’ll come back later.

You’d think I would eventually learn that this rarely works.

The Atomium was actually one of the first things I saw in Brussels, but I decided I’d return later in the evening when the light was better. Of course, Brussels had so many other things to see that I never made it back.

I had seen photographs of the Atomium before but knew almost nothing about it. It was built for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and stands about 102 meters (335 feet) tall. Photographs don’t really communicate the scale very well. It wasn’t until I stood nearby and compared it with the surrounding houses that I realized how huge it actually was.

I was even more surprised to learn that the giant spheres aren’t simply decorative. Several contain interior spaces and exhibits, connected through tubes by stairs, escalators, and elevators.

So once again, my brilliant plan to “come back later” cost me the chance to properly explore something.

A Walk Through the Jardin Colonial

While walking toward the Atomium, I passed a wooded park that I hadn’t planned on visiting. It turned out to be the Jardin Colonial, or Koloniale Tuin, on land historically connected with King Leopold II.

It was another example of what I kept enjoying about Brussels: even while walking toward one attraction, I would stumble across something else worth stopping for.

A Few Ducks Before Moving On

After leaving the Jardin Colonial, I passed another park with a small pond. I recognized the wood ducks immediately since we have so many of them back home, although I wasn’t sure what species the other duck was.

My Time in Brussels

Brussels ended up being one of the biggest surprises of my trip. I arrived without particularly high expectations and left thinking it was one of the most beautiful cities I’d visited.

I probably missed plenty by refusing to organize myself around a proper tour, but wandering aimlessly became part of the experience. I accidentally found famous landmarks, walked into a wedding, sampled chocolates one piece at a time, listened to Christmas songs in four languages, explored the remains of an older church beneath a cathedral, and repeatedly stopped to photograph buildings I hadn’t even known existed.

And, as usual, I told myself I’d come back to something later and didn’t.

Maybe someday I’ll finally learn.