[Holidays] Brussels 2014

So I found myself in Brussels over the weekend. Strange I know, but there was a reason for it, honest! Yesterday the project that employs me, the eta-Earth project, was having it's review meeting at the European Research Executive Agency in Brussels. As they pay me my boss thought that I should go along, and since I've never been to the city I decided that I'd spend the weekend there as well. It was fun, if slightly different to what I expected.

Left: the central square by night, when it really comes alive. Right: the city hall, which is a fabulous building. (Credit: David Brown)

For a start, Brussels struck me as a bit of a hodgepodge of a city. There are some very nice, very pretty areas with some great architecture. But there are also areas that are bland and uninteresting, and areas that are very modern (often both at the same time). It's clearly a city that's undergone several periods of extensive rebuilding at various points in time, none of which were designed to fit together! That's not to say that there's nothing to look at; as I said, there are some very nice bits. The central square in particular is very picturesque, and the areas around there are the main tourist parts of town. You've got the city hall, the city museum, lots of shops, and the famous manneken pis just down the road. On that note, does anyone else find it weird that a statue of a boy having a wee is one of the main attractions of a city?

The manneken pis. As city landmarks go, it's one of the oddest I've seen. Apparently he has loads of outfits, and

gets dressed up to promote various events, festivals, and holidays. (Credit: David Brown)

There are also some rather nice parks, although they're all a bit out of the city centre. I went for a walk around the 'European' quarter which is centred on the European parliament, and found several large parks that I wish I'd been able to enjoy a little more. Speaking of the parliament, the building itself was closed for renovation sadly. But there is a visitors centre, which was far more interesting than I expected. It takes you through the history of the EU, right from the first murmurings about the formation of such a thing up to the present day, and then goes through how exactly it works, and some of the issues that it deals with on a day-to-day basis. I spent a good couple of hours there, and could have spent more if I hadn't had more to get to (I crammed a lot into two days).

A statue outside the European Parliament building. (Credit: David Brown)

I also went to several museums. First was the Musical Instruments Museum, which had a unique take on the idea. The first three floors were full of displays of a vast array of instruments from all over the world, including several that I'd never heard of, let alone seen. There were plentiful information plaques (sadly not in English), but the unique bit was the audio guide. Rather than telling you about the instruments, when you got close enough it would play you music made by that instrument. Moving from display to display would interrupt the piece with one for the new instrument, so you had to be careful where you walked, but there were plentiful places to sit and enjoy the music. It was really rather nice, and as I said completely different to anything I'd experienced before. The final floor was a history of the inventor of the saxophone, which was very informative.

Top left: yes, that's apparently a saxophone with a bassoon crook and reed! Top right: I don't even know - some kind of seven belled horn.

Bottom left: contra-bassoon! Just a bigger bassoon right? Bottom right: I want that dragon mouthed bassoon-thing. (Credit: David Brown)

I also went to the Belgian Comics museum. Again, there wasn't much in the way of English information available. But there was enough that I could get the general idea, and I was still able to enjoy the displays. There was one on the process of making comics, with several artists giving examples of they work - they were surprisingly varied. Then there was a section on the different genres of comics, and the upper floors were dedicated to a history of Belgian comics. Everyone knows Tintin and the Smurfs, but there were many, many more besides. There was also a very large shop, where I was strongly tempted by a complete set of Tintin books.

The last museum I went to was the chocolate museum. It was small, but no less interesting for that, and focused more on the production of the raw products than chocolate making. That said, there was a demonstration (with free samples!). Speaking of chocolate, there was lots of it around. Shops galore, as you might expect given that it's what Belgium is primarily known for. I did succumb and pick up a bit, but mostly for friends and family who'd requested some (honest).

Left: This is the sight that greets you when you enter the comics museum. Fantastic! Middle: panorama of the museum floor. Right: The Comics Museum was full of fun little touches like these two. (Credit: David Brown)

It was an interesting trip, and I think that there's more for me to see. There were a couple more museums that I wouldn't mind visiting, and it turns out that Belgians really like jazz, so I'd like to experience some of that. I can see myself going back at some point; after all, it's pretty easy to get to on the train.