Brussels - sightseeing in my own capital :)
It might be a little stupid to post a travel blog about a city only
To be honest,
But since a month I work here, and I found that not all area's are ugly and crowded. Every time I walk around the "Marollen" quarter and the area surrounding the central station, it makes me feel like a tourist. Every day I discover new corners or squares. So many languages are spoken, and not only by visitors. Lots of people working in
So that's why I'm writing a blog about it. I've noticed that most people who visit
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The interior isn't anything fancy. Easy Tempo is in a really small, narrow hause. We were given a table all at the back in the least decorative room. The first area is really small because the (open) citchen is here as well. So there is only room for few tables, but in change you get more light from the window and a view over the cookes and the lovely smell of Italian dishes beeing prepared.
The next room is quite dark but it has some decorative lights and candles which create a nice atmosphere. The last one is the coldest room with neon-lights like things at the wall.
This place is nothing fancy but if you're ever around it's worth a try. The waiters only speak French but they're friendly.
What might be nice for tourists is the fact that the bigger part of the collection consists of Flemish and Netherlands artwork made during the Ancien Régime. Some really famous works are to be admired, including paintings by Breugel, Rubens, Memling, Bosch and countless "Flemish primitives".
These are all artists that have marked the Belgian history and culture, and have gained international fame as time went by.
The Fine Arts museum of Ancient Arts is located in the same street as the fine arts museum of Modern art (which surely encourages a mixed visit) and is opened from 10am until 5pm (normally every day).
The town-hall is also standing here, but wasn't build until the 15th century, when the Brabant court moved to Brussels. It is a Gothic masterpiece.
During the war between France and the Great Alliance (17th century) there were prolonged fights in this area. Hardly anything was left from the building, except for some walls and tower. Later on the town hall and the houses surrounding in were rebuild. That is why they're all constructed in the same Flemish-Italian style, and why the Town Hall has a more classic wing at the back. Inside there is a great collection of Belgian artwork, containing lots of memories to our national history.
Visiting the Town Hall will cost you approximately 5 Euros (students pay 4). It is opened from 10am until 5pm except on monday's, when it's closed. The closest train station is the central one. When traveling by subway you best get of at the 'Bourse' stop, but you might as well walk from the station since it isn't that far.
This Cathedral lies on top of a hill and was build between the 13th and the 16th century. Because of this long building period all styles of "Brabantse" Gothic are present in the architecture. Many architects have contributed to the different parts of the Cathedral. The colorful windows and many of the art on the gravestones hold great cultural-historical value.
At the end of the 20th century reconstruction works were started to fix constructional errors made hundreds of years earlier. Now the building is optimized four tourist visiting and viewing.
Some of the highlights are the marble baroque altar, the stained glass frames (as mentioned earlier), the church treasure (containing priceless pieces of silver) and the seven confessionals dating from the 17th century.
