Journeywoman - Belgium, a mini report...

Erica Christ is an American Journeywoman who often sends us her interesting travel tips and advice. She recently visited Brussels to do some research for a play she is working on. Erica writes...

The Art Museum is wonderful...

Brussels is a surprisingly nice city. It's got great architecture so just walking around is a worthwhile pursuit. The Art Museum is wonderful. It is underground but they built it around a light well--that is, daylight gets in even eight floors under. It was remarkably uncrowded when I was there, on a weekend day! They have a good collection from classic to modern to contemporary. There are not nearly as many Americans there as in almost every other major European city, but a lot of British tourists. They must be the main tourist force because as soon as you hesitate to answer a greeting or question in a shop or restaurant, the salesperson switches to English.

Visit the bird market...

If I were to pick something special to recommend to other Journey Women, it would be to explore the Grand 'Place. It is the central square and it is amazing to see, so ornate, so much detail and splendor in the buildings on all four sides. And if you are in Brussels on Sunday, don't miss the bird market in the square. It was just getting going for the year-- barely warm enough-- when I was there in early spring. But even then the cacophony of birds was unmistakable. It was fun to walk around and see and hear the birds. They are all for sale, too (though I doubt you could take them home to another country).

Transportation puzzles...

Visiting Grandma I did get a little mixed up on the Metro, I don't think it's as clear as in Paris or London. For
example, there are no maps of the route inside the cars. The cars are like Boston's T, they aren't exactly trains. And the buses are quite a puzzle, too, but I find that's often true in other cities as well. The good news... to make things easier to understand -- free route maps are available from Maison du Tourism (Tourist center) on rue Marche aux Herbes 63. While you're there you can also pick up a copy of Agenda -- listing upcoming cultural events and other bits and pieces that visitors might enjoy.

All in all, I found this city a lovely one to visit for a couple of days and recommend it highly to other Journey Women visiting Europe. Other major cities are so close. For example, did you know that Brussels is only a little over three hours by train to London and it's not far to Amsterdam and Paris as well.

Another JourneyWoman adds...

A recent visit to Brussels revealed that it is full of charming, sometimes quirky, little museums. They cover what seems like every conceivable subject, from chocolate to beer to the history of Freemasonry. There's even a museum on the Belgian endive! A stop at one of these little museums can reveal some lovely little surprises and won't be overwhelming like a visit to a huge museum can sometimes be. Of course, don't forget to be ready to sample the subject matter, especially in the chocolate museum.
(Source: Alison Li, Toronto, Canada)

Ed. note: Once you're here reading about Brussels, why not find out about Antwerp another delightful Belgian city