INTRODUCTION
Amongst Europeans, Brussels is best known as the home of the EU, which, given recent developments, is something of a poisoned chalice. But in fact, the EU neither dominates nor defines Brussels, merely forming one layer of a city that has become, in postwar years at least, a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis. It’s a vibrant and fascinating place, with architecture and museums to rank among the best of Europe’s capitals, not to mention a superb restaurant scene and an energetic nightlife. Moreover, most of the key attractions are crowded into a centre that is small enough to be absorbed over a few days, its boundaries largely defined by a ring of boulevards known as the "petit ring".
The layout of this city centre embodies historic class divisions. For centuries, the ruling class has lived in the Upper Town, an area of wide boulevards and grand mansions which looks down on the maze of tangled streets that characterize the Lower Town, traditionally home to shopkeepers and workers. This fundamental class divide has in recent decades been further complicated by discord between Belgium’s two main linguistic groups, the Walloons (the French-speakers) and the Flemish (basically Dutch-speakers). As a cumbersome compromise, the city is Belgium’s only officially bilingual region and by law all road signs, street names and virtually all published information must be in both languages, even though French-speakers make up nearly eighty percent of Brussels’ population. As if this was not complex enough, since the 1960s the city has become much more ethnically diverse, with communities of immigrants from North Africa, Turkey, the Mediterranean and Belgium’s former colonies as well as European administrators, diplomats and business people, now comprising a quarter of the population.
Each of these communities leads a very separate, distinct existence and this is reflected in the number and variety of affordable ethnic restaurants. But, even without these, Brussels would still be a wonderful place to eat: its gastronomic reputation rivals that of Paris and London, and though restaurants are rarely inexpensive, there is great-value food to be had in many of the bars. The bars themselves can be sumptuous, basic, traditional or very fashionable – and one of the city’s real pleasures. Another pleasure is shopping: Belgian chocolates and lace are de rigueur, but it’s also hard to resist the charms of the city’s designer clothes shops and antique markets, not to mention the numerous specialist shops devoted to anything and everything from comic books to costume jewellery.
Many of the city’s best bars and restaurants are dotted round the city centre, within the petit ring, and this is where you’ll find the key sights. The Lower Town centres on the Grand-Place, one of Europe’s most magnificent squares, boasting a superb ensemble of Baroque guildhouses and an imposing Gothic town hall, while the Upper Town weighs in with a splendid cathedral and a fine art museum of international standing, the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts. Few visitors stray beyond the petit ring, but there are delights here too, principally in St Gilles and Ixelles, two communes (or boroughs) just to the south of the centre, whose streets are studded with fanciful Art Nouveau residences, including the old home and studio of Victor Horta, the style’s prime exponent.
Belgium is such a small country, and the rail network so fast and efficient, that Brussels also makes a feasible base for many other day-trips. In Chapter Eight, we’ve selected five prime destinations, all within an hour’s travelling time – the battlefield at Waterloo, the abbey ruins of Villers-la-Ville and a trio of fascinating Flemish towns: Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges.
