The Brussels Blog
Friday 11 March
Jen WIlbur
Back in January, Iris and I travelled to Brussels for the launch of The Hydrogen Academy (an ambitious European project which you can read more about here: The Hydrogen Academy). Having never been to Brussels before, but having a sister who is a certified Brussels fanatic and Belgian beer enthusiast, I was incredibly excited to visit the European capital.
Monday 15 January
Wrapped up warm with my bags all packed, I met Iris at Birmingham New Street to begin our journey. ‘Three bags?’ ‘Three bags.’ quickly became our motto to ensure that while moving from train to tube to chunnel, we didn’t leave anything behind. Once through the hellish chaos of Euston and securely at St Pancras, we settled into our Eurostar seats for the short 2 hour journey. Though I desperately tried to work on the journey, the Eurostar wifi battled against me, so I enjoyed my Pret lunch while watching the views of Europe flash past the train windows.
Once in Brussels, it was no shock to see Tintin instantly plastered on the walls. I excitedly posed for photos to send to my partner, who was an avid Tintin reader as a child. The Brussels metro was a million times nicer than the stinky London underground, and we quickly found our airbnb - a gorgeous apartment overlooking the Brussels Stock Exchange. It was also conveniently located right by one of my sister’s top recommendations - Mappa Mundo, a lively and atmospheric bar with stunning wood-panelling, stained glass windows, and art nouveau typescript. I enjoyed a La Chouffe and Iris had a Bel Pils in the cosiness of the bar while it began snowing outside.
After putting on our beer coats, we ventured out into the cold to explore the local area. I was amazed to see how many vintage clothing and record shops there were - and how late they were open until! I managed to restrain myself from buying anything, but if I’d had more space in my suitcase I could’ve been very easily tempted. It was on this wander round that we discovered Bertz Associates' new mascot, Mr Penguin, and we inadvertently ended up visiting him each night of our trip. If anyone is visiting Brussels and has the luggage space, we’d love it if you could liberate him for us!
Finally hunger called, and we stopped off at Davi Thai Restaurant. I had an amazing veggie Thai Green Curry that was presented on a warming clay stove, and Iris was served green tea in an amazing Elephant teapot. We stopped for another drink at Mappa Mundo before setting off to bed.
Tuesday 16 January
We woke up to discover that the coffee pods we had purchased the night before didn’t fit in the coffee machine in the apartment - nightmare! Through several experiments trying to excavate the coffee, Iris settled for mud coffee while I desperately stabbed holes in the bottom of the pods to pull the world's slowest shot of espresso.
The Hydrogen Academy meeting didn’t start till midday, so we had the morning to explore. We stopped into Beursschouwberg, which was right next to our apartment. In the day, it’s a free co-working space with coffee and soup for you to help yourself to. At night, it’s a cinema, music venue, performing arts space, and general artistic community space. The amazing atmosphere of the venue and the design of the building left us buzzing with potential ideas of touring our projects and films across Europe.
Following an afternoon of meetings, we were treated by Brussels University to a wonderful meal at La Taverne du Passage, a gorgeous art deco restaurant based in Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries, a striking 19th century shopping arcade. I had a delicious creamy mushroom ravioli, though the most popular dish on the menu was of course the mussels. As a lifelong vegetarian, they weren’t for me, but I was nevertheless impressed by the way they were presented and served by the waiters - I don’t think I’ve ever visited a restaurant that fancy!
After dinner, we ventured back out into the cold for a proper tour of the tourist must-sees. First stop: Jeanneke Pis, the younger sister of the famous Manneken Pis, locked behind a cage to prevent the drunk tourists at nearby Delirium Village from disturbing her. Manneken Pis was, of course, our next stop. While he’s often clothed, he was in fact naked for the duration of our visit, which seemed rather unfair considering the weather! On the way, we walked through the incredible Grand-Place, the central square surrounded by splendid baroque and neo-gothic architecture. We ended our evening by returning to the shops to buy coffee pods that would fit the airbnb coffee machine.
Wednesday 17 January
Wednesday’s meetings started at 9, so we were up early to get to the venue. As we sat in the warmth and comfort inside, the snow outside began getting heavier and heavier. By the time the day's meetings had finished, there were several inches of snow outside and the city's traffic was a mess - I was very glad I took my big coat and big boots with me.
I had the evening to myself, so I decided to cross off a few of my sister's recommendations. I began the evening by visiting Manneken Pis again, before stopping for a drink at nearby bar Poechenellekelder - aka the creepy puppet bar, so called because it’s decorated floor to ceiling with creepy puppets. With an intimidatingly large selection of beers, I opted for an Orval, before settling into my book ‘Monsters: A Fans Dilemma’ by Claire Dederer. Despite the creepy puppets, the bar had a great vibe and I could’ve happily sat there all night (I was also hesitant to go back outside into the snow).
I moved on to The Noodle Bar for dinner, and enjoyed a large bowl alongside a bottle of Jupiler beer - which my sister later informed me you can buy at McDonalds and you only have to be 16 to buy! I followed it up with a beer at Little Delirium, before meeting back up with Iris for a walk through the city. The Grand Place looked even more magical in the snow.
We stopped off for a final shop, where both Iris and I bought some funky looking crisps we had spotted a few nights before. I bought the Seaweed and Yellow Paprika flavours - the seaweed was gross, and all my friends who tried and claimed they liked it are liars, but the yellow paprika ones were great vessels for hummus. On the walk back to the apartment, we came across a giant lion sculpture made entirely out of snow. We finished the evening with a final drink at Le Coq, a nice Beligan brown cafe next to our airbnb.
The Brussels Blog
Overall, I absolutely adored Brussels, and am very keen to visit again. Having been to the city for work, I was unable to explore the museums and sites during the daytime, so would love to go back to see more. The fact that it’s such an easy journey on the Eurostar as well makes it ideal for a short city-break trip.
