July 16-17, 2011 -- Brussels is a bit off the beaten track. It is not the most popular tourist spot in Europe. It is weird and wonky -- the de facto capital of the European Union and home to the Atomium monument, pictured above. But Brussels is worth a visit because it is so unique. It is only a two hour train ride on the high-speed Eurostar from London St. Pancras so the city is easily accessible.
I stayed at the Hello Hostel, which doesn't have the social scene of a lot of hostels in bigger cities and is a little far from the city center, but nonetheless is a quality hostel and is within walking distance of a Metro subway station.
Brussels has a complicated history that from an initial observation it doesn't seem to have fully come to grips with yet. First there is Belgium's colonial legacy in Africa. In the lates 1800s and early 1900s under King Leopold II, Belgium colonized the current Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. There has been much suffering and bloodshed in the years following Belgian rule in these African nations. This excerpt is from the website About.com:
"The most important legacy of colonialism in Rwanda and Burundi involved the Belgians' obsession with racial, ethnic classification. The Belgians believed that the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda was racially superior to the Hutu ethnic group because the Tutsis had more "European" features. After many years of segregation, the tension erupted into the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 850,000 people died."
This dated memorial pays tribute to a shameful period in the history of Belgium -- the colonization of Congo, Africa. It was inaugurated in 1921 by King Albert I.
And there is also the Nazi occupation of Belgium during World War II. Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1944, and there was active collaboration with the Nazis in persecuting Jews. Some 50,000 Jews lived in Belgium in the 1930s and about half were killed during the Holocaust. But not all Belgians went along with the Nazi persecution of Jews. There was a resistance movement. I visited the Military Museum at Park du Cinquantenaire and was disturbed to see Nazi era uniforms and regalia on display. But there was also this statue honoring Baron Jean Michel P.M.G. de Sélys Longchamps, a Belgian nobleman and World War II RAF fighter pilot remembered for his attack in 1943 on the Gestapo headquarters in Brussels in occupied Belgium.
But Brussels today is a vibrant, progressive city that is the de facto capital of the European Union. The city's European Quarter is home to the headquarters of the European Commission (Berlaymont building, pictured below), European Union Council and other EU institutions. Poland currently holds the sixth month rotating presidency. There are 27 member states in the EU. 17 of these member states, including Belgium, use the official currency of the eurozone -- the Euro.
And of course Belgium has some of the best food in Europe. Here is the famous Belgian waffle covered with chocolate syrup. And yes, it is as delicious as it looks.
While the EU conducts serious business in the city, the citizens of Brussels have a quirky sense of humor and don't take themselves or the city too seriously. How else can you explain the popularity of Mannekin Pis, a small bronze fountain sculpture of a little boy urinating into the fountain's basin?
Click here for more observations of Brussels on Green Center Blog.
Here are more photos from Brussels. Click here to see the set on Flickr.
Here is video of a Brussels Metro train arriving at Gare du Midi - Zuidstation:
And here is video of a Brussels Metro escalator. The escalators in Brussels are motion sensor, meaning they are stopped until someone walks up to the escalator and triggers the motion detection system and the escalator starts moving. This brilliant concept saves energy and reduces wear and tear on the escalators.
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