JULY 2002

Belgium is well placed for journeys by rail into Holland, Germany, France and the U.K. Deniz and I stayed 3 days in Belgium, mainly in Brussels.

Brussels:

Brussels is an exceptionally cosmopolitan city, headquarters of the EU and NATO, as well as home to a sizeable number of foreigners from around the Mediterranean.

Especially in Chaussee De Haecht street, not only there is no other nationalities than Turkish, but also they are all from the Emirdag town of Turkey’s western Anatolian city of Afyon. We were even told that Belgians used to think Emirdag was Turkey’s second largest city after Istanbul. There are excellent Turkish restaurants, coffee shops, markets, even there is a hospital and a pharmacy full of Turkish speaking doctors and pharmacists.  When we were there, the street was full of Turkish flags, because Turkey were playing for semi-finals in World Cup 2002.

Brussels’s two most famous monuments The Manneken-Pis (nothing to say about, a urinating little boy, that is the symbol of the city!!) and an outsized 1950s atomic model, The Atomium, don’t miss the view from the top module, to which there is a high speed lift.

We stayed in Centre Vincent Van Gogh Hostel, the oldest youth hostel in Brussels and has the largest capacity.

There is a huge choice of restaurants serving excellent food in Brussels, but prices tend to be high. Of course we chose to have a delicious iskender kebab, ayran and baklava with our friends in Chaussee De Haecht.

Brussels is also famous for chocolates. Everywhere in the city, you will find chocolate shops, especially around the Grand Palace. I really loved the famous “ballotin de pralines”, though quite expensive it is incredibly rich.

Belgium is known as the best beer country in the world. Therefore, your stay in Brussels cannot be complete without a visit to one of the many typical and beautiful pubs you will find here. Even that little boy, Manneken, pisses beer when they dress him up during the festivals!!!

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