I have to start somewhere. So, let's begin by the most obvious choice of destination for any tourist who visits Brussels. No, not the Maneken Pis. Here is the real footage of the first time I visited the Grand Place, back in 2005:
The
Grand Place is probably one of the most beautiful squares in the world. In Europe, there's few who can rival with it.
Dating back to the 11th century, the square has a stunning collection of baroque and gothic buildings, of which many were ancient guildhalls, representing several noble crafts of the 16 and 17th centuries (the making of cheese, butter or herring, coal mining, and of course, brewers). Also in the square, there are two larger and outstanding buildings: the City Hall (Hôtel de Ville in french) and the Breadhouse (or Maison du Roi).
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| Festival of regional products |
Every single one of these buildings in Grand Place and the floor of the square itself, were witnesses to major events. The City Hall has a funny story (probably urban legend) of his architect jumping to his death from the top of the tower, because of the awareness that the tower itself was asymmetrically built. In the first World War the site became a refugee camp, the City Hall an hospital, and after being in the hands of the germans, the entire plaza became an army's field kitchen. The first socialist party of Belgium was founded after a meeting that took place in the Grand Place.
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| During last Christmas 2016 |
And so on, and so on. We could stay here for entire paragraphs just describing the intricate details of all the gargoyles, golden statues, the ornaments, and the history behind each and every one of those buidings. But I think that the travel books and guides exist precisely for that.
If you visit a blog, you'll want something different, right? Well, that's where I try to come in. My sincere opinion is that the Grand Place, despite the fact that is no more a market for decades, is still the heartbeat of this city. It's roaming around here that you can "feel" Brussels. Are there too many tourists today? Did everyone got out of the house because of the sunny weather? What's good to do/see today?
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| Beer weekend |
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| List of beers! |
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| A dixieland brass band cheering the visitors of the beer weekend |
Not many old central squares can brag of being this kind of "social lighthouses" for a city. In the square you have the tourist office, three museums (that I'll present here with more time), flagship stores for chocolatiers Neuhaus or Godiva, international coffee houses like Starbucks, and a large array of restaurants, some of them of good quality, despite the fact of being in such a central "tourist trap" spot.
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| The flower carpet happens once every two years. I had the opportunity to see it already in three different occasions |
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| Festival of Wallonia (francophone Belgium) |
On my weekends, one of the first things I usually do, besides buying my newspaper, is head to the Grand Place, because from here, I can visit any point in Brussels, just by the "feel" of it.
Let's not forget also the big events that take place in the Grand Place. Since I arrived here, I already witnessed a lot (to share on future posts): the beer party, the regional and traditional festival, the guilds festival, the concertband competition, the Christmas lights, tree and crib. Especially in August and September, I was starting to get convinced that the Grand Place had something going on there always.
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| Concertbands competition |
That's not the case, but I can assure you that it IS the place to be, if you want to sense the vibe of the city and get informed about events ocurring there or elsewhere.
Sounded too vahue so far? Don't worry. I'll get on to the details on future posts.
