Mont des Arts, Brussels @ June 2017 Photo: Huseyin Karadeniz

City of Brussels

The Kunstberg in Dutch or Mont des Arts in French or Hill of The Arts in English, is located in the heart of Brussels, Belgium. From the elevated vantage point the park offers one of Brussels’ fascinating panoramic views towards the old city center.

I visited Brussels for a day trip during my 4-day stay in Paris. It takes about 2 hours by SNCF from Gare du Nord, Paris to Brussels Midi Station. Despite tickets are usually costly for speed trains, you may score a reasonable price if you are lucky and planning to book your trip beforehand.

When I arrived the administrative capital of the European Union on a June morning, a rainy, gloomy weather welcomed me at the station. The temperature was dramatically low for a summer day however I was already prepared for the situation since the day before it had already rained cats and dogs in Paris while I was waiting on the line for Catacombs for about 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours… So for your information if you ever plan to visit there, get there no later than 8am! So, after getting caught by a waterspout one day before, I was smart enough to check out the weather this time in my next destination and, bring my umbrella and orange sweater along with me just in case.

Brussels is a gem. A fascinating city where you can find the fingerprints of Medieval Europe. With one of the world’s most beautiful squares Grand Place, many 17th-century Neo-Gothic-style buildings, small alluring chocolate and waffle shops, 19th-century mansions, fabulous parks, multicultural roots, the capital of Belgium doesn’t offer less. Try to walk, get lost and wander around on the medieval streets while sipping your hot chocolate on a cool fall evening and, feel the city and experience the history.

Ooh… A valuable recommendation; don’t forget to visit Restaurant Le Cygne in Grand Place where Karl Marx completed his famous book “Communist Manifesto”. Also take a look at another building called “Maison du Pigeon” in Grand Place across Restaurant Le Cygne that was inhabited by Victor Hugo during his exile in Brussels in 1852.

Are you craving some quality Belgium chocolate? You should visit “Neuhaus” in Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (1847) which is a gorgeous glass roofed arcade that preceded other famous 19th-century shopping arcades such as the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (1865) in Milan and The Passage (1848) in St Petersburg.

 

Photo: Wednesday, June 28, 2017