Un week-end à Bruxelles/Een weekend in Brussel/Ein Wochenende in Brüssel/A Weekend in Brussels

A wonderful weekend was spent in Brussels courtesy of our friend Eurostar. An easy toddle after work and a restful couple of hours with Daphne Du Maurier later, we descended the train in the rather hard to categorise city of Brussels. I was expecting something rather grander, considering its pan-European significance, and rather more organised, considering its Flemish location, although I now see it has much more French influence than Dutch. The public transport network is only just fit for purpose and shabby to boot, the centre of the city is one large (and seemingly permanent) construction site, careless ex-pats haunt every corner, and yet it’s not an unpleasant place at all. Every few streets you emerge out onto a landscaped square, parks surprise you amidst the terraces, the architecture is strikingly non-uniform, though harmonious. And for a spring weekender, is was just the right mix of laziness and stimulation for a worn-out London blogger who bit off more than she could chew with two weekends away in two weeks.