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5. Living in Brussels (part 3/3)

d. Culture

The Grand Place is the central market square and Brussels' top tourist. It is one of the most beautiful town squares in Europe. The gothic city hall (Hôtel de Ville) and the late seventeenth-century guild houses surround the square.

Manneken Pis is the most famous statue in Brussels. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture of a little boy who is urinating. It also has a female counterpart, called Jeanneke Pis. Both are located close to the Grand Place.

The Royal Palace of Laeken and the Royal Palace of Belgium.

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium combines old masters with modern art collections. Here you can find Belgium's most complete collection of fine art with works by e.g. Pieter Bruegel, Rubens and René Magritte.

In 1958 the World exposition took place in Brussels and for this purpose the Atomium was built. It has recently been renovated and can be admired at the Heizel, where you can also find Mini-Europe, a park which hosts miniature models of famous European buildings.

De Munt/La Monnaie is a famous opera house in Brussels

Brussels is also well known for its many comics characters, such as The Smurfs, Tintin and Lucky Luke. All over Brussels you can see many murals and of these cartoon heroes.

Brussels also has many parks, it is the greenest city in Europe. The enormous Forêt de Soignes is one of the largest city parks in Europe. There are 84km of footpaths and 30km of bike lanes in this forest.

In the centre itself you can find many parks such as the Parc de Bruxelles and the Parc du Cinquantennaire.

Besides chocolates Belgium has a lot more of good food to offer. Belgian food is superb, ranging from sublime mussels and fries to rich, succulent carbonnades. In Brussels you can find many restaurants specialised in a certain cuisine, e.g. Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Vietnamese. Besides restaurants there are also many wine bars and pubs.

You can find more information on the website of Brussels International.