Searching for Street Art in Brussels

When we planned to visit Brussels, our main goal was to visit the beautiful Christmas markets. But along the way, we discovered some fabulous street art as well.

Besides popping into numerous chocolate shops (Yum!), we wandered around many small side streets and found a city filled with fun, colorful cartoons and murals on many of its buildings. Before our trip, I had read that Brussels was known for its comic book characters such as Rin Tin Tin, but I still had no idea. These delightful characters also play a major part in the city’s Comic Book Route, which features large murals paying homage to Belgian comic artists.

Let’s take a tour of Brussel’s street art scene!

Comic Book Route

One of the most fun and unusual ways to explore Brussels is by taking the Comic Book Route. The project started in 1991 with the intention to embellish empty walls in the city, while paying tribute to famous Belgian comic artists. The route itself features over 50 mural paintings from iconic greats to lesser-known characters. You can find a map of the route here.

Here are a couple of the comic book murals that we found:

The Broussaille Wall and Olivier Rameau & friends mural Rue du Chêne

The Broussaille Wall was the first comic strip mural to be painted in July 1991. The wall illustrates a cheerful couple, Broussaille and his girlfriend, going for a brisk walk around the city. Based on a comic series created by Frank Pé, the series was first published in 1978 in the local Spirou magazine.

Victor Sackville Wall

Rue du Marché au Charbon

Not too far from the Broussaille Wall is the Victor Sackville Wall. The scene on the wall comes from The Opera of Death, the first comic of the Code Zimmerman series created by Francis Carin in 1985. The mural depicts the main character Victor Sackville, a British spy that lands in Brussels, on the Rue du Marché au Charbon as it looked during WWI.

Spike and Suzy

Rue de Laeken 111

Without stopping peeing, the Manneken Pis, the famous symbol of Brussels, holds five of Belgium's best-known comic strip heroes in one hand.

Manneken Pis

Be prepared to fight off hordes of tourists to see one of Brussel’s “little” attractions – the Manneken Pis (“little pee man” in Flemish). The peeing boy is a small, bronze, 17^th-century fountain statue that measures just 61cm (24 inches). I'm not sure why everyone finds this statue endearing, but they do and he did look cute in his Christmas outfit. In fact, the statue even has an outfit for every season and national holiday.

A nearby mural called Manneken Peace on Rue du Chêne was painted by artist HMI. He is a member of the Brussels CNN group, a famous group of Belgian hip-hop artists for the last 30 years.

MIMA

Located beside the canal in the center of Brussels, housed in the former brewery Belle-Vue, the MIMA or Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art is an interesting visual arts museum. The MIMA presents temporary exhibitions, concerts and performances and has a permanent collection as well covering four different floors. During our visit, the unfinished cellar looked like it belonged in an abandoned building – complete with crumbling walls and barren concrete floors but filled with amazing murals and paste up art. I was very impressed!

In 2016, American artist Maya Hayuk created “City of Lights” – a modern-like chapel with raised ceilings and stained-glass window treatments – a space for reflection.

Rue des Chandeliers Kandelaars

Here we found the walls on this narrow laneway completely covered in interesting street art and paste ups.

Music Murals

You can find life-sized stencils of Bruce Springsteen as well as John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix fittingly on the side of a second-hand record shop, The Collector, located at 7 Rue du Chên.

Galerie de Portraits LGBTQ

On a small street near the Mannekin Pis, Rue du Marché au Charbon, I believe, you will find an incredible colorful series of LGBTQ frescoes and several other pieces in Brussel’s gay quarter, which is in the same area.

Space Invaders

In previous blog posts, I’ve mentioned the French street artist known as Invader on our trip to Paris, but I didn’t realize that Brussels is home to about 40 of his mosaic installations. We found a couple of the tiled creations inspired from the 1970s-video game “Space Invaders” in the city center.

Oh, I should also mention that one of the best ways to see more of Brussel’s street art is to hire a Villo! city bike. This gives you a chance to explore Atomium, a bizarre structure made up of nine metal spheres that represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times that was built for the first post-WWII world fair in 1958. Definitely worth the trek!

Love the quote in this mural in Brussels!

Have you been to Brussels? Any other travel tips for our next trip?

Follow

Read More

Day Trip to Beautiful Bruges

All it takes is one visit to Bruges to see why it’s described as the “Venice of the North.”

Filled with a labyrinth of canals and interesting Flemish buildings, Bruges is a fairy-tale like city that begs for photographs. During our visit a few months ago, I took more than 300 photos after we stepped off our hour-long train journey from Brussels where we spent Christmas.

Like Venice, Bruges is filled with small canals and was known for its high-quality lace. During the 16^th century, this Belgian city prospered becoming a hub for commerce with merchants from 34 different coutnries that regularly traded here. Even if you’re not one for historical details like these, grab your camera and head to beautiful Bruges!

 

Shortly after we stepped off the train, this gorgeous reflection of a restaurant located along Minnewater "lake of love" greeted us in Bruges.

Begijnhof (Beguinage)

After a short walk from the train station, we first stopped at the Begijnhof or Beguinage – a tranquil convent garden and museum that was founded in 1245. This little piece of world heritage was once the home of the beguines, emancipated women who chose to lead a pious and celibate life. Today the beguinage is inhabited by nuns of the Order of St. Benedict and several Bruges women who have decided to remain unmarried. In the Beguine's house which is now a museum, you get a good idea of what their day-to-day, simple life was like in the 17th century.

Sint-Salvatorskathedraal

Next, we explored The Holy Savior Cathedral (Sint-Salvatorskathedraal), which was originally founded in the 10^th century as a common parish church. In 1834, shortly after Belgium’s independence in 1830, a new bishop came to Bruges and the Sint-Salvator church obtained the status of cathedral. The cathedral’s oldest surviving part, dating from the end of the 12th century, forms the base of the mighty tower which you can’t miss from our next stop. Though the church is undergoing some renovations, it’s worth popping in.

Belfort in Bruges

Standing 83-meters tall, the Belfry of Bruges is arguably the most famous part of The Markt square and one of the city’s main attractions that has a queue. We waited more than 45 minutes to climb some 360-plus steps for an unparalleled view over the red rooftops of the city and the market square, which is dotted with many restaurants and cafés.  

Today, the tower holds the 47 bells designed in 1741 by George Duméry and regularly chimes the hours and important events.

Belgian Waffles at Chez Albert

Lunchtime means you must grab a waffle from one of the many stands or shops located near the square.

Stadhuis (Town Hall)

This Gothic structure was built in the late 1300s, making it the oldest Town Hall in Belgium and also an ideal courtyard to enjoy your waffle. The reasonable 2.50-euro admission fee is worth paying so you don’t miss the ornate Gotische Zaal (Gothic Room) – featuring wall murals of Bruges’s history. The spectacular vaulted oak ceiling dates from 1402.

Tip: go early so you can avoid too many people in your photos.

What is the ‘Rozenhoedkaai?’

The Quay of the Rosary is one of the most photographed sites throughout the entire city of Bruges. Just around the corner from the Town Hall, you’ll find a lovely canal with swans and crow-stepped-gabled houses and boats sailing by you. No matter what the season, I’m sure the Rozenhoedkaai is picture perfect!

Of course, when we weren’t admiring the gorgeousness of Bruges, we found a few pubs to enjoy a Belgian beer, an order of frites with mayonnaise and a few Christmas markets. We enjoyed ourselves so much that I have to wonder why my Belgian friend seemed to downplay her city when she spoke of her hometown.

Grab your camera and let’s head to Bruges!

Read More

Christmas Market Love from Brussels

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or whatever you might celebrate!

This year, hubby and I are hanging together in Europe since we only have 10 days off from work. It's simply not enough time to run all over the US to see family again. Sorry guys!

Instead, we've been exploring Brussels and its fabulously festive Christmas markets. Coming here was a great choice and recommended by one of our fellow expat friends. Brussels is only two hours away from London by train; plus it's filled with charm and easy to get around.

Through January 1, 2017, you’ll find Christmas stalls and events taking place at the Grand-Place in Brussels and around the Bourse, the Place de la Monnaie, Place Sainte-Catherine and the Marché aux Poissons. Every hour, a spectacular light and music show lights up the Grand Place, the city’s central square which features elegant historic buildings dating back to the 14^th century. I almost felt like I was in a fairy tale! The area does get quite crowded, but we tried to arrive early and still had lots of fun.

Hope you enjoy this lil taste of the Brussels Christmas markets!

One night we had fish soup with glasses of Prosecco and the next day a rich dish of tartliflette (?) - potatoes cooked with bacon and cheese. Yum!

Read More