Nothing Belgian about Belgium
When I tell people I went to Brussels, capital of Jean-Claude Van Dammeland, the looks I get range from lurid (from those with tenting in the crotch fantasising about Jean-Claude) to quizzical (from those wondering why the hell I would go to Belgium for a holiday). Brussels is a fantastic city, and after Jean-Claude dropped the stalking charges, I had a wonderful time.
Belgium has an undeserved reputation for being boring. The French, bless their smug souls, even use the adjective belge to describe something ordinary and mediocre, but there is nothing belge about Brussels. From the hot restaurants to the hot men to the hot chocolate, mantravellers’ needs are more than satisfied.
A visit to this genteel capital of Europe reveals the residents’ serene confidence in knowing just how good life can be. The stunning Grand’ Place, an architectural jewel, is without question the most beautiful large square in all of Europe. It so happens that a favourite small square in Europe is also in Brussels, the exquisite Place du Petit Sablon, its entire perimeter lined with statuary of men in a variety of worker drag, their ensemble enclosing a poetically landscaped garden within. A true bonbon of bon goût.
Hotels and restaurants can be somewhat pricey in this expense-account city, but if you have the cash to flash, the luxury hotels would silence even the most vocal of drama queens. I myself decided for once to forego the luxury of a five-star palace and stayed in the sybaritic accommodation of the Jacques Brel Youth Hostel where an immaculate single room with private bath cost a grand sum of 26 euros. The view of the hunky
backpackers through the glass dome below was a free bonus.
If your appetites are as voracious as mine, you will rejoice in the bounty of Brussels. Make sure you sample both the mussels and the muscles in Brussels; both have international reputations. Don’t forget hot waffles with cream or pommes frites, long, luscious, thick wedges of potato chips crisped to perfection, then dipped in the traditional mayonnaise accompaniment. And the chocolate! I didn't know I was capable of such gluttony outside a darkroom.
The rue Marché au Charbon, just off the Grand’ Place, is the centre of gay life in Brussels. There one can find all the usual gay socialising spots, from cafés to shops to bars to saunas, all populated with an erectifying array of fair north Belgian Flemish hotties, dark south Belgian Walloon charmers, and all the lonely Eurocrats working in the city, so far from home….
Brussels’ most famous sight is also its most famous site: the aptly named Grand’ Place is indeed one of Europe’s largest and grandest squares, a jewel of European architectural history. The 15th-century houses and their glimmering golden-statue adornments, each representing the guild occupying that particular address, today serve as reminders of the fabulous wealth that passed through the city when Belgium was the centre of Europe’s textile industry, the vestiges of which are seen in contemporary Belgium’s fine lacemakers. The wealth still passes through, in less ostentatious ways. Today, the inside of one of these houses can be seen thanks to more gold, this time in liquid form, at The Brewery Museum (10, Grand’ Place). Just off the Grand’ Place are the Galeries St Hubert, a beautiful, glass-covered shopping arcade.
Le Musée de la Bande Dessinée is another Brussels curiosity, for few cities in the world offer visitors a cartoon museum. Still, in the homeland of the Tintin, it is not altogether unexpected. Nor is the artfulness of Victor Horta, designer of the Art Nouveau building housing the museum. Le Musée Horta, (rue Américaine/Amerikaansestraat, 23-25), former home of this avant-garde artist, one of the Art Nouveau movement’s foremost proponents whose most famous work is similar to Guimard's ornate entrances to the Paris Métro system, is of course another example of his creative vision. Hard to find a straight line here among the seductive curves, clever features (make sure to see the hidden washbasin in his bedroom), and coloured woods. 
The revolutionary use of glass as ceiling material allowed for natural illumination to penetrate city houses from above. The Art Nouveau style remained fashionable in Europe (with different names, such as Jugenstil in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and Modernist Style in Spain) until World War I induced a more practical, less stylistic view of design.
Being a small country, Belgium is home to many beautiful towns within daytrip distance from Brussels; the glory of Ghent, Bruges, or Antwerp will not disappoint. Antwerp is a beautiful city in its own right, built on the wealth one would imagine for one of the centres of the world's diamond trade. The architectural patrimony of this very sophisticated city is enviable, and the fact that Antwerp is home to most of Belgium's leading clothing designers is quickly apparent, with Bikkembergs, Van Noten, Strelli, and other fashionably fashionable fashion boutiques dotting the avenues. Concerning another type of attire altogether, the leather bar The Boots has a reputation as one of the best of its genre in all Europe.
Antwerp is also home to the Del Rey chocolate shop located at Appelmansstraat 5, very close to the magnificent Art Nouveau train station, which itself is next to the famous Antwerp Zoo, with artful animal statues lording over its grand entrance—not that you need to leave Brussels just to find exquisite chocolate or animal magnetism, though a visit to the home of 17th-century painter Pieter Paul Rubens alone is worth the short trip north. Rubens was one of the rare artists who enjoyed success and celebrity while still alive; his home is a reflection of his wealth and creativity. The Gothic Onze Lieve Vrouwe
Cathedral just off the Grote Markt, however, houses the most impressive Rubens works in the city.
On the outskirts of Antwerp, in the Berchem neighbourhood of the Zurenborg district, is Cogels Osylei, a turn-of-the-century street lined with many outstanding examples of quirky architecture in a range of styles. Look for the bumblebees and other such decorative details adorning the unique houses here.
Search the web for gay Brussels and a plethora of helpful information will spill into your lap, or wait until you are there and have a hunky Euroman do the same. Our Sapphic sisters are not forgotten, either; they, too, may enjoy a free-spirited lifestyle in one of the world’s most accepting societies.
www.visitflanders.co.uk
www.brusselstourism.com
www.noctis.com/gay/gaylinks.htm
www.laj.be/html/en/hostels/brel/aubergesbrel_en01.htm Jacques Brel hostel