A sad and dirty Bruxelles.. Our personal experience in the capital of Belgium

Departure at 21.15 Alitalia flight from Rome Fiumicino Airport and arrives at Brussels at 23.40. Flight slightly delayed. Arriving at the airport there is a slight desolation: it's all bolted closed, shops closed, no service. We seem to be the only passengers throughout the airport. And 'bad to say but it seems to be ... London Heathrow on a normal night after 22, when the silence, the darkness and desolation to make it look like the 3 in the morning ... between the exit and the arrival at the exit of sterile employ about twenty minutes and we know that the last train leaves at 0:27 leading Brussels. But the hotel is not located at a walking distance from the station we do not want to take a night bus and the subway will be closed when we arrive. So otpiamo stoically for a taxi, knowing that we still wait for a disbursement not cheap and that's why we never do. Take a beautiful tax (actually they are all high-powered Mercedes) and in twenty minutes brings us to the destination for the modest sum of 45 €! Really thieves!
Hotel
As accommodation we chose the Mercure Hotel Center Louise. It is located in the area of Louise Avenue in Chaussées de Charleroi 38 of the Accor Hotel chain. The first comment is that the location of the hotel is located very centrally in the old part of Brussels to speak. The area around the Grand Place can be reached by tram 92 or 94 or less easily by subway. I say less comfortable because there is a direct line to the central station (Gare Central) but you have to change at Arts Loi station). The subway station nearest the hotel is Louise about 10 minutes. Instead, the tram is about 100 meters. The subway carries more comfortably with the blue line and three stops to the Gare du Midi. But at night if you camp in some of the old brasserie is a problem (expensive) back to the hotel unless you want to do a walk of about twenty minutes good (fast pace). The hotel is very stylish business with little personality and certainly not very elegant. Hall of internet stations with great pay but free daily newspapers in Italian. The wi-fi this in the lobby area is free of charge in the rooms is not present. At the reception staff were very friendly and fast only real positive note. Room on the second floor, the number 229. The room is a double standar. I must say that immediately strikes the greatness important spaces with a hall with wardrobe and very large bedroom. In addition to the double bed (not very big and perhaps one and half a bed) room has a sofa, a nice stand and a long desk on which there are an LCD television, the need for all the tea and coffee with its coffee (all free), safe (stramente located on the ground in a place not so easy to use and especially difficult to see!). Also the attack on the desktop to the Internet via high-speed LAN (but as I said no wi-fi) and course fee. No minibar. Large bathroom with sink and tub with shower. Obviously no bidet. Spare daily shampoo and soap (but always only one bottle for two people!). Everything seemed clean but definitely not new, old and shabby. The room was furnished with little taste, anonymous with Ikea style furniture quite gone. Facing terrifying on a terrace or embankment inside the hotel. This easy to use air conditioning during the night but there were loud noises cooling pipes or other hotel rooms that even on the air conditioner off the noise was quite disturbing ... the other downside: the breakfast that we could take to via the price, or € 21 per person! But you're out?? The cost of the room, it was not excessive in relation to the prices we saw for hotels in the lowest category but the most central and we managed with 257 € for 4 nights stay. Things have been disappointing in my opinion there is no mini-bar (for drinking a glass of water as you need to do?) The lack of wi-fi in the room (being a business hotel seems really strange) and the air very antiquated. Ok for the rest of the price but not the location, not really comfortable.
Brussels public transport
Moving toward the center or to the train stations and from the Atomium in metro and tram. The transport is not a European level or better than other European capitals. They are expensive (a lot) and poor punctuality. In addition to the tickets is quite complicated, however not as easy as it should. To Brussels I had pretty high expectations but this aspect has really disappointed me. The subway has four lines of which two are almost completely as superposed circuit. Yes you read right: the metro line 2 and 6 are overlapping except for the final part of the line from the terminus of 6, which continues to the terminus in the second quarter Heysel. But the point of having two overlapping lines? It makes no sense, maybe there will be some hidden reason ... oh ... the subway cars are decades old, dirty and poorly ventilated. Metro no entry barrier, but simply to stamp the ticket machines punching machines. No exit barrier, it just comes out. People who stamp the ticket? No, only tourists. Maybe it will all have a subscription, so to speak. To make the ticket machines are multilingual but we only accept coins and BANCOM local (no credit cards). And one who does not have an ATM that is local? It attacks! O inside the station kiosk that sells open or enter without tickets and hoping not to find the controller. Something different instead on the tram or bus on which you can instead make the ticket on board from the driver at a premium. Of course if you go up without saying anything no one will ask anything, it's not like that in London you have to show the driver a ticket / subscription. Price range: expensive. A one-way ticket costs € 01.07 and is 60 minutes from stamping. You can change many times as you want but you have half each time stamp. If purchased on-board costs 2 € (to the face!). Then there are multiple ticket from 5 to 10 tickets and much more convenient for use in a year of purchase and of course more people (one of 10 tickets costs € 12.30). We got this. Alternatively there is a day costs 4.5 € and of course allows you to move freely in the city (but not to / from the airport) for a day. The airport is the train of hope (so nicknamed by us) because it appears to date back to World War I and of course on time delay. Costa € 5.10 for a run and it takes about 20 minutes to connect the main stations of Brussels (Central, Midi and North) to the airport. The meter starts at 5.30 am for rides around the terminal at around midnight (depending on the lines). The tram continued for another hour but ran very thinned out and then give way to vehicles at night. Turn to the center of Brussels is easy to walk and do not serve media, which I would only need to go in the area of the European Parliament or the Atomium.

 

You'll find scattered throughout the city car parks where there are dozens of yellow bikes. There are bikes that are made available by the city of Brussels. They work in a simple and intutitivo: you take from a parking lot and bring in another. In each car there is a multilingual machine that tells you how: You need to have a credit card and pay a daily fee (1.5 € per day, or € 7 for a week, but there are also annual passes). The fee allows you to use the service. Then you have to pay the rental service for the first half hour is free of charge and then costs 50 cents up to one hour and gradually growing to more than two hours when the freight will cost two euro per hour. With the card you also pay a deposit of 150 € if you steal or get lost (or more likely) you do steal the vehicle. The security of course will be refunded if the vehicle is properly returned. Be careful because once they returned the bike in the parking lot should go to the machine enter the number of rental (in the receipt that you will be given upon payment of the fee for access) and enter the pw you have chosen at the time of hire. All this to give you the receipt (I would say essential) to refund occurred. Do not go without, we have seen unwary tourists request it and I think that Spaniards do not have a rich problems back home!). The other difficulty is finding the deadlock free, when the bicycle is returned. In fact we have never had trouble finding a bike available but we had problems, especially at night, to find free stalls for them to return! And they are bitter kale. We once spent an hour and we also had to pay the metro ticket! Indeed, at every machine present at the parking lot there is also a map that tells you the nearest parking and free places ... when it says "zero" will be thrown at all bitter because you can not help but move further away in parking lots in the desperate search a place free. I must say that there are major problems in the evening than during the day. Turn to Brussels by bike is fun and convenient but dangerous and difficult. In fact there are no bike paths, but only leased lines along the roads along the normal roads and beautiful drive like the Italians, that is not exactly quiet. The other thing is the ups and downs. Brussels especially in the central part is anything but flat and hard ... pretty challenging climbs, cobblestones everywhere. Fortunately, the bikes have gears have not been exhausted, and then take it down there ... and sit bones will suffer a lot! However, it is a fun and certainly cheaper than public transport. In addition is also good for health, so that sometimes the most?
Climate
Belgium is a country known to be rather rainy ... I read that it rains over 200 days a year which put it top of the list in the European countries most rainy of Europe. We took four days of full sun and 30 degree days and cool evening. Italy! The heat, however, was never oppressive only during the middle it gets quite hot but bearable. Very nice but the feeling of light and therefore has the duration of the day. The sky darkens no earlier than 22:30, and then people pour into the street and crowded bars, brasseries, pubs, restaurants or just walking down the streets and squares and enjoy the summer. The restaurants are open late and contrary to what happens in the winter you can eat after 23.
Trains
Our travel between Brussels and Antwerp Bruges always occurred in the train. This is also disappointing as the metro and trams in Brussels. They're old, slow, especially in late! The only positive note is: you buy a ticket you never get a reservation and then you can take any train (either IR or IC) at any time provided in the day for which you purchased. During the weekend (ie Friday to Sunday) train tickets are heavily discounted and is a true pleasure to go around. To give an idea: Brussels-Bruges working day, an hour and a quarter of the journey, a second class person pays 25 € a / r. For Antwerp during the weekend of 45-50 minute ride round trip in second class person pays 7.5 €! The trains are very crowded for that reason and people often travel by foot ... so try to see good times and see if there is a train-routing to your destination. Especially those who go to Bruges are cattle cars because there are hundreds of kids who take it to go to the beach at Ostend on the coast of the North Sea ...
Eating
During the day are many opportunities from fast food, the waffles (seems to be the national sweet!) Sold by dozens of shops and stalls in all the various sauces and of course the brasserie dishes that are quick, light (if desired) or salads, sandwiches , bread with cold cuts, etc.. Eating, revenue from this perspective, it does not cost very little. Two sandwiches will cost about 8 € a brasserie in one and a salad can cost about 12 €. Very low the price of beer, especially if you take the time: 25 cl Hoegardeen (white wheat beer) costs 2.5 € to get to € 4 for a pint. Special prices are also the classic lager and Leffe. If you go over those Trappist, dark lager, bottled fruit-flavored ... they cost a little more money but we never found a beer as well as much sought after more than 6 €. Attention to the shade because some arrive at 8-10 percent alcohol, and then especially with the hot lunch time you arrive in the head and you truncate your legs!

What to see in Brussels
Obviously the most interesting and famous is the Grand Place where is the palace of the city hall. If you go on Saturday morning will find dozens (no joke) of couples and their relatives who go to weddings. At night the square were gearing up for the evening concerts. The square is very beautiful and charming and is certainly one of the main attractions of the city. The square is also a shop where the famous Godiva chocolate pastry that threatens the lives of bystanders with strawberries dipped in melted chocolate and white black and other goodies like that. Very good but so expensive ... 5 strawberries and chocolate cost € 5.50! Not bad lady Godiva.
Then there is the infamous and equally famous Manneken Pis or the baby pees. This is a small statue that is located a short walk from the Grand Place which is famous throughout the world. This is a child that pees! That's it? It's all very hot but the disappointment, like the little mermaid in Copenhagen, is its size. Truly ridiculous! A statue will be no more than 30 cm high but is very popular so much so that a disproportionate number of dresses that decorate according to historical situations, people and events worldwide. A spoiled child, crowded with tourists and really ridiculous!
Other interesting things I'd say are:
- The Cathedral of Saint Michel and Saint Gudule
- The square and the church of Santa Caterina
- The square and the Church of Santa Caterina
- The Exchange
- The building that houses the European Parliament (albeit rather anonymous)
- Atomium. Very nice and interesting to take pictures and the adjacent park (including the amusement park) but less interesting to go inside (they are really a waste of money)
- Heysel Stadium. This place is notorious for the final Juve Liverpool ended in tragedy with almost 40 deaths crushed by the crowd. The causes were fools Liverpool fans and the Belgian police that on that occasion proved to be completely incompetent and unprepared. Today the spirit of memory of the Belgian people decided to remember that tragedy and changed its name to the stadium, now called the King Baudouin Stadium. Do not erase that memory in the memory of a shame that people will bring you back for good (sorry for the outburst)
Final
I had been there ten years ago and it seems to me that Brussels was in great excitement to be at large. Today, after ten years I must say that it has made steps back .... It 's the dirtiest city I have ever visited, cards and bottles sown everywhere, public transport worse than those found in Italy, total anarchy. Poor sense of security and sites that seem to be abandoned for many years been the view of a city that does not resemble the Capital of Europe but to a city of an emerging country that is trying to be nice and give a tone (and failed). Please do something and do it quickly because it just will not!