Brussels Day 1 - A couple of days “working” Brussels…why ever not??
The land of beer, chips and chocolate seemed as good a place as any on the list to volunteer our services.
Andy and I set off towards Waterloo after a long Monday at work to jump on the Eurostar. 2.5 hours and a security scare later (Andy was left stranded on a train platform after nipping out for a fag, only to be dragged back in the terminal by a rather burly French Eurostar employee!) we were in the heart of Brussels. We made it to our accommodation – Bridies B&B, to be greeted by our smiling host.
By the time we’d settled in it was getting on a bit, but we thought we’d head into the centre to see if anything was going on. Sure enough, after a quick stroll round the Grand Place (Brussels’ main square and the centre of the historic district) we took a back street and stumbled across a gem of a drinking establishment – Goupil Le Fol. Described as abracadabrament by the locals, a shrine to all things cabaret and kitsch.
This place has been running since 1900, and is jammed full of theatre paraphernalia from floor to ceiling over a labyrinth of 3 floors. We enjoyed our first beer in Brussels sat between a full on 1950’s Wurlitzer blasting out old Edith Piaf numbers and a 3 foot bird cage, containing a statue of Virgin Mary and bust of Mozart peeping through the bars. An hour here was plenty, so we cracked on to find somewhere a bit more lively…..a trawl of the streets at 2 am inevitably brought us to one of Brussels 2 Irish Bars – Celtica. Rammed to the rafters with backpacker types, stag do-ers and locals alike, the dance floor was heaving, with barely enough room to raise a beer glass to your lips. This didn’t stop us having a boogie as the DJ worked his way through a latino, cheesy pop, disco set, finishing up with some classic old school house. 3am and we were starting to feel it….jumped in a Eu7 taxi back to Bridies to get some well earned rest.
Comprehensive list of Brussels Hostels
For more information on getting around Brussels go to Planitram Brussels
