Those men in biohazard suits, mud caking on their rubber boots

[venta]

Good morning, the internet. Does anyone know anything about Brussels?

My dance team are organising a trip for ourselves and another team there next Easter (location chosen mostly for presence of Belgian beer, and ability to get there on the train).

Right now we're at the planning stage, and looking for things to do, things to see and places to dance for a group of ~30 people. Also a (cheap) place to stay, and places to eat. I'm sure the internet, and the research trip Sally and I are planning, will turn up plenty, but if you have any special recommendations, I'd love hear them!

Comments

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I love Brussels, and I'll second both of those recommendations!

I was blown away by the Musee Gueuze at the Cantillon brewery. They use wild yeast, seeded in to the wort by fermenting it in great open vats in the attic. The source yeast lived in the tiles above it, so they put off repairing the roof for much longer than they should. When they finally replaced it, they kept the old tiles and beams and stuck them to the underneath of the new one.

Very, very many nice places to drink. Have never been disappointed.

I really like Art Nouveau. If you share this predilection, there's a rather lovely Musee Victor Horta (key AN architect's own house) you can wander around, and there's plenty of lovely properties in that part of town that make a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Mannikin Pis is actually quite small and disappointing; the Grand Place is like you imagine and worth a look. There are lots of drinking and eating places around the streets there. Most are tourist traps, but perfectly pleasant ones; a little bit of Internet homework can ferret out gems. (Watch out for up-to-dateness, though - turnover is high, and there are plenty of changes of management.) The Atomium is bcc retro-fun. The Royal Museums of Fine Art are great if you like that sort of thing, and so is the Museum of Natural Sciences (dino-tastic!).

Last place I stayed was called the Hotel Bloom (for work). It was handy, perfectly pleasant, but not bargainaceous. I was amused to find that the muzak in the lifts was thumping Belgian techno with the volume turned right down - took me a while to clock what was going on.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Duh, of course I should probably have mentioned the Museum of Musical Instruments which is in "Old England", a fantastic Art Nouveau house. The admission is moderately steep (12 EUR/adult) but when we went on Sunday that included a free classical concert played on what I suspect were classical-era instruments for the most part, which was a lovely way of passing an hour.

We fancied the Atomium but it was a longish way from where we were staying (in the EU quarter -- this was being done on some hotel points that G had kicking around) and we couldn't make the timing work with our restaurant reservations. The hardship, darlings...

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ooh, ooh, art nouveau musical museum? Sign me up :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks, some fine ideas there. I doubt we'll do that much museum-ing, but a few options for giving people some time off dancing are really useful!