Where, Oh Where Wednesday - A city unto itself

Brussels is like any other larger city. Brussels is like no other city. Crazy traffic circles remind you of Paris. Multicultural streets and shops make you feel as if you are in any of many European cities. The architecture is at once thrilling to discover in certain areas as it is boring and typical in other neighborhoods. And yet, Brussels is something few cities are. 

Most would say that the city houses about 1 million people, but this is probably being generous. IN that sense, Brussels is quite small. Some inhabitants of major cities would call it a village, using a derisive tone. And yet it is here that much of Europe calls home. The headquarters of NATO are here. The European Union has its offices and buildings here. Brussels is, truly, the capitol of Europe. 

But of course, Brussels is also the capitol of Belgium. In essence the city is to be a coming together of two peoples, forcing the country to be a whole. The Flemish-speaking Flemings in the north of the country and the French-speaking Walloon in the south meet up in Brussels. In theory, one should be able to speak both languages in the capitol freely, find influences from both cultures abundantly. 

In practice, Brussels is as it has been of old - a French-speaking Paris wanna-be with most of the disadvantages of big-city life and a few of the benefits. This doesn’t mean that it is not visiting in any sense. There is plenty for tourists to see. The king and queen even live here. Brussels is, after all, the hub of Belgium and Europe together. The 7(!) layers of government that are Belgium are joined here in this cacophony of color, culture and sound. Brussels is a separate entity in the country (next to the areas of Flanders and Wallonia). It demands its place of honor - or attention - at all levels.

And this city has left its mark in our lives as well. This is where we regularly would travel for the American consulate. Here is where our youngest son, Sean, studied and graduated from university. We have in the past spent one Sunday a month singing with the congregation. The city has welcomed youth from the churches all over Belgium and the Netherlands for church activities. And it is a nice place to go out for a meal or enjoy a day as a tourist with friends who visit.