Brussels Advice

>>1292048
Go to bruges instead

Brussels looks bombed out, half of the buildings in the city center next to the eu parliament are literally derelict. I imagine the ministers have armed bodyguards.

Its not safe.

>>1292051
OP here. It's for work, no choice. I'll be working in the east of town, near the airport. I'd like to stay somewhere central but not too central, if that makes sense. Any ideas?

>>1292060
The airport is in a small town outside Brussels called Zaventem. From what you describe, I would have a look at Elsene. It's in the city, but not too central. In fact that whole area South-East of the city center is very nice.

Be aware of traffic tho. The ring around Brussels can be a mess in rush hour traffic.

>>1292051
>not safe
Which haven of safety are you from?

>>1292048
Since everyone is like "go to xxx instead" and "it is not safe" let's try some brussels classics.

First place should be the Tourist office for useful information. It is located at the royal square. Here 180° https://youtu.be/oi-YAZlfV4E

You go on with the main attractions: Atomium, Maneken pis, grand palace etc. https://youtu.be/Dzs4cKxziP4

After that some time for Belgian waffles. Can be found all over the place. "food channels" will give you specifics.

Please note: The Manneken Pis is small and the tourists are all over the place. So try early mornings or evenings: https://youtu.be/EW9X_RPPbos

>>1292085
Mannequin is still worth to check off the list. It's been voted as "the most disappointing tourist sight in Europe."

I moved recently to Brussels too, it is indeed an ugly city, however I like it. It has a lot of cultural life and activities to do.
I'm working right now, so if you want post a throwaway mail address a telegram or something and I'll text you later.
If you need any help just ask.
Cheers

>>1292048
I've worked at the Holiday inn next to the Atomium, during an internship, living there too as the gig came with room and board.
Any place close to Subway is good if you want to go to the city once in a while, commuting and parking can be retardedly bothersome.
Bruxelles is a bit depressing until you make friends, and then it turns into a great place.

I really enjoyed spending an evening chatting with friends at this weird place that made homemade fruit wines: http://www.goupillefol.com/

Also if you hear of good parties going in Leuven (Dutch speaking university town) or Louvain la neuve (litterally "New Leuven" where french speaking students go because of the hatred between flemish and wallons), you could end up scoring students if you are into that.
There are some nice muséums and architecure is sometimes great, sometimes depressing af.
I partially hated there, but still keep fond memories. That's Bruxelles for you.

>>1292048
>>1292051
You'll be just fine OP. I've lived there for 3 years and never got robbed or raped.

>>1292111
well, my gf worked there for two months and almost got blown to peices by a terrorist.

>>1292325
OP here, I'll be fine. I'm a Londoner living in Paris. I don't feel comfy unless I'm dodging vans on the pavement and I can't sleep unless there are explosions going off.

>>1292060
Satellic NV by any chance?

>>1292721
This anon here. I usually get hotel around the Botanique, lots of dining options and the pub district is just 10 minutes of walking. Hotel du Congress is nice, Motel One is shit. There are two boardgame pubs near there, and a real nice Japanese restaurant near the hotel du Congress.

>>1292721
No.
>>1292723
I think I'm going to get an Airbnb is St. Gilles or Ixelles. That's what I've been advised by my contact at the place I'll be working.

>>1292048
I've lived in brussels for almost 18 years since I was born, and only moved away a year ago.
Here's what you should know:

Beleive it or not, the terrorist attacks only made the city SAFER, let me explain:
before, we used to have muggings quite often, but now with all the security and tons of undercover cops (especially in Ixelles, St. Gilles and Mbeek), it's mush harder for some random nigger or muzzie to mug you in the street or be aggressive, and get away with it. My mom and aunts even take the bus and tram around gare du Midi at night, which was unthinkable when I was a kid. For a year, I haven't heard of anyone in my extended circles getting mugged/broken into or have something stolen. In fact, I hear more of these stories in Paris where I'm living now, and the RER in Paris has wayy more sketchy people than any transport in brussels.

In terms of tips:
brussels has the particularity of no other european cities in that muzzie/nigger places are often times more expensive than hipster places.

Don't eat in any of the zillions of greasy dusty kebab places (some are actually tasty, especially in Ixelles/St. Gilles) run by dirty marrocans unless you have exact change and know the prices of what you're eating/buying, because they try to scam tourists by claiming they gave you change when in reality they didn't, or charging you extra (they have nifty tricks on their machines to print fake receipts and stuff). When the police comes nothing can really be done to "mais j'te jure wallah j'lai tout rendu, y doit yavoir un autre mec qu'a tout pri!", and the police doesn't really have the time for these memes. Same goes for paki-run delis/night Shops.

A nice little hipster café in brussels has surprisingly similar/lower prices than these guys, probably better quality and ingredients used, and won't try to scam you (see further for recommended places).

(continued)

>>1292765
I don't know St. Gilles all that well, but I know Ixelles pretty good, as I lived on Place Flagey for 4 years.The parvis de St. Gilles has a lot of nice cafés and bars, and there is a market on it on weekeds where you can get ingredients for cooking at decent prices at the food section, and for very cheap, at the "flea market" section you can buy any useful items ranging from everyday things to more uncommon but still useful stuff (like electronics, I bought my nokia brick phone that I still use today there 4 years ago for 5€). In Ixelles, there's a lot of cool cafés around the place flagey (if that's your thing, you'll find that in brussels, cafés and bars are usually clustered up together, and people spend afteroons/evenings/nights going back and forth between 2 or 3 of them), including the very famous Belga one, where you have a good chance of meeting international people. One of my favorites is also somewhere called L'amère à boire, where beer is cheap. If you walk up chaussée d'ixelles, past Matongé (also called Nègreville or niggerville, where you can buy weed but shouldn't - go to antwerp or the dutch border instead it's a way better high, and won't fuck up your brain) and the shopping areas, you arrive on a big Plaza (Poulaerts) from where you can take a very long flight of steps, or a huge public elevator down the the Marolles, where there are a lot of bars where hipsters and students party (not my thing, but I've been told they're fun) and my favorite restaurant called le Perroquet. You should also check out a bar called Delirium (another one of my favorites).

Stay away from people who speak only flemish.

If you have any interests like film/art/history7architecture, etc, there are plenty of interesting, curious, and sometimes surprising places in brussels, like weird little museums, shops or sites you can visit, that are generally not shown to tourists as they aren't "attractive",i.e: hard to make a "brochure" or advertisement for.

>>1292790
>Stay away from people who speak only flemish.
Alright, I'll bite

>>1292790
>Stay away from people who speak only flemish.

>Working in my office at a hotel in Bruxelles
>Guest from conference room pokes head in, asks me Something in Dutch.
>I reply in french "sorry I don't speak flemish"
>He gives me a nasty stare and says in french "You should speak flemish!"
>"I'm trying Sir but I'm french and it's a bit hard"
>"OH! You're french? Sorry! Where are the toilets please?"

Actually, flemish only have a gear to grind with wallons.

As a french, whenever we would be in Dutch speaking country, I'would talk to them in English and explain that we were french, and they would open up and talk back in french.
But as long as they believed we were wallons, they wouldn't make the slightest effort.

So if OP is obviously not wallon, there is no reason he should avoid flamands imo

>>1294489
That's interesting. Thank you anon. I'm English and my French is shit, so I should be fine.

>>1292790
Sending St. Gilles and the parvis

It's literally a shithole, full of immigrants and the homeless plague the streets. It's also really filthy.

I was also staying 40m up the road when that machete attack on that soldier happened.

I went to Bruges, and the difference is like night and day. It feels like true Belgian culture, along with true locals. The city is authentically medieval, and incredibly clean.

>>1294217
>>1294489
I'm not saying all flemings (t. family is from Enghien, I speak flemish fine, really), but the ones who are in brussels and don't bother learning french or even english are all ex-spoiled-brats and social parasites like the walloons, except even worse because they're entitled and pretentious. All they seem to do is fill up bars and get piss drunk, live off welfare + daddy's money, mess-up politics, all while still somehow managing to shit on tourists, the rest of the city, and walloons for being "inferior".

The one in your example spoke english, so he doesn't count. Also, he probably wasn't leeching off brussels if he was a guest in a hotel. The hard-working ones who stay in their flemish provinces and don't bring their pretentious asses down to brussels or wallonia if they don't have to (i.e. not on business) are perfectly in right to "grind gears" with the walloons and are eligible to do so.

>>1294571
>liberals that cant solve an assymilation problem between essentially identical people think they can succeasfully integrate tribal warlords who still routinlely behead people in public

like pottery

>>1294583
>think they can successfully integrate tribal warlords
What the fuck? Can't the world understand a couple million walloons/french speaking belgians just want to be left alone? That means no liberal flemings, no niggers, no muzzies, and no communist walloons. There is about another million flemings who think just like us, and we are fine with them.
Our government's wet dream is hyper-globalization because they see it as a way for "little countries" to have more weight economically, and while this might be true, it fucks them over hard in terms of demographics and cultural identity.

>>1294585
globalism will not give your country more economic weight

further, your people believe the agenda wholeheartedly. walloons and flemish vocally spit bile at each other and at thr same time believe they can integrate somalian cannibals

that was my point. improve your english

>>1294585
>>1294587
Take your homosexual love affair back to /pol/.

>>1294592
This isnt a matter of pol.

This is basic logic. If dutch cannot get along with dutch, nor french with french, nor walloons with flemish, where does somalians posing NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER enter into the picture?

>>1294592
Stop shaming homosexuals. Thats an imprisonable hate crime in about half of the e.u. and soon will be in america too.

>>1294587
It will not, it has already. Non-onenoutside of belgium even knew what belgium even was 60 years ago, and there weren't (m)any multinationals investing in belgium, a lot of us wish that were the case again.

No one here believes we can integrate somalian cannibals, apart from politicians and liberals, did you even read my post?

>>1294608
liberals are more than half of the country and newrly 100% of the bloodthirsty murderers willing to kill for their political beliefs.