Brussels
 

So I find that I'll be in Brussels with my wife for a day and night, staying at the Brussels Conrad International.

Besides seeing the peeing boy and eating belgian chocolate (my wife's desires) I also want to sample some of that famous lambic (my desires).

The Washington Post recommends the Brewers Museum, a tour of the Cantillon Brewery and dinner at In't Spinnekopke.

Any further suggestions from personal experiences????

P.S. Rudi, I hereby formally apply for a waiver from the required Miller's Original Draught, Fosters, Shanghai, Warsteiner, Löwenbräu Munich, Pilsener Urquell, Grolsch (Benelux), Diebels (Altbeer from Düsseldorf) drinking regimen for that day and night.

you are allowed to drink a 'Mort subite' beer (= 'sudden death').

Near the '...Boy', is the Grand Place, which you really should not miss. It is a very large plaza surrounded by beautiful old buildings. Off the Grand Place, are small winding streets filled with fantastic restaurants. You may want to walk through there before you settle on your original choice.

Absolutely.

Go to see the house constructed by Horta, who was one of the great artists who pioneered what we call "Art Nouveau." His house is full of those graceful lines and curves. On another art note, one of the BRU museums has a few of the works of the great Belgian surrealist, Rene Magritte. Finally, if you had not mentioned it, you must visit the Grande Place and the streets nearby. The Grande Place for its Medieval Architecture, and the streets nearby for those great pots of Moules served with Frites!!

Just off the Grand Place is a little square with a large metal "star" embeded into its center. All road distances in Belgium are measured to this point. Not one of the highlights but interesting to look at if you are in the Grand Place area.

There is a really good museum of natural history - partially sponsored by the U.S. or Smithsonian, forgot which.

I was just in Brussels for a day. I stayed at the downtown Golden Tullip. The weekend rate was only around $80(2 people with breakfast) when booked at the airport hotel reservations. Very nice, new hotel, right next to the Sheraton. Only a 10 minute walk to the Grand Platz. The breakfast was ok, but not spectacular.

If you can't find anything, there is always the theater complex. It is only 2 blocks from the Grand Platz. Once, the Belgian Vice President was sitting in the row behind us!

If you like Pitas, go to the Greek street, one block off the Grand Platz.

When I return in a few weeks, we plan to go to a indoor tropical smimming pool, located somewhere in Brussels. This past weekend, we went to tropical water park located just outside of Brussels, it was lots of fun and very relaxing.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Talk about getting lemons and making lemonade http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif (or, more appropriately, making morte subite http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif).