Brussels… The land of chocolate, waffles, beer (flavoured beer in my case) and mussels! I went back and forth deciding if I was going to share this post and after reading it maybe you will understand why. My knowledge of Belgium dated back to my History classes and all I knew was how Belgium colonized the Congo and varying history books mentioned how the Belgians had left the Congo underdeveloped. In any case, it was the last country in Western Europe that I hadn’t seen and I decided to go and see, after all, the land of chocolate and waffles, two things I can literally live on.
I was staying at my favourite hotel chain in the city centre and when I arrived I decided to go exploring. The first place on my list was the Grand Place which was heaving with tourists and delicious aromas of waffles, the architecture was beautiful during the day and even more breathtaking at night. It certainly didn’t disappoint and I was assured that it was even more beautiful in August during the Floral Carpet event. I made a mental note thinking this was something I would love to see and possibly worth a trip back but after my experience, this is out of the question.
That evening I decided to go to a bar, that was highly recommended by a friend for dinner. As a seasoned solo traveller I didn’t have a problem with this as this was my norm with most places I visited. I sat at the bar and encountered a group of locals who immediately invited me to join them and I asked what the main attractions were and what was the best way to see everything in a short space of time. I already knew that I needed to go and find the Mannekin Pis, a little bronze statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain’s basin. Legend has it that this little boy peed and saved the town, believe me I thought It was a hilarious story. I was also told that he was usually naked but he also wore different outfits (which I was lucky enough to see when I tracked him down). My new friends told me that another must see was the underdog, Jeanneke-Pis who was the girl version, so well hidden that most tourists couldn’t find her. They showed me where she was so I can comfortably say that I saw the famous peeing statues of Brussels. The only other main attraction that I knew Brussels was famous for, were the silver balls, my new friends assured me that there was more to see other than the silver balls and it seemed every tourist found them fascinating, so you know that I went to see the balls but unfortunately found them underwhelming.
So everything was going really well and I was enjoying my evening until I needed to go back to my hotel. It was late and I knew I was close enough to walk or get a taxi both I assumed were fine because my hotel was so central. My new friends wouldn’t hear of it and decided to walk me back to my hotel and insisted that they were going the same way. So off we went and as we started walking I felt incredibly uneasy, like there were people in the shadows watching us as we walked. I felt so unsafe and I think the group sensed it as they huddled closer to me, I remember one of them holding my hand as we walked. The more we walked the more afraid I became, I just felt something in the air and I felt terrified. Some of you know that I travelled alone a lot before this, but this was the very first time I felt afraid. As we got closer to my hotel, I saw policemen patrolling and I could feel myself calm down. When we got to my hotel, one of my new friends, who was holding my hand, just said very quietly to me that it wasn’t safe to walk alone at night. Ofcourse they were right and I knew this but you never really think of it until something nearly happens. From all my travels, I have never felt this unsafe before and you bet I have never placed myself in a similar situation again.
I have shared my experience with a few people, who have all said they had similar experiences, Brussels is great till the sun goes down… then there is something in the shadows. If you had a different experience, I would love to hear it, all I know is I won’t be going back to Brussels.
