Brussels - Travel Deals

A few stories have crossed my eyes lately that questioned how much longer Belgium will be a country. They make the case that there is an awkward melding of the Flemish speakers and the French speakers and that history is not on the country’s side. One sticking point is the city of Brussels. A French-speaking city in Flemish territory, if Belgium were to break apart one has to wonder what will become of Brussels.

A cosmopolitan place with a large international community, Brussels has its own unique identity within Belgium. It is neither this nor that, but its own. It also happens to be a great place to visit if you like fine dining, culture and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Who doesn’t like that?

There is a sale right now on flights to Brussels with prices about as tasty as one of those Belgium waffles. Be forewarned, however. There is a good chance that when you are in Belgium you will be given French fries with mayonnaise on them regardless which side of the divide you are visiting. Maybe it is the mayo that is holding things together.

It widely known around the world that Düsseldorf, Germany is ranked fifth as the city with the best quality of life. You knew that already, didn’t you? Yea, neither did I until I was proudly told that little fact by a friend who lives in the capital of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Perhaps one of the reasons that life has such high quality in Düsseldorf is that it is a city that has been an economic success in postwar Germany. It is one of the country’s fashion centers, as well as being a Mecca for the advertising industry in Europe. It is now also home to a bustling Internet sector.

None of these things likely matters to you as a traveler. You just want to know why you should go there and how much it is going to cost you. The high quality of life is one attraction for sure. People generally don’t enjoy living in crappy locations so you can bet that Düsseldorf is pretty darn nice.

As for the price factor, Northwest Airlines has just introduced direct flights to Düsseldorf and Brussels. As a result, it is much easier and much cheaper to fly to the fifth best quality of life city on this planet.

I remember the first time I went to Brussels largely because of the pissing boy. Every tourist spot I visited in the city sold postcards of a statue of a little boy urinating. While I found this to be an extremely odd symbol for a city to try to sell to its guests, I also was oddly drawn to that little guy and his flowing stream of pee. I had to see it, so my friend and I paid a visit to the statue after throwing back a few of the legendarily strong and tasty Belgian ales. Mind you, it was still early in the afternoon and there were still plenty of tourists around gawking at the statue. That didn’t matter to me. My bladder was about to burst and I figured that in a city where a little boy pissing is an icon, a drunk college kid doing number 1 in the streets next to the statue wouldn’t hurt anyone. The policeman who grabbed me by the collar afterward – I think it is his job to nab the legions who come to piss next to the pissing boy – didn’t really agree and let’s just say that an international incident was averted only after much conversation and only after I almost did a pee pee in my pants from fear.

There is a moral to this story and I’ll let you figure it out since all this talk of pissing has made me want to go right now. Before I head out into the street and find an iconic statue to urinate on, I figure I should tell you that there are great deals on flights and hotel stays in Brussels at this very moment. If you have ever wanted to see the Manneken Pis – for that is the name of the statue and, really, it is worth seeing – now is as good of time to head to Belgium as any. Just make sure you use the restroom before your leave.