BRUSSELS EXPRESS: Dispatches from the Land of Tintin, Chocolate, and Waffles

AN ABRIDGED PHOTO DIARY, OF SORTS

It's amazing how much you can see and do with 24 hours in Brussels (namely, how many carbs I can cram into my waffle-hole) when your nose isn't buried in your smartphone while you frantically Google "How to make the most out of Brussels: So many things to see (eat), so little time"If there are 3 things I can take away from my city break they are: a) Brussels is far more civilised and empty on the weekends (the day-trippers will have departed for Paris by Friday, which sees hotel rates drop), b) despite the current climate, Brussels has never been safer - the constant police and military presence makes the recently-unlocked down city the place to visit right now, and c) you can cover all the highlights of Brussels in a day, but there will never, ever, be enough room for all the waffles, frites, mussels, and chocolate. Oh the chocolate.

So, in the time-poor but experience-rich spirit that seems to be the zeitgeist of every city break-taking millenial, I've put together this blog post: a photo-diary slash city guide for all of you who want to hop aboard the Brussels Express. Passports at the ready...


PHOTOS 2 & 14 COURTESY OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENTS

January 27, 2016



"A very polished Polish address"  

It's very unlike me to ⌘-C and ⌘-V the writing of others (in this case the humorous heteronym-ing by The Independant) but can you please blame the serious slick-factor of H15 Boutique for me being at a loss for words? You'd never peg this stylish 19th-century city pied-à-terre for a former Soviet embassy if not for the crest (now sans hammer and sickle) above the front door. Much like its Design Hotels sibling, Hotel Klaus K, this gem is small but seriously shiny, with each of its 46 rooms and suites individually designed to exude modern luxury and that feeling of 'home away from home...but glossier and with miraculous, mysterious self-cleaning ability'. 




I stayed in one of three penthouses on the fifth floor, whose moan-inducing heaven of a four-poster bed made it that much harder to get out of bed each morning if not for the abundance of light streaming in from the wraparound balcony through the floor-to-ceiling windows (note to self: draw the blinds before bedtime). From the generous, snow-covered balcony I was granted a view of Warsaw's pleasingly-low cityscape, punctuated by Stalinist-meets-Art Deco monument that is the iconic Palace of Science and Culture. Funnily enough my favourite aspect of my Junior Suite wasn't the view nor the charming '70s vibe of the room but in fact the minimalism of the white-marble bathroom, because I'm a blogging cliché, don't you know? 

H15 BOUTIQUE 

January 13, 2016

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