When I started looking for accommodation in the Belgian capital, the prices of the hostels (which mostly included some kind of breakfast) did not drop below 20 euros per night, in a shared room with a minimum of 8 people, with a shower and sinks in the hallway. Reducing the number of possibilities on the list to just three establishments, in any of them I would get no less than 45 euros in total on Friday and Saturday nights, since I would not spend Sunday in Brussels.
However, since I was going to see a friend from Ghent and she was going to be my host in the capital (and I wanted to go out at night, which was limited for her by the train schedules), we decided to increase the budget a little more. . We both ended up opting to stay at the Argus Hotel, quite close to the Louiza Metro station and in the same relatively central area as the Hilton (a handy reference if you get lost and can’t remember the name of the street you’ve headed to). to return, the Kapitein Crespelstraat that goes out to the Waterloolan avenue; no, my flamenco was not that big).
Although their normal prices are a little “scary”, they have good offers and a double room, reserved for a minimum of two weekend nights, costs 65 euros/night, instead of the 135 that appear on their website. The room is modern, clean, large, with a decent sized bathroom, and important when traveling in winter, very warm. If you are idle or want to check schedules of an attraction or plan a little the route for the next day, they have free WiFi. Breakfast is included in the price and is more than enough to leave the hotel full of energy and wanting to explore Brussels. After working on Friday, I wished my colleagues a good weekend and went to meet my friend and, with it, to leave the backpack at the hotel.
If I had been alone and a little more absent-minded, I might have stopped for dinner in Kaasmarkt street / rue du Marché aux Fromages, which is full of Greek and Italian food restaurants, with prices even for backpacker pockets. Relieved of the weight of the laptop (another reason to opt for a hotel instead of the hostel, a theoretically safer place for the gossip to rest during the weekend), we headed to the Plaza Mayor of the city.
That night, in a curious scene, upon arriving there a sheep was dozing, oblivious to the hustle and bustle that surrounded it, inside a Christmas nativity scene. As in the previous time I was here (I think it was in 2005), there was a light and sound show that dyed the facade of the City Hall and the Broodhuis/Maison du Roi, located right in front, in all kinds of shapes and colors , something that seems to be a common practice in this open space.
Despite the cold, tourists were everywhere, reveling in the color changes projected onto the buildings. But the hunger was tight, and, it must be admitted, the fatigue of a day that had begun with an alarm clock that rang at four in the morning.
For dinner, my friend surprised me by taking me to a brewery/brasserie near the Stock Exchange building, with an unknown name (and I think it wasn’t on the facade but I found out on the way back: Fin de siècle) located at number 10 Kartuizerstraat / rue des Chartreux, which is not to be missed because the building narrows and literally becomes the corner between two streets.
It’s an establishment with high ceilings, a myriad of small tables for two (placed so close together that it looked more like a banquet layout), and with two huge blackboards on the wall separately announcing food and drink options. of drink (wine, apart from the usual selection of beers). The parishioners represented all ages and conditions, seated in a space without physical separations and contributing animatedly to chatty and human music in the background.
Things to keep in mind when you go to dinner here, which is something that I highly recommend:
Credit cards are not accepted. Neither MasterCard, nor VISA, nor AMEX, nor anything at all. Bring cash, but don’t worry, it’s not expensive.
Don’t be surprised by the unusual prices on the menu, such as the onglet de veau at 13.22 euros, the penne au pesto for 9.93 euros or the jambonneau moutarde al’ancienne at 15.72 euros. As you all know, when the euro swept the European Union with local currencies, rounding (always upwards) of prices became widespread. Not here. If 40.3399 Belgian francs were 1 euro, the prices were “translated” into euros, literally.
They do not accept table reservations. If you arrive and there is no room, then wait a few minutes until there is a free table, although with so many it does not usually take long (my beer, ordered at the bar, was not even half full when I sat down).
My first Belgian beer, a strong Orval, accompanied the excellent stoemp, a dish that consists of sausages on a bed of some kind of mashed potatoes that can contain spinach, celery or other options and with a delicious sauce not suitable for vegetarians.
