15 reasons to still be in love with Bruxhell

I would be lying if I told you that me and Brussels haven't been going a bit of a rough patch recently. Between a lockdown, a despicable terrorist attack, the ever-present military on the streets and a terribly planned and implemented pedestrian project, that has transformed the very center of the city into a grey ghost-town, it's safe to say that it has been a bad year for our little city. Yet spring is here and nature is in full bloom so I thought I would share some of the oh so many reasons that Paris's ugly cousin is still worth your love.

1. The Marolles!

Since I moved in this part of town nearly 8 years ago I fell in love. Though this little gem is located in the center of Brussels and is swarming with tourists and life during the weekend it keeps its Belgian charm intact and let's face it who doesn't enjoy living in a cabinet of curiosities. We also happen to have one of the best flea markets (Jeu de Balle)  that's open every single day!

The ultimate map of our hood

Places to love in the Marolles:

The Chaff

also known as our local, right on the square of Jeu de Balle and perfect for a soup bowl sized latte (known as lait Russe) in the sun apres le flea market

PIN PON 
Located in an old fire station, perfect for an afternoon apero in the sun and delicious food is served upstairs under a glass roof

Les Brigittines 

Al Jannah 
The Lebanese solution to culinary boredom

The Bio Market at Tanneurs 
cause my quality of life increased exponentially since I started shopping there!

L'Idiot du village

Le Wine Bar des Marolles 

Recyclart

All the vintage shops

Chapelle skater park

2. The concerts

It's not like the Belgian crowd is particularly lively or has an exquisite musical taste however Brussels is on the way during any European tour and this means we get the chance to enjoy anyone who's on tour at a really reasonable price and at relatively intimate venues. It's not by chance that the Ancienne Belgique  is repeatedly listed as one of the best venues to play in and well at Botanique you get to see the newest bands before they explode into superstardom, or not, in a botanical garden! Hard to beat that! I remember that when I lived in London concert tickets had to be booked months in advance and cost a tiny fortune. And I will let you in on a little secret, you can show up on the eve of any sold out concert and find a ticket for the show at the original price, all you need to do is practice your negotiation skills or acquire some dodgy italian connections. 

Casually chilling with Ariel Pink after his gig.

God is in the house...

3. The food

Le Selecto

Resto Henri 

SAN

GRAMM 

Notos 

Jack O'Shea 

Viva M'boma 

La Guinguette en Ville

Les Filles 

4. The parteys

Well up until recently there was at least one party every weekend in the hood that is currently referred to as the cradle of terrorism, your beloved Molenbeek, and guess what every weekend the gays, the freaks and the hipsters invaded abandoned industrial spaces and danced the night away. Things may have slowed down a little but we still have incredible Djs, such as Matias Aguayo, who recently graced us with his presence at Beursschouwburg and restored our faith in the magic of the night. 

Keep an eye out for

HOLGER 

LEFTORIUM

VICUNA

CatClub

Bruxsel Jardin for when the days start getting longer

Blue Cheese a party organized by 2 of my favorite boys in town

5. BOZAR

A reason onto itself, probably along with MOMA one of the most progressive Modern Art Museums in the world, amazing exhibitions, electro parties, film premiers, classical music concerts and you even get the opportunity to meet some of your favorite authors and film directors! They also host an ultra geeky fantastic film festival in their basement every year, what is there not to love! Did I also mention they have an incredible CINEMATEK with impeccable programming and a delicious Brasserie in the beautiful building that was designed by Belgium's finest, Mr Horta himself.

6. That we all believe in the magic of the night and the power of alcohol AKA The Freedom 

The fact that bars don't close at 2:00 like in gay Paris or London and the fact that you are free to consume alcoholic beverages in parks

What used to be my first ever afterhours home in Brussels.

7. Cinema Nova

Those of you who have the pleasure of knowing me personally are aware of the fact that going to the cinema is possibly one of my all time favorite activities and I must admit regardless of all the silver screens I have seen Cinema Nova is SPECIAL!

8. Pierre Marcolini 

Well Belgium is sort of synonymous to chocolate, along with beer, peeing boys and mussels, and guess what you should definitely believe all the hype! I recently paid 4 euros for the tiniest of ice creams from Pierre and it was totally worth every cent! I am not know for my sweet tooth yet I loooove chocolate and Marcolini takes it to the next level.

9. THE PEOPLE AKA ALL MY FRIENDS 

Anyone who's mad enough to give this insane little city a chance to become a home is worth loving, or at least in need of some sort of psychiatric help, so this one is for all the beautiful people from all over the world that make this city AWESOME!

10. ICON 

One of my all time favorite stores where you can find gems from ACNE, Isabelle Marant, Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, EACH x OTHER, Roseanna and many many more

11. Parckfarm 

for all the eco-warriors out there

12. our very own little hidden park Egmont 

13. all the dance 

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, The Great

14. This sky 

Cause Magritte was on to something

15. THE EU!!!!

Cause I work in the European Parliament and get to be an infinitesimal part of this incredible peace project!

To build a home....

Jeu de Balle, a true gem of Brussels, makes me feel like I am living in a magical, (Tim Burton meets Michel Gondry) dream-like, cabinet of curiosities for the last 7 years. It has enabled me to build my nest away from home and is now threatened to be turned into an underground parking lot. 

Les Marolles is undoubtedly one of the most charming neighbourhoods of Brussels, and at the very heart of it you find Jeu de Balle, where an antique flea market takes place EVERY MORNING!  Around the square you can find one of the best tattoo parlours in Europe, La Boucherie Moderne, my local, the Chaff, which is ideal for apres flea market lunch, apero Toto every Monday and unexpectedly great gigs and dj sets, Pin Pon, a wine bar-restaurant that is housed in an old fire station (the bread is amazing and do try the fillet tartar) as well as several typical Belgian bars such as Le Marseillais. 

It's scary to think that modern urban planning has made such a disastrous change fathomable in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of cars in a city where pretty much everything is walking distance.  Whilst trying to figure out how I can do my part to prevent this madness I also started thinking about one of my recurrent themes, how to build a home...

 "There are times when I enjoy the weightlessness of traveling and wish to own nothing and afternoons when I want to claim every farmhouse I drive by as my own, especially those with porches and dormers, those spaces so elegantly negotiating inside and out, as though building itself could direct and support an ideal life, the life we dream of when we look at houses...

Admiring houses from the outside is often about imagining entering them, living in them, having a calmer, more harmonious, deeper life. Buildings become theaters and fortresses for private life and inward thought, and buying and decorating is so much easier than living or thinking according to those ideals. Thus the dream of a house can be the eternally postponed preliminary step to taking up the lives we wish we were living. Houses are cluttered with wishes, the invisible furniture on which we keep bruising our shins."

Rebecca Solnit in The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness

The Cinematic Orchestra - To build a home

 

My newest obsession: Edward Gorey or How my body is a zombie for you!

Enter the dark, magical world of the one and only Mr Gorey...This is what happens when fairytales go wrong, when we live on the dark side of the moon and our prince charming has accidentally been struck by an axe and our beautiful princess has been devoured by mice...whatever you do don't let your children read "The  Gashlycrumb Tinies" as a bedtime story. I love his black offbeat humor and macabre gothic aesthetics which have  been a source of inspiration for the likes of Tim Burton and The Tiger Lillies. So lets get lost in his wicked world of fantasy....

Enjoy some of my favourite letters from "The Gashlycrumb Tinies"

Beautiful song by Dead Man's Bones, the perfect soundtrack to enjoy the Gashlycrumb Tinies! 

Love this random photo I came across. For all the little monsters in all of you!

My latest prized possession Babushkas in Burqas (this little treasure can be found at Menage A Deux, a newly opened concept store in the center of Brussels!)

Here comes love, it's like honey, you can't buy it with money

So I was on my way to recycle our glass bottles just around the corner from my house, I live in the lovely Marolles, (do check out the link and enjoy a virtual tour of the coolest flea market, the land of hidden treasures known as Jeu de Balle) when I noticed this beautiful art nouveau building and just behind it these hidden words

TIME IS HONEY

which made me think of a much loved and listened to New Order song "Crystal" that makes the same word play. 

Here comes love, it's like honey, you can't buy it with money

The Marolles, is a traditionally working class neighbourhood with strong anti-authoritarian sentiments that is undergoing gentrification and is often referred to as the sunken city (since there is a lift with a breathtaking view of Brussels that transports you from the Chanel and Dior world of Louise to the antique and vintage stores and art galleries of the Marolles). In the Marolles I have made my home, it is full of beautiful treasures from the olden days, typical Belgian old-man bars, deliciously good restaurants and a mélange of smells, colours and people that make our often sleepy city of Brussels seem more alive than ever. My favourite thing to do on a Sunday morning is a stroll around the flea market, where I have found, bargained over and stolen most of the things in my flat, and then enjoying a soup-size latte served by tattoo-covered hipsters at the Chaff on Jeu de Balle.  Enjoy some of the photos I have taken out and about in the Marolles!



I colour my life with the chaos of trouble.

Playground Love at Jeu de Balle

and I once knew a boy who lived under a giraffe

learning to look at the world sideways...

lost in celluloid dreams

view from my first house in the Marolles

Serious Men



Kill your idols




Randon medical freak show at Recyclart (one of my favourite venues in Brussels, an adandoned train station that appears to be taken over by art loving hooligan graffiti artists: great concerts, exhibitions and DJ sets and in the summertime they will even teach you how to bake!)

The coolest/scariest hardware store window!



Gorillaz at the skater park!

In dreams...


And I am leaving you with another honey song I love

Listen to the girl
As she takes on half the world
Moving up and so alive
In her honey dripping beehive