BRUSSELS

Fashion model Julia Theunis, who is living in Brussels, really likes to go to 'Cook & Book'...

When we asked fashion model Anaïs Droeven about her favorite hang out spots in the city she lives in, one of the places she named was restaurant Bouchery...

Hotel BLOOM! is a truly modern hotel in central Brussels, Belgium, where every room is decorated differently with a unique fresco made by a young European artist. You will have the luxury to choose your own favourite room with a hand painted fresco on the wall by their own interpretation of the word ‘bloom’. Hotel BLOOM! organises an Art’n BLOOM! event a few times a year.

Over 350 miniature scale models (all 1:25) depict some of Europe's best-known architectural highlights, such as the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (which took 24,000 man-hours to create), London's Big Ben, Lisbon's Torre de Belem and Paris' Pompidou Centre; with various moving features like little railways, and even a cross-section of the Chunnel.

Chansonnier Jacques Brel (1929–78) made his debut in 1952 at a cabaret in his native Belgium, and shot to fame in Paris, where he was a contemporary of Édith Piaf and co, though his songs continued to hark back to the bleak ‘flat land’ of his native country. This dedicated archive centre and museum, set up by his daughter, France (named for Brel’s adopted home), contains more than a hundred hours of footage and another hundred of audio recordings, as well as thousands of photographs and articles.

A whimsical piece of sculpture created by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1619, this is one of the cutest attractions in Brussels. The little guy is peeing in a fountain. Its keepers dress it up in all kinds of costumes, which change frequently.

Brussels’ canal quarter has long languished, but the area (about 600m northwest of Yser metro station) is being given a new lease of life thanks to the regeneration of these old canalside warehouses and customs depots. Built over a century ago by the Tour et Taxis family, who founded Belgium’s postal service, today the buildings are being transformed into the Tour & Taxis complex, hosting temporary exhibitions (such as Star Wars), and harbouring a growing collection of industrial-chic shops, bars and restaurants. The renovations are part of an ambitious blueprint to rehabilitate the entire canal quarter

The most famous and finest square in the Lower Town area. After a bombardment in 1695, the city hall was the only building that remained standing. The guild houses have their own specific frontage but they are all in complete harmony with each other.

Did you know that Tintin was created by a Belgian artist? You would if you visited Brussels’Comic Strip Museum. See original pages of comic artwork, sketches and memorabilia. Learn how the Smurfs, also of Belgian origin, got their start.

Excellent barber and hair dresser, and now in an expanded salon, including a massage room, pedicure room, and soon, hair treatments. Excellent staff. Really, the best in Brussels, and among the best anywhere.