Recommend April 2012 - (Page 26)

europe Grand Place is the heart of the city. treat yourself to W 24 april 2012 The Persian Garden at the AquaSpa. sergio ortiz BRUSSELS When it comes to destinations, it’s no surprise that a large number of accomplished travelers have long considered Brussels a remarkable stop. After all, this great and ancient city sits in an unrivaled geographic location—smack on the crossroads of northern Europe. Location, as realtors are fond of saying, is everything. Brussels’ site and long historic pedigree are testimonies to its modern standing as the capital of the 27 countries that make up the European Union. But don’t come here expecting to ﬁnd battalions of grim-faced, gray-suited politicos carrying the fate of their respective countries in bulging briefcases as they scurry from serious meeting to even more serious seminar. For Brussels is a vibrant, valuable and memorable destination sure to underscore any European trip. It’s served by many airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, with roundtrip fares from New York City (often as low as $900). American alone transported more than 94,000 passengers from JFK to Brussels in 2010. Unlike other world centers, Brussels overﬂows with an urban ﬂair rare in this part of Europe. It has highly rated restaurants, terriﬁc shopping and has no lack of chic hotels. As if that weren’t enough, it has a wideranging reputation for self-indulgent chocolate, cutting-edge art, and onsite review february 2012 strange and potent beer, all dished in generous portions amid enthralling architecture that often—especially while hanging around the area of the Grand Place—makes visitors feel like they’ve stumbled onto the set of a Medieval movie epic. But the best part of Brussels is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. What other major city can you name that has an entire museum devoted to a comic strip? Brussels does, in a building devoted to all things Tintin (a cartoon penned by Belgian artist Georges Remi who wrote under the nom de plume Herge), a quirky character whose adventures were recently adapted by Steven Spielberg into an animated ﬁlm. Other cities have mascots, but Brussels’ endearing and superbly irreverent symbol, the Manneken Pis—a tiny bronze sculpture of a little boy urinating—has stood in the center of town since the early-1600s. Then there is the Atonium, a 335-ft.-tall model of an iron crystal molecule—ﬂotsam from the city’s 1958 World’s Fair today considered one of Brussels’ signiﬁcant landmarks. The city has many attributes, including an alluring center with the feel of a small town. It lacks the attitude so prevalent in Paris, a mere two recommend.com SERGIO ORTIZ http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend April 2012

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Provenance Hotels
Tour Talk: Trafalgar
Sailing the Galapagos Islands
Now Sapphire
Paradisus Playa del Carmen
Treat Yourself to Brussels
Panama Specialist Program
New Zealand
Turkish Delights
Women Wellness Retreats
The Still-Single Mingle in Vegas
Club Med Sandpiper, Florida
Hawaii: Escaping to the Islands

Recommend April 2012