Brussels Isn’t Boring!

In a recent opinion poll, Brussels was voted the most boring city in Europe. I suspect that result was based more on Euro-phobia than on real experience. Though I moved from Brussels to London in 1982, I always feel I’m ‘coming home’ when I revisit. It’s true that I was really narked when Reuters sent me to Brussels in 1974 (having just completed a degree in Chinese and Japanese, and thus dreaming of returning to Asia), and the midday briefings at he European Commission could be deadly dull. But I quicky came to love the city. Not just because of the splendid Grand’Place (surely one of the most spectacular squares in the world), or the forests that penetrate parts of the city. The quality of life in the Belgian capital, from the food to the scale of things, is so good. And all the movers and shakers come through Brussels, so for journalists and politicians, it is an ideal base. Now, thanks to Eurostar, one can have the best of both worlds by dividing one’s time between London and Brussels, with only a two-hour train journey between them — a situation I hope to be able to take more advantage of in the future!