Birthplace of the Black Russian Cocktail

I love old hotels with character and the Metropole Hotel in Brussels, Belgium is a fine example of one that I have stayed at. 

The Hotel Metropole, built in 1895, is the only nineteenth-century hotel in Brussels still in operation today. The hotel has 298 rooms and 15 suites.

In 1890, two brothers with a brewing company opened Café Metropole as a place in the city to sell their beer. The café was a huge success and the Weilemans-Ceuppens family then purchased the building next-door, a former bank, which would become the Hotel Metropole, inaugurated in 1895. Today, the hotel’s reception desk is easily recognizable as the desk of the former bank, a significant historical and heritage glimpse of the past.

The brothers commissioned French architect Alban Chambon to be the chief designer of the hotel. Today, Chambon’s design of modern comfort and luxury is still a prominent feature of the heritage hotel, which is considered an important historical landmark in the city.

Not only was Hotel Metropole one of the first luxury hotels, it was also the first to have electricity and central heating, and is now the only existing 19th century hotel in Brussels. In fact, many heritage tours of Brussels visit the Hotel Metropole to look upon its facades and design.

The hotel’s reception, lobby, and lounge are overtly ornate with Corinthian columns, rich furnishings, gilded details, and glittering chandeliers – all which can still be seen and experienced today at the hotel. Similarly, the meetings and conference rooms of the hotel are decorated in a Renaissance style.

The Metropole is famous for having hosted the first Solvay Conference in 1911. Check out the photo below which is in the lobby of the Metropole Hotel and see how many famous physicists you can spot. There's Einstein, Planck, Rutherford, Lorentz and Madame Curie just for starters.

Moreover, it is the birthplace of the Black Russian cocktail, which was created in 1949 by barman Gustave Tops for the United States ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta.

Belgium Baroque Building

This is a wonderful example of the beautiful and ornate architecture that can be seen in Belgium. This old block of houses in Brussels exhibits some elaborate decoration as well as fairy-tale like windows and turrets.

Belgian Graffiti

As you wander through the streets of the capital of the European Union, Brussels and just when you have almost had enough of beautiful ancient monuments, churches and grand palaces or the classic medieval, gothic style architecture you turn the corner and are brought back to reality with a splurge of graffiti grunge.

St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral

The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Guduleand in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".

In 1047, Lambert II, Count of Leuven founded a chapter in this church and organized the transportation of the relics of Saint Gudula, housed before then in Saint Gaugericus Church on Saint-Géry Island. The patron saints of the church, archangel St. Michael and the martyr St. Gudula, are also the patron saints of the city of Brussels.

In the thirteenth century, the cathedral was renovated in the Gothic style. The choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276. The façade was completed in the mid-fifteenth century.

It is an archiepiscopal cathedral of the Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels, the Primate of Belgium, currently Archbishop André-Mutien Léonard. It is located in the national capital and therefore often used for Catholic ceremonies of national interest, such as royal marriages and state funerals.

The south tower contains a 49-bell carillon by the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry on which Sunday concerts are often given.

Royal Palace, Brussels

The Royal Palace of Brussels (Dutch: Koninklijk Paleis van Brussel, French: Palais Royal de Bruxelles) is the official palace of the King of the Belgians in the centre of the nation's capital Brussels. However it is not used as a royal residence, as the king and his family live in the Royal Castle of Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels. 

The palace is situated in front of Brussels Park. A long square called the Paleizenplein/Place des Palais separates the palace from the park. The middle axis of the park marks both the middle peristyle of the palace and the middle of the facing building on the other side of the park, which is the Palace of the Nation (the Belgian Federal Parliament building). The two facing buildings are said to symbolize Belgium's system of government: a constitutional monarchy.

Hotel Metropole, Brussels

The Hotel Metropole, Brussels is a beautifully preserved world of 19^th century splendor and opulence, set beneath a sea of glittering chandeliers. Situated in the midst of the city’s historical center, this superbly renovated Brussels luxury hotel captures the imagination with Corinthian columns, sumptuous furnishings, and an extravagantly rich attention to detail. Experience the vibrant “heart of Europe” from the most celebrated Brussels luxury accommodation, and embrace the lavish elegance of days gone by. 

The Hotel Metropole, built in 1895, is the only nineteenth-century hotel in Brussels still in operation today. The hotel has 298 rooms and 15 suites. The hotel was originally built as an afterthought—a brewer's family added a hotel to their Place de Brouckère café in an effort to promote their selection of beers. 

The Hôtel Métropole benefits from a superb location right at the heart of the historical center of the European capital - only a few steps from the famous UNESCO world heritage site of the Grand Place, the Bourse and la Théâtre de la Monnaie, and near the city’s most exciting shopping thoroughfare. Just in front of the hotel are the "De Brouckère" metro and bus stations, with connections to all of Brussels’ major train stations.

The Metropole is famous for having hosted the first Solvay Conference in 1911. The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the first world physics conference. Just check out some of the names of the famous physicists in the photograph above which can be found in the lobby of the hotel - Planck, Lorentz, Madame Curie, Rutherford and Einstein!

It is also the birthplace of the Black Russian cocktail, which was created in 1949 by barman Gustave Tops for the United States ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta.

And of course nothing to beat relaxing for lunch and some nice Belgium beer in the Cafe' Metropole.

Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of comic strips created by the Belgian artist Georges Rémi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtième, a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siècle on 10 January 1929. The success of the series saw the serialised strips collected into a series of twenty-four albums, spun into a successful magazine and adapted for film, radio, television and theatre. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in more than 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date. Its popularity around the world has been attributed to its "universal appeal" and its ability to transcend "time, language and culture."

Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash, cynical and grumpy Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond). Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances.

The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style. Its "engaging", well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, accompanied in later albums by satire, and political and cultural commentary.

I stumbled upon this exhibition in the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art in Brussels while trying to find my way back to my hotel.

The Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art (Dutch: Belgisch Centrum voor het Beeldverhaal, French Centre belge de la Bande dessinée) chronicles the history of Belgian comics. Housed in a former department store in Brussels' business district, it exhibits examples of comic strips in French, Dutch and English.

The full range of comic art is covered, including science fiction, wild west, crime and politics, as well as children's comics such as The Smurfs.

It has several exhibits on Belgium's most famous comic characters Tintin and Snowy and their creator Hergé. The style of the Tintin comics and their history is examined, including life-size models of characters and sets from Tintin's adventures. There is a shop, research library and restaurant on the ground floor of the historic building, which was designed by the Belgian art nouveau architect Victor Horta.