Renaissance Brussels Hotel

... the historic hotel that we stayed in our last night in Brussels, upon our return from Bruges.  It's called Hotel Metropole, the style is French Renaissance, and is the city's only surviving 19th Century hotel.  And I mean everything is ...

... find the Delirium café. Dang, restaurant row again. But right around the corner we found it! Also, following the direction of the Renaissance bartenders we went to the end of the ally first to see Jeaneke Pis. In the bar we met an American duo ...

... especially refreshing. On Friday, Chris visited a museum, visited a nice park and had fries at "the best" fry stand in Brussels while Melanie spent the day in meetings.  After a really nice dinner at Poivre & Sel, a small Italian ...

... a peaceful twilight walk back to the hotel. Some quick bar food and good times talking to our bartenders. Day 5 Last day in Brussels. Typical lazy day. Breakfast and then back to bed. More Pizza from Napoli. More beer from Delirium that night. The best ...

... the bus which took us to Gare de Luxembourg which was a minute walk around the corner to our hotel.  We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel in the Européen neighborhood which was not such a good idea.  The E.U. area (though safe at night) is ...

... Station. A short (albeit difficult, if you've ever pulled luggage across cobble stone) walk from the station the welcoming sign of the Renaissance hotel! Wow! Who would have though the hotel would have been so busy this early in the morning? I guess most ...

Today we explored two neighborhoods in the vincinity of our hotel;  Matonge and  Elsene Matonge is a district in Brussels in which the streets are bustling with people, the atmosphere is alive. The sun was shining, music came from ...

... in its austerity. In the middle of this, the church stands proudly, revealing its long evolution through the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles that are all evident. The inside is relatively simple - it was apparently plundered many times over the ...

... and old friends. In fact if you picture us strolling along a sunlit street full of Gothic architecture (or neo-classical, or renaissance revival, or something... I've never studied architecture. To me it's either new or old and pretty or not pretty) with ...

... the Marriot and find out how to get tram tickets 8:10 - Arrive at Marriot 8:15 - Realization that Kellie's mom is at the Renaissance Marriot 8:30 - Arrive at tram stop by Renaissance 8:40 - Run into Kellie's mom on a sidewalk on our way to the Renaissance ...

... era at the bottom levels and modern art at the highest. My favorite era was the fifth floor which featured medieval and renaissance art. One painting in particular stood out among the rest, although it was not the star of the exhibit (that title belongs ...

... museums, including the Groeninge Museum and the Memling Hospital Museum. Both contain wondrous works of famous (and mostly religious) Renaissance art. Among them are Jan van Eyck’s portrait of his wife and Hieronymus Bosch’s Last Judgment ...

After a loooooooong flight on American and Austrian Airlines, via Chicago and Brussels, we have landed in Vienna.  Today, we were on our own once we arrived at our beautiful hotel.  We decided that we were going to take a nap and then do a ...

... 1st night in Montmartre). Being an art enthusiast as well, this city was just perfect for my thirst for all things renaissance and pompous (really). It also was not bad being in a highly gastronomic city. I recommend for travellers to walk around ...

... , we buy cheap but handsome leather belts ($5.00!). The Bargello was formerly a prison, now, it houses some of the greatest Renaissance sculpture. Michelangelo's Bacchus truly has a tipsy look to him, and there's several Cellini works as well as a ...

... (June 10th): We wind through the Apennine Mountains towards the world-famous region of Tuscany. An afternoon in the spectacular Renaissance city of Florence where our included walking tour will take you to see the Duomo, Giotto's belltower, Basilica of ...

... , I left Paris on the morning of August 1 and took my very first train, en route to Brussels, Belgium.  Luckily, I was able to get a GREAT hotel right across from the European Parliament in the center of Luxembourg square/heart of the European Union ...

... ).  People cutting in front of me and pedestrians taking chances where they shouldn't. Once we found the hotel we'd booked and had the car safely parked Brussels became a good place to visit!  Ate a great local meal (beef stewed in beer with a ...

... very compact city but at the same time it's not very tall. Several buildings are built in the Renaissance style and many others look like Canal houses from Brussels or The Netherlands. Above the 5 or 6 story houses, there is not much topping the skyline. ...