We have all faced that kind of appointments : we don’t know who’s going to join, some will join but a bit late, another cancelled at the very last minute, the other one is coming but with his two kids as he couldn’t find a baby-sitter.

When I face that kind of mis-organization, I choose Cook&Book.

As it’s a bookshop, you don’t mind waiting for someone, you find things to see. As the place is spacious and the staff open mind, you know that you all figure out how to sit when everyone is there. If it’s summertime, even better : the terrace is huge.

If it’s only for a drink, it’s also perfect, they have the music department, which is also a wine bar.

I have nothing to say against this place : it’s spacious, modern, nice books, friendly staff. Oh yes, actually I have one thing: it’s not in my neighborhood.

Being an urban girl, I don’t have a car, and I am used to walking a lot in the city. Sometimes, I take a bus, a metro, a tramway (if it’s more than 30 minutes walk). I like to have a walk in the Forest: if I walk from my place to it, it already takes me one hour.

To avoid being exhausted before I arrive I take the tram to the South of the city (Boistfort) or to the East: in Tervueren. After a short journey of 30 minutes Brussels seems so far away…

During Summer (from April to October), every Sunday the Tram Museum has an old tram available to discover Brussels. It’s the Brussels Tramway Tour.

The tour in the tram is an experience by itself, and I’m sure that if you are with kids they will just love it!

During Winter (from November to March), the same service is available only the second Sunday of the month.

I believe those tours are a solution to the endless dilemma that I have: choosing between visiting a Museum – not my cup of tea – and discovering the city in an original way… Here there’s no choice, just take the (old) tram!

Now that Spring is in the air in Brussels, we’re all on the lookout for somewhere green and refreshing to soak up the sun. One of my favorites is this incredible park hidden deep within the neighborhood of Schaerbeek. It’s quite far from the centre, so you’re unlikely to find many tourists here, but they’re really missing out. The park occupies a deep ravine between two areas of a higher ground and was laid out in 1904 in the free-flowing English style. 

I have been here so many times but I keep discovering new things about the place, because it’s so full of hidden charms. The park’s drama comes from a clever use of the topography, so that sloping meadows lead down to two snaking ponds, filled with ducks and swans. It even houses a donkey sanctuary and is full of little bridges and statues. Concerts are sometimes held in the old-fashioned bandstand too.

Now is a perfect time to come for a picnic, to play frisbee or just to laze around. All the trees and flowers are in bloom and it’s hard to believe you’re still in the city.