Neil Maclean (1976)
About me
I’m a 33-year-old Brit who’s lived in Brussels for the past few years.
I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, then moved and lived in the south-east of England when young. After studying history at university, I spent several years teaching English in France, Italy and then back in the UK. I started working in journalism and publishing and was offered a job in Brussels.
I live in the city centre and enjoy being in the middle of where it’s all going on. I like going out and finding interesting places and I hope to share this with you on the site.
Why Brussels?
I didn’t specifically choose to live here, I moved for my job – but it is the host of other good stuff that has kept me here:
Culture: In order to preserve their identities, or perhaps just to outdo each other, the Flemish and Walloon communities give healthy support to the arts. For us punters this means there is always a wealth of cultural activities to choose from. In summer, there are normally several festivals or public events going on every weekend and they’re generally very well done.
Eating and drinking are another thing that Belgium does very well. There are so many good restaurants and bars here – unpretentious places with character that on the whole, are reasonably priced. Traditional Belgium fayre may not be delicate or ideal for the figure-conscious but it’s definitely tasty and hearty. If that doesn’t take your fancy you can always go for the wealth of other national cuisines on offer (see point below). And then there’s the beer ….
The melting pot: Brussels is a real international city – you can see the influences of different nationalities and meet people from everywhere in this city.
Where can you find me online?
Blog: stripesnotdots!
Photography: portfolio site, jpg magazine, Flickr
