Brussels

I’ve heard of Brussels being compared to DC, with DC being the capital of a large nation, and Brussels—if you’d allow me some generosity—the capital of a continent. A weekday, commuting population, overrun with tourists at the main sights on weekends but dead otherwise. It’s a fair assessment in some ways, but Brussels to me was much more interesting. It’s a thoroughly multicutural city, not only as a whole, but in its individuals, born in the crossroads of nations and languages. It is neither rooted in, nor revels in its past, yet it remains conscious of the histories that built its streets, as though all moments of its existence are lived at all times. It is distinctly unremarkable; a city of cities, a world of worlds, and deeply itself.