Grand Place:

As an erasmus student in Brussels, one of the first place that I wanted to see was Grand Place. I saw many photos of the square, but it was amazing to see it closer and experience the beauty of the oldbuildings. The Grand-Place is an outstanding example of the highly successful blending of architectural and artistic styles that characterizes the culture and society of this region. The nature and quality of the architecture and the outstanding quality as a public open space, it gives the sense of city sights beauty. The most important reason that I love this place because I like to live in a city that has the historical buildings and life style combined in the daily life. I am from Istanbul, Turkey. I love Istanbul, because everyday I took the tram to go to my university and on your way you can see the old buildings. The life goes on within those buildings, like it happens in Brussels. The historical buildings are not only the place to take photos and watch. They have the feeling of living and surviving by the time, getting more beautiful. Around the Grand Place you can find many pubs and specialised stores for chocolates, beers etc.

In my culture, beer is important but not much as Brussels. So, it was amazing to see many kinds of beers in one store and many products based on as I called 'beer culture'. Also I realised that fries is so important for Belgium people. Before I came here, I liked fries. But it is not a very special delicious food for me. Actually it is good because it is cheap and the smell of it is disgusting. The first time, I realised that it is such a big deal in Brussels, I gave up to see it as an easy, cheap fast-food, but it is also a part of tradition. It is important for local people, and they really care about their food. In old times my face was always in a ugly when I took the smell of the fries. Now, I eat alot and actually I really like it.