Early days in Brussels
— We've been to Brussels before, of course, but this time we're not leaving again after a couple of days!”
Brussels is now our new home. It’s also home to just over a million other folks and the capital of two unions, one of which is barely holding together as a nation these days.
The old town is heart-shaped, girded by a ring road that roughly follows the line of the old city walls.
Architecture inside the ring broadly consists of the beautiful homes, guildhouses and markets of medieval burghers, together with much later maisons de maître.
Elsewhere Brussels is dominated by a conspicuous streak of bland neoclassicism initiated by the unpopular monarch King Leopold II.
Brussels Old Town
The capital of Belgium and of Europe, rebuilt from the siege of 1695 and further developed on the proceeds of Leopold II's activities in the 19th century.
See also:
Maisons de maître (and other buildings)
Whilst in between jobs after moving to Brussels, I took time to learn the communes and enjoy the architecture.
- Originally published: 16 Jun 2008 in Relocation
Service with a frown: the joy of Brussels taxis
Taking a taxi in Brussels is expensive: maybe the hacks should read some Confucian philosophy
- Originally published: 11 May 2010 in Editorial
De Faluintjes
Hopfields, woodlands and wide meadows mark the countryside around the Abdij Affligem.
- Originally published: 25 Oct 2009 in Walking
A tale of two woods
Almost all of this walk in Flemish Brabant is under tree cover. Perfect for a hot or rainy day!
- Originally published: 2 May 2010 in Walking
Hop Harvest 2010
4/5. A refreshing and well-rounded hop beer from De Ranke. Unexpectedly mild to the taste.
- Originally published: 22 Jan 2011 in Beer
Who you gonna call?
Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
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