Grand-Place
Brussels’ central market square, ringed by the Hôtel de Ville, the Maison du Roi and the guildhalls; in Brussels.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither Here Nor There | Bill Bryson | setting | Bryson’s base for killing time in Brussels: circuits of the square and coffee at De Gulden Boot. |
Neither Here Nor There — Bill Bryson (1991)
Source: Readwise highlight
I settled instead for another circuit of the Grand’ Place. It is fetching, no doubt about it.
- Role: setting
- In the book: With little else to do in Brussels, Bryson keeps circling the square, “the centerpiece of the city,” and settles into De Gulden Boot, “the nicest café on the square,” where a waiter once shortchanged him for wearing a Manneken-Pis tracksuit. He points out that the Maison du Roi “has never been a royal palace.”
- Why it matters: The square is the exception that proves his rule about Brussels: one beautiful old set piece in a city of grey offices. Without it, and the restaurant lanes just behind it, the chapter would be all complaint.