The rain hits the pavement on the Rue Haute like a curtain coming down. One moment it's a heavy, humid August afternoon, the next the sky just opens, and every awning on the street becomes a waterfall. I duck into a doorway, and the smell of old wood and damp stone fills my nose. There's a certain relief in being caught like this, forced to stop. You see the city as it really is, not as a postcard. It's my fourth day in Brussels, and I'm starting to understand that the weather isn't a disruption here, it's part of the rhythm.
I'm in the Marolles, the old working-class quarter that sits below the Palais de Justice like a stubborn, living shadow of the city's history. Yesterday I was deep in the administrative thicket, and today I wanted something simpler. This morning, I walked the length of the Rue Haute, the main artery of the quarter, with the specific goal of just looking. I passed the small antique shops and the second-hand dealers, their windows crammed with brass lamps, old clocks, and stacks of faded books. The whole street feels like a storage attic for centuries of Belgian life.
The rain is relentless, a proper thunderstorm that turns the gutters into small rivers. I shelter under a canvas awning, and the sound is a low drumming. From my spot, I can see the great dome of the Palace of Justice looming over the rooftops, a colossal, overbearing presence that seems to be judging the neighbourhood below. It’s a strange architectural statement, that building. Apparently, it's one of the largest buildings from the 19th century, and it just sits there, heavy and inescapable. The rain seems to make it look even greyer, more monumental.
Once the downpour eases to a thin drizzle, I continue my walk. The air is washed clean, and the cobblestones shine. I know from my first days here that a paper metro ticket is about €2.30, and a monthly pass is €55, and today, walking is the only way to see this place. The streets are a patchwork of French and Dutch signs, and I'm getting better at recognizing the patterns. You turn a corner in one commune, and the feel changes entirely, though the city line is invisible. It's the most bilingual patchwork you'll find, with both languages vying for space on every shop front.
My main goal for today is not the high-street antiques. It's the daily flea market at the Place du Jeu de Balle, the famous Volderspleintje. It’s a scrappy, wonderful chaos of stalls that spread out from the square, selling everything from rusty tools and used vinyl to old postcards and single shoes. It's less polished than the chic weekend market at the Sablon, which I passed yesterday, where you’ll find gleaming silver and rare paintings. This is the real thing, the junkyard of a thousand homes, laid out on trestle tables for all to see.
The rain has stopped, and the stallholders are unfurling their plastic sheeting, shaking off the water. The air now smells of damp cardboard and wet fabric. I'm not looking for anything specific, which is the best way to browse here. I see an old Bakelite telephone, a stack of Tintin comics in French, their corners worn soft, and a set of brass doorknobs that I almost buy for the flat I'm still hoping to find. Almost. I'm still hunting for that permanent place in the 19 communes, and I need to carry my stuff light.
I pick up a small, chipped enamel sign with the logo of an old brewery on it. The stallholder, an old man with a face like a walnut, starts talking to me in a thick Brussels accent. My French is getting better, but I'm still catching only every other word. He gestures at the sign, then at me, and says something that sounds like a question. I nod and smile, a universal currency, and he wraps it in a piece of yesterday's newspaper. It costs me €5, and it feels like I've taken a small piece of the city home. I slip it into my bag next to my transit card and my keys.
All this slow browsing makes me hungry. The rain has fully passed, and the sun is trying to break through, turning the wet pavement into a mirror for the sky. I know exactly what I need. It's a frites day. I find a friterie on a corner, nothing fancy, just a small wooden stand with a queue of locals. That's always a good sign. I order a portion, and the woman behind the counter asks me in French if I want sauce. I ask for a recommendation, and she points to the Andalouse. I pay the €3.50 and take my paper cone, the heat of the fries warming my hands.
These are not thin, crispy sticks. These are properly thick, fluffy inside with a perfect golden crust, salted generously. I had my first taste on day one with moules at a restaurant, but this, from a stand, is the true street-level experience. The Andalouse is a creamy, slightly spicy sauce that’s a local specialty, and it's perfect. I stand there on the pavement, eating my frites and watching the Marolles come back to life after the storm. A tram clatters past, its bell ringing, and for a moment, I feel less like a visitor and more like a regular.
With the sun fully out, the heat returns. It's that sticky, 30-degree summer heat that makes you want another drink. I walk towards the centre, past the Palais de Justice and its colossal columns. I need a coffee. I find a small place, The Unusual, on a side street, and order an espresso at the counter. It costs about €3, which is standard here. The barista is a young guy with a nose ring and a friendly demeanour. He's playing a vinyl record, something, and the café has the cool, slightly chaotic vibe of a place that's a genuine neighbourhood hangout.
I chat with him for a moment in my broken French, telling him I'm new in town. He asks where I'm from, and I say I'm here to stay, at least for a while. He tells me the city is quiet now because of the summer holidays, and that many of the local brasseries close for two or three weeks in August. He says it's the best time to get things done, before the autumn crush. I think about the registration and the banking, and he's right. It's been an oddly productive few days, even with the rain. The café is cool, and I linger over my espresso, listening to the hum of the neighbourhood.
Fueled up, I decide to take a walk towards the Boulevard du Midi. I can hear it before I see it: a distant, high-pitched hum of machinery and music. The Foire du Midi, the city's big summer fair, is in full swing. It's a massive operation, filling the boulevard with a hundred and thirty rides and food stalls. The crowds are thick, a mix of families with children clutching giant candy floss and teenagers on the thrill rides. It's a sensory overload, the smell of fried dough and popcorn mixing with the sound of screams and electronic music. It feels wonderfully un-Brussels for a city that sometimes seems so composed.
I was told that this fair runs until the 23rd of August, so I have a plan to come back on a weeknight when it's less crowded. A single ride on the more elaborate attractions can set you back €5 or more, so I’m not here to ride. I'm here to observe, to feel the energy. I watch a group of teenagers on a ride that spins them upside down and shakes them like dice, their laughter and shouting a pure sound of joy. The fair is a great equalizer, a temporary kingdom of noise and light on a typically wide, traffic-filled boulevard.
As I walk the length of the fair, I'm reminded that this whole week is leading up to something big. The 15th is Assumption Day, a public holiday, and then the National Holiday follows. More importantly for the look of the city, the Grand-Place is being prepared for the biennial Flower Carpet. I passed by yesterday and saw the fencing going up. Apparently, the entire square is covered in a carpet of begonias and dahlias. It happens in mid-August in even years, so this is the year. The preparations are a quiet hum of activity, a promise of colour and spectacle to come.
The heat is getting to me now. The rain earlier was a brief respite, but the humidity has returned with force. I decide to head back towards my borrowed flat in Ixelles. I take the metro from Porte de Hal, the line that runs under the city. The air in the station is cool, and the sound of my footsteps echoes. A single journey on the STIB network is €2.30, which is a bit of a pinch, but the monthly pass I'll get once I have my eID sorted will make things much cheaper, at around €55. I tap my contactless card and pass through the gates, the familiar hiss of the metro doors sealing me into a different world for a few minutes.
Back in Ixelles, the streets are quieter, the shops closed for their afternoon breaks. I stop at a bakery to pick up a loaf of bread and some cheese, a simple dinner that costs me about €10. The rent for my temporary flat is included in my budget, but I'm still getting used to the sticker shock of the permanent market. A modest one-bedroom flat in this city rents for about €1,200 a month, and it feels like you have to be quick to snag anything decent. My plan is to keep looking at the communes to the east and south, in places like Schaerbeek or further into Ixelles, where the character is distinct but the prices are more humane.
I eat my bread and cheese on a small balcony, watching the swallows dart over the rooftops. The evening light is golden and soft, a welcome change from the afternoon's drama. I think about the day: the rain, the junk, the golden frites, the manic energy of the fair. It wasn't a day of grand sights or new paperwork. It was a day of texture, of living in the city rather than just visiting it. This is the part of moving somewhere new that you can't plan for; the simple, ordinary rhythm of a life starting to take shape.
Later, as darkness falls, I decide to take a walk around the Ixelles Ponds. The air is cooler now, and the path is busy with joggers and couples. The lights of the surrounding apartment buildings reflect in the water, long and shimmering. I hear a car horn in the distance, close, a dog bark, a cicada chirp. It's a suburban soundtrack, and it's exactly what I needed after the chaos of the boulevard. I’m starting to understand that Brussels is a city of many different rhythms, and you have to learn to move with the beat that suits you.
Back at the flat, I check my phone. I have a message about a potential flat I enquired about. It's in a building near the Parvis de Saint-Gilles, with a classic Brussels facade and, if the photos are to be believed, a decent-sized living room. The rent is within my range. I write back and make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. The admin is done, the bank account is open, and now the real work of building a home begins. I set my alarm, the sound of the city humming softly through the open window. I'm in it now, truly in it.
Tomorrow, I'll go look at the flat. And then maybe, just maybe, I'll go back to the Foire du Midi and ride one of those spinning machines. After spending the day watching others, I think it's time I had a little scream of my own. The night is warm, and the city feels less like a tangle of metro lines and commune boundaries, and more like a place with a thousand stories, some of which are just beginning to include me. Bonsoir, from Brussels, where the rain never lasts and the frites are always worth the queue.