Brussels

Je suis Bruxelles
Ik ben Brussel
Ich bin Brüssel

Pick your language.

I lived there for six years. Our apartment wasn't far from Square Montgomery, and so anytime we went into town the stops were Merode, Schuman, MAELBEEK/MAALBEEK, to Arts-Loi/Kunst-Wet or beyond. Zaventem was my home town airport.

When the person who is probably responsible for the Paris attacks was captured, I recognized the street. Le Dries was a favorite restaurant of ours, and it was half a block away from where he was found.

I always used to joke that the terrorists were nicer in Brussels. When the American NATO Support Activity was bombed, it was done at 2 a.m. No one was killed (though one guard was seriously injured). When a group of Flemish nationalists tried to bomb Gare Centrale/Centraal Station, they left the truck and threw out flyers telling people it was a bomb and what time it was set for.

No longer. I have written extensively about terrorism once before, so I'm including a link to it here.

This is my home that's been bombed, and I weep for it.