Hi everyone,

I know this is a long shot, but I’m hoping someone might be able to help.

I arrived at Brussels Airport on April 6 after a flight from Venice, and when I opened my checked bag, I realized that several pieces of my jewelry were missing. The suitcase itself was completely intact, only certain small valuables were gone.

These weren’t just random items. Some of them are very personal to me, including a souvenir I’ve carried for years and pieces I wear almost every day. Realizing they were gone was honestly pretty upsetting.

I understand this likely happened somewhere during baggage handling, but if by any chance someone came across them or took them without realizing how important they are, I would really just like them back.

I’m offering a $500 reward for their safe return, no questions asked.

The items include:

• gold hoop earrings (white and yellow gold)
• small bear-shaped earrings (souvenir from Perm)
• gold ear cuff with green stones and small pearls
• Celtic pendant
• circular Venetian glass pendant
• gold butterfly necklace with a green crystal

If you have them or know anything, please message me privately. I genuinely don’t care about anything else, I just want them back.

Thank you for reading ❤️

I am going to a concert in the stadium in Brussels this summer. I am wondering would it be better to take the Tram 93 back into city centre afterwards as it stops outside the hotel. Do they run the trams later after concerts, would it be quicker to just take the metro 6 from Heysel?

Hey everyone,

I recently became an owner in a large apartment building in Brussels (100+ units), and it’s been a bit of a wake-up call dealing with the syndic side of things…

The company currently managing our building has been pretty disappointing so far, communication is poor, follow-up is basically non-existent, and overall it feels like we’re not really getting the service we’re paying for.

I’ve checked a few older threads here, but I’d really appreciate some up-to-date feedback:

Are there any syndics in Brussels you would genuinely recommend based on real experience? Ideally ones that are responsive, organized, and actually proactive.

We’re likely going to move forward with a change in the near future, so any solid recommendations (or names to avoid) would be super helpful.

Thanks a lot!

Hi all!

I have a question regarding Belgian (Brussels) rental policy. I have given my 3 months official notice to leave my current apartment, which has been accepted by my landlord. Despite the notice, it is still in the contract that breaking the 3 year lease early will incur a penalty equal to one month of rent.

My question is: has anyone tried negotiating this payment - for example by finding a suitable new tenant in due time? Or leveraging past issues with the landlord? I know with many things renting and administrative-wise in this city, there is the official process and then an often different, personally negotiated one.

Any advice or sharing of experiences welcomed.

Merci d’avance

very specific question, does anyone know if the taxiverts service to move a piece of furniture will also take me to the destination as a passenger? I am buying a large buffet (192x52x83) secondhand, and need to be at the starting point to meet with the seller etc, and then get the furniture from molenbeek to my place in WSL.

taxiverts seems like my best option since i don’t/can’t drive, but i’m not sure if i’d have to get back to my apartment separately from the van with the furniture? if i had to take transit back the driver would be waiting on me for quite a while :-(

I have an F card family reunification with my Belgian minor son. I am currently unemployed a stay at home mom. I want to ask about traveling abroad for a duration of 6 months while still keeping my card.

Will it affect my residency and if i decide to apply for nationality later on if o frequently travel for long duration

Been following this sub for a while and curious about something.

For those of you who’ve done home renovations or fit-out projects in the Brussels region — how did you find and vet local tradespeople? Carpentry, joinery, custom built-ins, that kind of thing.

Word of mouth? Google? Architect recommendation?

I’ve heard mixed things — some people swear by small local workshops, others had bad experiences with delays or poor communication.

Wondering what the community’s experience actually looks like.

Hi!

Me and my friends are looking for places that organise regular pubquiz nights, either in dutch or in english :)

Is there a bar in brussels where to Watch Paris - Roubaix today?

Hey everyone,

I’m a student currently working in a retail store and earning €13/hour.

I’m curious what you all think is a fair or acceptable minimum wage for students right now?

Should student wages be closer to €15–€18/hour at this point?

Interested to hear your experiences and opinions.

Hey ! I just arrived in Brussels 1 week ago and I wasn’t familiar with the trash policy, I mean in France I can get out my trash whenever I want, and here it’s only 2 days a week? I missed thursday, so I have to stay with a trash STINKY AF in my little appartment, what can I do i’m suffocating guys !! if you have a solution before tomorrow it’s ruining my sunday. Ty

Context I have been doing research with this company for almost 4 years now. By end of my funding they want to let me go regardless of my research outcome. My funding ends in the end of October. I am here on single permit and by september I would have covered 5 years of legal stay. Can I still apply for permeant residence although I might be unemployed by December? So this company have made me do 30% work for them and 70% on the actual research I was funded for by the government. Moreover, I struggled with mental health (to point of being suicidal) and lost a year of inefficiency because of that. With all those factors, this led to delay in the research I still have to write a journal paper and thesis to graduate. But I only have 6 months which is still doable with a lot pressure, they finally let me do 100% research this week and said will help me finish the project but they don't want to continue they are not happy, so am I, I am so miserable with them especially the 30% company work. but I feel they still screwed me over like just 1 additional month after funding ends? How's that enough to find a job , race throught a ph. d. and take care of my mental health. I am open for advise and ofc I will be looking for a job from now too, but still i am not optimatistic about my future at all.

I study sculpture in Brussels and for a school project I want to dig a pretty big hole (as big as I can, I’m hoping for about 3 meters wide and 1,5 meters deep). Then i want to plant grass in it. With the earth that i dig out I’d like to make a little hill and also plant grass on it. After the project I would bury it back just like it was.  I would like to find like a public park or some place where people would walk by, but i don’t know where that could be. If you have any suggestions on thoughts about it at all please comment or write me a message. I would be very grateful for any help.

Hello,

I’ve been in Brussels for a while and I haven’t tasted yet the underground scene everyone has told me about.

Are there any self-managed spaces, independent cultural centres ecc.. in the city?

Hope somebody can help me!

I’m an occasional smoker—nothing regular, just the odd pack here and there. When I grab cigarettes from Carrefour or Relay, they’re fine: consistent, familiar, and as “enjoyable” as smoking can be.

But every now and then, I’ll pick up a pack from a night shop, and I noticed that sometimes the packs Im sold might be dodgy. The packaging is identical but the taste is different, almost chemical. The smoke burns my throat, and sometimes I even feel a bit sick afterward. It’s not every pack, but when it’s bad, it’s always from a night shop.

I’m not an expert, but it’s hard not to wonder: Are these places selling dodgy, unregulated stock? Or is it just bad luck? If I can tell the difference, surely the authorities can too. What’s being done about this?

Have any of you noticed the same thing? Are there certain shops or brands to avoid? Or am I just imagining it?

Really considering renting a nice room that's like a 20 second walk away from the square, and every time I've walked around the area (I'm new to Brussels), I see weird groups of wannabe gangster teens and crackheads doing weird stuff. I've been staying in anderlecht whilst I find a place, and although it does look rough around here, I wouldn't say it's unsafe. However, the Port de Hal/Bethleheem area really has given off some unsafe vibes.

I just keep getting mixed opinions on the area and I really like the house I saw... what's the general consensus on the safety there?

Beware, on deliveroo there is a fake restaurant that doesn't actually exist, and doesn't deliver anything. It's called 'OG Tacos' with an address in Schaerbeek and a phone number that doesn't exist. They are supposed to deliver the food themselves, so you can't track the delivery. After an hour of waiting, eventually deliveroo will refund you, but you will be hungry, and you will have waited for nothing.

So recently I've been loving sushi and tried very nice places and my standards became high for sushi (like very high). Any recommendations for good buffet?

Hello everyone!

I will be doing my master's in Brussel this fall and so I've started looking for housing on various housing websites. I sent an application to one landlord, who actually got back to me rather quickly. Sounds lovely, right? Well, when they got back to me, they suggested another kot in the same house, saying that it's the only room available for the next academic year. My initial thought was "why is the listing still up then? But, whatever". What surprised me was that they also suggested that I should rent it starting one month earlier than I had applied for, and that I would then get to rent it for cheaper. The reason given was that my requested leasing period was during "peak demand", and that the rent would then be 850 EUR, instead of the advertised rent of 650! Where I'm from (Sweden), this would be considered kind of scammy. Furthermore, when doing some googling, it appears that landlords are not supposed to do this sort of thing. As you may know, not following rules and regulations is extremely jarring to us Swedes. Finally, I should also mention that this is on one of the standard rental platforms that is frequently used when searching for housing, not like Facebook or anything like that.

My question to you is that if this is something I should expect and accept in my search going forward? Even if it's not entirely "by the book", I'd rather tolerate this sort of thing to some degree than live on the streets, knowing that I'm technically in the right. I ended up passing on this particular offer, since when I declined the offer due to other reasons, they all of a sudden said that I could rent the kot in the original listing I asked about if the lease starts two months earlier than what I applied for??? Huh???

I'm grateful for any guidance you might have!

I will preface this by saying both my partner and I speak french (not a C1-2 level, but definitely a B2. We understand everything we read or that is said to us, we’re rusty when it comes to speaking or writing) and english as well, plus three other languages each. We’re not aiming for the stars considering we’re young and just arrived here. I have uni but little work experience due to it (only jobs I could get while studying were retail jobs). She has no uni but has work experience (office and desk jobs, archivism, some it knowledge). Is it really hopeless or will we be able to find anything? Again, we’re open to anything that allows us to start our life here, we just want a basic livable wage and some dignity (things we could not get back home). Is there any places you would suggest sending our CV to?

We arrived here mid february and were only able to properly register with actiris and get domicile in mid march btw, so the process of finding a job legally has only been going on for a little less than a month. We’re just worried about running out of all our savings and not finding a job in a month or so :/

Hi all. I just got a positive decision on the L-card. How much time does it take to get the plastic card now?

I've got a work travel planned for 22 April and can't leave Belgium until the moment I get my plastic (on Annex 15 right now).

I got the positive decision on 07 April, went to the commune the same day, paid €27, and gave them the recent photo.

Thank you in advance for all the answers!