« This is an amicable petition that aims to help the beautiful municipality of Ixelles to put in place a plan for the ethical regulation of pigeons. The pigeons are indeed far too numerous on the territory and the problem can not be solved without thoughtful intervention, » is stated on the petition.

The petition titled Petition for Ethical Regulation of Pigeons/Feeding Card was launched by Stéphanie De Jonghe and addressed to Yves Rouyet, the alderman of the municipality of Ixelles.

The petition states that many other cities have already employed this method. « Many cities are already using this method, whether they are contraceptive dovecotes (shaking eggs to make them sterile) or distributing contraceptive grain at strategic locations. » However this method is widely debated.

According to Brussels Environment there are nearly 4,000 pigeons in the Brussels Region.

Check out the petition in here.

The post Should Pigeons in Ixelles be fed with contraceptive seeds? appeared first on Brussels Express.

This pop-up plant sale will take place from 15 to 18 August in Brussels, on the site of SEE U, the former gendarmerie barracks in Ixelles (Rue Fritz Toussaint, 8 1050). The entrance is free of charge.

For the Brussels edition of PUP, there will be more than 163 different types of Pleasant and Unusual Plants, all directly from the producers.

You will find indoor plants, tropical variants, trendy plants and unique specimens. In addition, many workshops on plant care and the multiplication of your urban jungle will be organized in collaboration with local talents. There will be something for everyone. Delicious food trucks, a pleasant bar and music will enhance the atmosphere.

The organizers attach a lot of importance to local sourcing and buy more than 65% from Belgian growers in order to promote the Belgian craftsmanship. They will visit every city in Belgium and at the end of their trip, they will give an overview of the cleaned air per city.

« For PUP it is crucial to know the origin of the plants. In this way, we know the history and are therefore able to help plant lovers to take the best care of their plants, » the organization said.

Here is the link to their Facebook Event where you can find all the information you need

The post PUP: A Pop-up sale for Pleasant and Unusual Plants – Free Entrance appeared first on Brussels Express.

The police realized that the Facebook group would facilitate communication between the cyclo-community and the police. As such, stolen bikes will find their rightful owner.

During June 2019 the police of the Brussels-Capital Ixelles was able to find a lot of bikes which were presumed to be stolen. However, a lot of them had yet not been picked up by their owner.

With the help of the group the online publications will be shared more easily and the bikes will be claimed by their owners.

The post Veloflic Polbru: A Facebook group aims to help find stolen bikes appeared first on Brussels Express.

Gaze upon the city from above, using Google maps, and all you will see are grey shapes between white roads: triangles, rectangles, pentagons. Many might imagine that in the blocks and squares formed by adjoining streets, there are garages perhaps. Or courtyards. Perhaps another apartment building squeezed in.

But, switch to ‘satellite view’ and zoom in a little. The city becomes a maze of red and green – red tiled roofs and green garden islands or ilôts. Not to be confused with the Ilôt Sacré, (the historic centre of Brussels), these other beloved ilôts exist in every neighbourhood. And there is disquiet over developments such as this one in Ixelles.

These spaces are the lungs of the city and are strictly protected by building regulations to fend off urban density. They provide drainage and oxygen and their cooling effect in a baking urban environment is not to be under-estimated. Brussels’s environment department has produced a heatmap of the city, showing temperature differences between built-up and less built-up areas.

Some ilôts contain old bâtiments arrières, back buildings such as warehouses or brewery buildings; theory has it the temperature and atmosphere were more stable in the sheltered spaces off the main streets. In among these former industrial premises, jigsaws of gardens – some high-walled, some long and narrow, some shared – provide residents with an oasis of birdsong and planting – and the occasional yowling or prowling cat.

Although the ilôts are a hidden and private a feature of the city, lucky visitors may find their trip coincides with a walk guided by a neighbourhood expert. Keep your eye on https://visit.brussels/en (also available in other languages) for information. On Heritage Days, Journées de Patrimoine, usually in mid-September, some of the ilôts open up for tours.

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Just a few steps from Place Flagey and housed in one of Brussels’s modest flat-iron buildings on the corner of Malibran and Scarron, is a beer-lover’s paradise. Since opening in 2012, the Malting Pot has been offering customers over 200 different craft beers, all selected for flavour, originality and quality ingredients.

The premises manage to be cosy and airy at the same time. Stepping into the small establishment, you’ll see simple wooden shelves stocked with attractive bottles and cans of beer you’re unlikely to find anywhere else in Brussels. IPAs, sours, gueuzes, stouts, ales, bitters – these beers come from all over the world. The quirky labels catching your eye are just as artisanal as the beers themselves. Each beer is carefully chosen and the stock is reviewed regularly, meaning there are often new discoveries to be made before they hit the shelves anywhere else.

The counter has the feel of a pop-up bar. The owner, originally from Tehran, studied archaeology and wrote his thesis on the history of beer from Mesopotamia. He’d always dreamt of running a bar or beer store, and after two years working in an unrelated field, he’d saved enough to open a shop and share his passion with the buying public.  If you’re unsure about committing to a bottle of the UK’s Buxton Trolltunga Gooseberry Sour, or you can’t read the Swedish information on the can of Poppel’s Fruit Ale, he will be delighted to give you the low-down on flavour profiles and production methods.

‘I was doubtful when I saw Strawberry Daiquiri on the label,’ he might say. ‘But when I tasted it, it was tangy and not overly sweet. They add real strawberry pulp.’

Need a recommendation of a stout for your carbonnade recipe? This is the place to come: ‘I’d try this Christmas Ale. It’s deep and a bit spiced, but not too sweet.’

With something for all tastes, it’s tempting to settle down, lean into that counter and make a session of it. ‘Maybe I’ll be able to open a bar in the future,’ says our host. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Meanwhile, don’t wait for Christmas to treat yourself.

The post Brussels Hidden Gems: the Malting Pot, Ixelles appeared first on Brussels Express.

Chaussée d’Ixelles will be closed to circulation between Chaussée de Wavre and Porte de Namur.

They wrote on their Facebook page that this will cause route deviations of bus 71 and 54. Bus 71 will be diverted via Rue du Trone, and bus 54 via Avenue Louise. Meanwhile bus 70 will circulate during the deviation of the buses 54 and 71 between Place Fernand Cocq and Flagey from 7:30 to 20:30 from August 5 until November 3.

However, the whole pavement area of Chaussée de Wavre and  Chaussée d’Ixelles will remain accessible to pedestrians.

The post Chaussée d’Ixelles under construction during summer appeared first on Brussels Express.

More specifically, the people of Brussels are all invited this weekend to a “weekend of discovery” at the former military barracks Fritz Toussaint in Ixelles. At least 40 different activities – cultural, social, and gastronomic – are set to be take place, all of which are aimed at promoting environment protection, innovation, and family bonding.

Throughout the weekend, fans will be able to visit the site, take part in the activities, and also discover the magnificent fresco by Jean-Luc Moerman, who has made a work covering the entire facade of one of the site’s buildings. In addition, a flea market is scheduled for all day Sunday.

Further details can be found on the project website, www.see-u.brussels.

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Joana isn’t Swedish, but she experienced various Fikas herself and wanted to bring this tradition to the Belgian capital. Located just off Place St Boniface in Ixelles, this is a spot you shouldn’t miss when passing by. Fika’s big wooden framed windows facing the street, look very inviting during mornings when you can take a peek inside and watch Joana and her small team prepare fresh cakes and pastries for the day. Towards the end of the late afternoon the windows are often fogged, by all the steam that comes from preparing all the cappuccinos, flat whites and lattes.

Once inside, it’s hard to resist all the home baked cakes and pastries, which are made every morning from fresh and local ingredients. Sometimes when you enter the place you can still smell the cinnamon and yeast from the fresh cinnamon buns, or Kanelbullar as they call it in Sweden. The 100% Arabica coffee comes either from Café Capitale, a local Brussels coffee roastery, or from ‘April’, a Swedish roastery. Both make a great basis to your morning cappuccino along with the hot steamed milk that is organic – and from Belgium, too!

The place itself is minimalistic and peaceful, decorated with beautiful tiles on the floor, light wooden details – the whole coffee bar is made from it – simple lightbulbs hanging from the ceilings and a few pillows and plants make up part of the interior. Fika is definitely an addition to the Brussels coffee scene that one couldn’t think away and which, if you haven’t yet, you should explore someday, too.

And in case you want to drink your coffee outside – there’s a garden.

Price: Coffee is around 3-4€ and pastries around 2-4€

Address: Rue de la Paix 17, 1050 Ixelles

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A commemorative plaque will hang from Crown Avenue, Ixelles, where she was born. The Boondael-Ernotte vegetable gardens will also be renamed “Agnès Varda Vegetable Gardens” in memory of the artist’s love of gardening and all things simple, as well as in recognition of what vegetable gardens represent, by their links to the roots (of Ixelles) and the cyclical nature of life.

Furthermore, the municipality of Ixelles has announced that it will partner with various cultural initiatives to preserve the memory and the work of the artist within the municipality.

The tribute exhibition “Patate & Company” of the Museum of Ixelles, organized in 2016, has also been granted permission to highlight all facets of Ms Varda’s private and professional life at the Museum, with a special emphasis to be placed upon her love of nature.

The post Ixelles pays tribute to the memory of exceptional film maker Agnès Varda appeared first on Brussels Express.

“We chose the Chaussée d’Ixelles as our second location because it is the second most important commercial street in Brussels,” said the company’s Benelux Manager, Kevin Tulip. “It is also a beautiful building, an old garage. It will be a big, old-fashioned store, similar in size to our department stores in the Netherlands. It will offer clothes for men, women, and children.”

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