This article was originally published on VICE NetherlandsBrussels isn't known as the friendliest city in the Benelux. Yet photographer Ulrike Biets, who's been living there for the past 15 years, loves it so much she never wants to leave. "Brussels is the only 'big city' in Belgium," she says. "People tend to associate it with loneliness and a certain roughness, but if you spend some time here you discover that in reality there is a soft, quiet side to Brussels. "
Indeed, there's so much more to Brussels than boring European government buildings and technocrats. Just look at these photos of bleeding limbs, mating mice, and steaks in formaldehyde.
