A great highlight of an ARAU tour is getting into the otherwise closed Hôtel Van Eetvelde. While the outside of this building is not Brussels’ most gripping, its interior is a Horta masterpiece (built 1895–1901) studded with exotic timbers and sporting a central glass dome infused with African-inspired plant motifs. Its owner, Baron Van Eetvelde, was Minister for the Congo and, not coincidentally, the country’s highest-paid civil servant.
