One of Brussels' many engaging charms is that it is a linguistically complex city. Cross a street and one shifts from French to Flemish. Dive into the Marolles quarter (see hidden europe 12) and hear the extraordinary Brusselse Sproek. Or head east from the city centre beyond the ‘petit ring' for a dose of Europanto. Or so we are told! Whether anyone really speaks Europanto as a means of communication we are unsure, but the corridors of the Berlaymont and the Justus Lipsius buildings do sometimes echo to peculiarly hybrid sounds - sentences that start in German and end in Spanish, having lurched through French and English on the way.