Brussels

June 26-27


Often described as "the most beautiful town square in Europe" Brussels is another one of those places that is more breathtaking than you imagined! The town square called the Grand Place is completely surrounded by the most historic building in all of Belgium....all of the buildings date from 1695-1697. When you look at our pictures you will see many of the Grand Place as each time you change directions you think surely this will be the picture that will capture it all!


After checking into our hotel we followed Ben's directions and made our way through the Grand Place. We tried to take it all in before we continued on our way to the Manneken Pis which literally is the famous peeing boy statue. This statue apparently has about 800 outfits that he may be dressed in for many occasions. Had we been more aware, we would have seen his outfit of the day as a clue of what was to come later that afternoon! From the statue, again following Ben's directions, we found his favorite waffle stand (there are many to choose from!) and shared our first Belguim waffle. When we returned to the Grand Place a short time later, we decided that we could not survive on waffles alone (although apparently people have tried to!) so we took a table front and center on the town square and while waiting for our salads began to notice that the square was being cleared and prepared for some sort of ceremony. It turns our that we had front row seats for Meyboom!!! The pictures tell the story far better than I can but apparently it is an annual event dating from 1213 that involves a lots of muscians, costumes, and giant figures that parade around the town square.

Brussels has many famous monuments, statues, parks, and museums that we explored, including: The Royal Park and Royal Palace, The Saint Michel and Saint Gudula cathedral, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts and The Magritte Museum. We saw the many, many, many chocolate shops and treated ourselves to a few samples, had Moules et Frites for dinner and of course, before leaving, we enjoyed another Belgium waffle!


We hope you enjoy our photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/Brussels?authkey=Gv1sRgCIugioGtsIrL_AE&feat=directlink