August 12, 2007

• Brussels 2007

  Bigfoot's mom was over visiting so we took her over to Brussels since it's an easy getaway on the Eurostar train.  I didn't have any expectations of the city and so it ended up really impressing me.  It's such an interesting and diverse city despite being very small.  There are large populations of Africans and Asians.  People mostly speak French but everyone is willing to converse in English with you which is helpful.  Belgians are artsy and have a cheeky sense of humor.     

  Brussels has a beautiful main square called the Grand Place which is a natural gathering place for all tourists.  Buildings with interesting architectural details surround the square. 

  

  A view of the square from inside Cafe de BXL.

   

  Brussels does not have many famous monuments.  Its most famous one is the little peeing boy.  We happened upon a procession of people dressed up in medieval garb walking towards the peeing boy.  The little boy has a collection of over 600 costumes and he was wearing one on the day we were there.  Otherwise, he is normally naked with water coming out of his spout. But since it was some kind of special occasion, they had beer coming out of the fountain. Eeer - yum?

  

  Brussels is famous for its food: beer, waffles, chocolate/sweets, mussels. 

  Lollipops

  

  Marcolini chocolates - supposedly one of the finest chocolatiers in the world. 

  

  Beer tasting, L to R: Cider, Raspberry flavored, Lager, Ale, Wheat

  

  There's touches of art throughout the city which I really liked. 

  Buildings under construction are made to look a bit more interesting with murals such as these.

  

  The town cathedral sits next to this building so it is not hard to guess where the design was inspired from.

  

  Belgium is also famous for its comic strips and murals such as this one can be found throughout the city.  I like the juxtaposition of the new design amongst old buildings. 

  

  A wonky picture of us on the cathedral steps.

   

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