Brussels, Belgium - Aug 9 - 10, 2009

Based on the travel guides, we didn't have the highest of expectations for Brussels. Honestly, we picked it because it looked like it was a good place to stop before moving on to Germany, plus it was another country to add to the list... Are we ever glad we stopped! We had a great time in Brussels!





We were a bit late getting out of Paris. When we arrived at the train station they told us that all of the direct trips to Brussels were sold out for the day... We were able to get a transfer in Lille-Flanders. Then we had to walk to a different train station in that city, and catch another train. When it was all over our 1 hour train ride took 7 hours, haha. Oh well, we got to see some of the French countryside.

We didn't get checked into our room until after 10pm. We were hungry and curious about the city, so we decided to check out a few block radius around our hotel, it seemed like a safe enough area when we got in. We were hoping to find a convenience store that was open until 11. It was Sunday night, so we weren't expecting much. Boy we were wrong! Brussels was booming! We wandered down street after street and they were full of restaurants, bars, music and a very diverse crowd of people. The place was swarming! We made our way to the central plaza (Grand Place) and found out that the city puts on a light/music show on face of one of the biggest/oldest buildings in the city. It was the only building in the area that survived an attack by the French in 1695. Kind of ironic since it was actually the target of the attack. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera that night since we were just looking for something quick to eat... We took in the show and continued wandering around with the crowds until 2am! We decided to call it a night, but the streets were still full of people. On Sunday night!

The next day we explored further from the plaza. We checked out the sights from the guide books and websites. Brussels really seems like it has a nice balance between the old buildings and new modern ones. There is a very large park near the city centre that really shows this.



While we were wandering we started to get the feeling that the city really makes an effort to keep the main streets clean and presentable, but even 1 or 2 blocks off the main streets you start to see some really shabby areas full of grafiti and grime... We really only had 1 day in Brussels, so we stuck to the major tourist areas. We checked out the statue of Don Quixote and the famous "Boy Peeing in the Fountain" (Manneken Pis). We ate real Belgium Chocolates (even Carolina loved them!) and Belgium Waffles with strawberries and ice cream. That was a true taste of heaven! It wasn't until we read a bunch of post cards and tshirts that we realized that Brussels is the capitol of the European Union. At the end of the day we were left longing for more. Hopefully we will make it back to Brussels some day so we can finish experiencing the city.







The next stop is Essen, Germany where Carolina's friend Edgar lives.