Brussels

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We arrived in Brussels late Friday night and spent about an hour and a half lost in the city looking for our hostel. Great start right? Finally checked in at Sleep Tight hostel, we searched for a place to eat dinner but unfortunately the only thing available at midnight in Brussels was a nice McDonalds cheeseburger.

Saturday morning was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. In a matter of three hours I had managed to eat 4 genuine “Belgium Waffles.” The first one consisted of just powdered sugar, but the following ones were covered with bananas, nutella, and whipped cream. It was a great switch from the traditional bread and cheese breakfast everywhere else in Europe.

After breakfast we made our way towards the Manneken Pis. This statue is a “must-see” monument in the city. The statue is a bronze fountain of a naked boy peeing into the fountains basin. From what I understood, I expected this fountain to be at least ten feet tall because of the importance to the city. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. The fountain only stands 61 cm tall. The statue is actually known for the costumes that it is dressed up in each week. There are a total of 250 costumes from which the city council chooses from each week; unfortunately he was simply naked when we were there.

Next on the must see list was the Atomium. The atomium was built in 1958 for the World Fair held in Brussels. It consists of 9 spheres that are all interconnected by steel tubes. The structure was built to resemble a iron crystal which was magnified by 165 million times. Inside the top sphere, there is a restaurant that overlooks the entire city. We attempted to have dinner in the restaurant but we quickly learned that there was a weeks waiting list to get inside.

To finish up the day in Brussels, we went on a search for the best “Belgium Chocolate” We visited famous stores such as Godiva, Leonidas, and Pierre Marcolini. While at Pierre Marcolini we were lucky enough to sit in on a presentation by the Marcolini family themselves on how theyre chocolate is made. It even came with a free sampling.

Sunday morning we took one last stroll through the city and caught our train back to Riva. It was a great weekend and Brussels was a beautiful city.

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