Discovering Brussels

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Geo: 50.8371, 4.36761

So yesterday I thought Brussels would not have enough to offer for more than one day. I was mostly right, unless you want to go to a lot of museums. I don't want to do that so one day was fine for me.

First, the Novotel has a huge buffet breakfast! Yogurts, veggies, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, potato cakes, cereals, pastries of all kinds, breads of all kinds and pancakes. There was a variety of juices, chocolate and regular milk and a coffee machine that looked fancy but I did not use. I really enjoy the yogurt that is part of the breakfast. I had it at the last two hotels as well with a variety of fruits to put on it. Here there were apricot halves that seemed to be soaked in honey. Delicious! I had a large breakfast so I would not need much lunch.

It was a rainy morning, but it stopped just before I left the hotel for the day. I started by walking around the hotel to look at the tower that is just out my window. According to my map, it is called the Black Tower and was part of the first fortifications built around the city in the 13th century. So kind of neat to look out my window and see that! I also walked across the street to Saint Catherine Church, which was an interesting old church and very quiet inside.

I joined the Viva Brussels free walking tour that left the square at 10. It was a small group of people, which made it easy to hear the guide, Yasser. The tour covered all the main highlights of the city as well as some legends and the places to get the best fries, cheapest waffles and free museums. I am glad I took the walk as I got a very good overview of the city and it's history.

We started in the Grand Place and learned all about how it came about. This is the main market square and a river used to flow through the city, which is why the market (and later the city) came to be. There is also a restaurant where Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto. He was then kicked out of the city!

Apparently no visit to Brussels is complete without viewing the famous Manneken Pis, a tiny statue of a tiny boy peeing. This little statue has over 900 costumes and this morning he was wearing one about something but we did not know what. After what I saw later, he should have been wearing a One Direction t-shirt!

We walked through the Royal Galleries, which is a large enclosed shopping area. This led us to the main cathedral in Brussels, the Cathedral of St Michel et Saint Gudule. I don't remember who Saint Gudule is other than it was a woman. The cathedral is very impressive and I had to walk back later to spend more time inside. The stained glass windows have lots of light colored glass and they make the interior very bright. Some windows use more reds and blues and cast a darker glow, but this cathedral was airy and bright. I very much enjoyed it!

We walked by one of the Houses of Parliament for Belgium. There are 6 and they each govern a different region based on the language spoken there. Yasser explained a little about Belgian politics but said most Belgians don't even understand it so he wasn't going to really try. Besides the Belgium Parliament, there is also the European Parliament as Brussels is the capital of Europe as well. So lots of government happening in this city!

The last part of our walk took us through Brussels Park, past the Royal Palace and ended in a square with a nice panoramic view of the city. We past several museums that are all located around their own square. These include the Musical Instrument Museum (the saxophone was invented in Belgium!) and the Museum of Ancient and Modern Art. I wasn't going to pay for those because I learned about free ones on the tour!

I walked back through the garden and caught the metro to the European Union section of town. This is where the free Museum of the Army and Military History is located and I was interested to see what it had to offer. First, it had a bathroom. Second, it had a small cafeteria where I got a sandwich. Third, it had interesting displays of airplanes, weapons and uniforms. All the signs were in French and Dutch so I just enjoyed looking and trying to figure out the words if I wanted to really know something. Being free, it did not matter how long I visited! There is also the free Royal Museum of Art and History across the plaza however I did not check that one out as I was ready to head back.

I again took the metro and got off by the cathedral to be able to spend more time there. It was then easy to find my way back down the hill to the main square. The cathedral is not far from the Central Station, where I was so confused yesterday. Now I would be able to find my way there and back if I wanted to walk.

I was now ready for a snack and Yasser had pointed out the street where the waffles are one euro (that's plain with no toppings which is how the locals eat them) so I headed down the street to get my snack. Then I had my way blocked by a large group of people. I could not figure out what the deal was since I could find my way around, but then they started chanting "One Direction" and I saw the police and figured they were staying in the hotel and all these girls were waiting to see them. It was like a mad house trying to walk through them so I gave up and went back to the first waffle place I saw. I don't know if the guys ever came out the front door or not, but I'm sure it was a treat to these screaming girls if they did!

So Brussels has enough to offer for one day or maybe more if you like museums or just wandering city streets. I don't feel as comfortable finding my way around here so I stuck to the center where I mostly knew where I was going. Taking the walk helped a lot and I am glad people offer the free tours. You can tip the guide at the end and I really appreciated that Yasser left his bag and did not look as we put in what we felt the tour was worth. He was a great guide and I highly recommend his tour, or any other free tours in any other cities, to get you started on your visit. 7 miles today!

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Photos

Royal Palace
The main palace is outside the city. This is just the "working" palace

Comments

[MOM]

Sounds like you had a good tour today and that military museum sounds like something dad would enjoy. He might like the waffles too! Enjoy your last day tomorrow. CU soon!