Mussels in Brussels

Well, I am a couple of weeks late with this post but better late than never. I was lucky enough to go on a group trip with the Association of American Women of Aberdeen to Brussels. The organizers, Lisa and Sherri, did a great job, with plans for a couple of tours, a day trip to Bruges, and a really nice group dinner. We flew in Thursday via London Heathrow where we had enough time to do a little bit of shopping and being a group of women we took full advantage. We arrived in Brussels and took the very efficient train system to the center of the city. Our hotel was just a few steps from St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. Which is where we began our tour with our guide Johan. He was extremely knowledgeable and told us a lot about the military history of each of the places we visited. We went inside the cathedral and I was very impressed with amazing stain glass windows, the sculptures of the 12 apostles and an incredible pulpit carved with impressive decorations.

We then continued on up the hill which apparently is where the rich used to live, the poor lived at the bottom of the hill. In fact these days it is very similar...

The architecture in Brussels is very impressive, the variety of styles and colours are really worth seeing. We continued on into Brussels park by the Royal Palace. The park is reminiscent of the parks I've seen in France, it was a really nice peaceful park with large paths, fountains and huge trees. The peace was disrupted a little by the invading parrots, apparently they were introduced somehow and are now taking over and moving out across the city. The Royal Palace was our next stop, it is the working Palace for Belgian royalty, they have another palace that they live in. We moved on and saw some more sights, more parks, more intriguing buildings and a really neat clock that plays a song at the top of every hour with a statue of a well-dressed man in a top hat ringing the bell with his cane. By this time our stomachs were growling and there happened to be a waffle van close-by. We made Johan take a break from our tour so we could have a snack. The waffles are really tasty, they are warm, with little chunks of sugar in them.

Next we stopped at the Grand Savlon, a square that seemed to specialize in chocolate shops, Johan gave us the run-down on the different brands. It was at this point that I made a mental note to come back here and buy a sample of each brand of chocolate to determine which was the best.

Manneken Pis is one of the major sights in Brussels, if you don't know what it is, it is a small bronze statue of a little boy that is peeing into a fountain. There are many legends to why he is there, but of course the central theme is a urinating child.

We ended our tour at the Grand Place, the major square, it is the home to some really incredible buildings and every 2 years it hosts the carpet of flowers, from pictures I have seen it looks really cool.

The next day we were off to Bruges, Johan arrived with a bus to whisk us there. We took a little detour to see where the royal family lives, and a stop at the Atomium, which was built for the 1958 World's Fair.

We arrived in Bruges and Johan was again full of great information. We walked through the Begijnhof, it is a group of small white houses that was founded for the daughters of wealthy families. It was similar to a convent in that there were no men allowed inside, except the priest for the little chapel. The women did not take vows and were allowed to leave and get married, if the opportunity arose. They worked with the poor people of Bruges, doing good deeds, etc. It was a very peaceful place. These days there are a few Carmelite nuns that live in a couple of the houses, and the other houses have been made into low-income housing.

Another stop at a waffle place for a snack and we continued on. Walking through a tiny alley that was at one time the "red-light district" of Bruges. And then for something completely different, we went into Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk, an interesting church that houses a Michelangelo sculpture of the Madonna and Child.

We were then booked in for a canal tour, so we all hopped on the boat and were given a fantastic view of Bruges from the canals. Similar to Brussels, the architecture in Bruges is amazing and varied. After our canal tour we went walking again, we stopped at the Burg Square, with the different styles of architecture represented. Then on the Grote Markt, Bruges' big square that is home to a belfry, that is 83 metres tall. Again a nice square that is lined with restaurants and cafes.

That was the end of the tour of Bruges and we were left to our own devices. Time for shopping!! I first stopped by the best lace shop in Bruges and found some beautiful hand-made lace (Johan gave us a tutorial in determining if lace is hand-made or not). Johan had also given me a tip on a great shop called the Beer Temple where I found some unique beer glasses for Rik and of course the matching beers. Last stop was a shop full of Belgian tapestries. Nice stuff, and I found a nice souvenir of the Begijnhof in tapestry form.

Louise, Holly and I took a break from shopping and sat in the sun and enjoyed a raspberry beer on the square. We stayed there until it was time for dinner, where we met up with the rest of the group. Lots of goods were shown off as it seemed that everyone else was successful in their shopping excursions as well. We had a lovely dinner and found our way back to the train station and caught the train back to Brussels. The train system in Belgium is very impressive, very efficient and reasonably priced.

The next day a group of us went back to the Atomium to take the elevator to the top. It was a gorgeous day and the view was quite impressive. Nice, but not sure it was worth the 11 euros to get in. To continue the theme of slightly cheesy tourist attractions - Mini Europe was next. It was a bunch of miniature famous buildings and landmarks. Louise and I had fun pushing the buttons that would make stuff move and light up. It's good to act like a kid every once and a while... But Mini-Europe did inspire me to travel more and see these places, full-size.

We had a nice lunch at a greek restaurant and headed back into Brussels city centre. We happened upon the Pride parade, it was crazy busy and wasn't really a parade because they weren't moving anywhere. The music was so loud and it wasn't really our scene so we decided to go shopping instead. Yes... more shopping. Then it was followed up by going to the champagne bar before dinner. It was really nice to sit with everyone and chat over a glass of champagne.

Sunday was our last day in Brussels, We all split up and went our separate ways. I really wanted to walk about the city and revisit some of the places we went to see on our tour that we kind of breezed by. Luckily my friends Louise and Sherri came along with me and we had a great time. Some shopping and a coffee in the square was a nice end to our trip.

Our trip home was a little nerve-wracking with an ash cloud coming towards the UK but luckily we made it home just fine.

I apologize for the writing in this post, Rik's writing skills are far superior to mine, don't worry he'll be back on soon...