After leaving Luxembourg City, we were to head to Brussels this morning. We decided to hop on the …. train, and came across yet again another homeless immigrant who accosted us. Fortunately the police showed up to tell him to get off the train. we didn’t want to give him money so we decided to walk away, and I guess he didn’t like that.
We arrived at….. in terminal…. in Brussels around noon. We were to stay at the theater hotel in brussels, which proved to be very nice, yet getting to it was not exactly the easiest thing in the world. The walk from the train station to the hotel was in the red light district and there were some not so kochure people around who seemed to be eyeing us as pickpockets.Either way we were able to check in early and drop our things off so we could explore the city.
The first thing to see that day was the cathedral located about 300 yds from our hotel, on our way towards the city center, and the old town area. This was a spectacular cathedral with marble interior, and one of the best cathedrals in the city.
It was a short skip and step to the opera house located about 400yds away from this cathedral. Once again we were not allowed into the opera house due to construction and lack of time, but the outside of the building looked amazing and we were glad to be able to explore it, though it was only on the outside.
Now brussels is a massive city….almost the size of NYC or Paris. In fact it is one of the two cities the Eurostar goes to from London. I was not expecting the size to be so massive, though Iknew it was metropolitan. For this reason we decided toe xplore this half of the city which is much more centrally located. Of course being in belgium, I had to try on of the world famous Belgian waffles, and perhaps there is no other waffles that compares to Maison Dandoys waffles near the town square.
This was on our list today to complete, and we were only about 200 years away from this local treat. This waffle cost us 19.75 which was a little more expensive than what I was expecting for a waffle, but it did include a nice cappuccino, and cover charge with our table at the restaurant. It was during our meal that we were hearing a bunch of commotion around the corner, and to our pleasant surprise, it was the celebration of the world cup going on. Belgium was in the playoff matches, and the town square called….. was packed with people supporting their country. One thing about Europeans is there huge dedication to their country, and culture. this was on full display with uniforms, and jerseys with their teams logos, ad insignias. very cool display of patriotism which was refreshing to see, especially since we had not planned or known about this event. This town square features the famed ….building which is the clocktower for the city? This alone is worth checking out the plaza.
From this area we headed eastward through old buildings, and residences that exuded European culture to the main plaza…which features a nice terraced garden, with multiple statues of heroes of the country. This area would be a great place for someone to enjoy coffee in the early morning exploring while the sun came up and warmed the land. At the top of the terraced park, you could see the building of the town square which is the towns primary church, and begins possibly the most historic road of the city.
This area featured government buildings, which were nice to see from the outside, but are not allowed to tour during the day we were there. If one were to head north on the street, you would head into the monument, which is a massive gold tipped domed building, which is a church. It seemed like a beacon at the end of this road. With that in minds and not known what it was, we headed to this monument. This monument, much to our surprise, led us to the courtyards of the Brussels palace. This was absolutely stunning, and such a surprise to see that day. We wanted to get tot his area, but I did not expect the buildings to be so massive. This was definitely comparable to the Palace of Versaille, without the large terraces gardens outside. There were tours available. but we realized that if we did this tour, along with many potential others, it would eat up most of the time in the day, but as a visitor, I would highly recommend this area to explore. Such an amazing building! The gardens outside are nice as well, and are worth visiting, and spending time in.
We were starting to round our walking tour of the city out, and were beginning to casually head back towards the hotel. We ended up passing a few sites that were not expected, which was the war monument called…. which is a massive gold tipped obelisk of sorts, dedicated to previous wars and features exquisite bronzes and architecture around its base.
We made it to the old town area for the evening, and began to have diner. We decided on a local place and little to my knowledge did I know that mussels were their specialty in Brussels….which ironically rhymes. With that in mind, we feasted on pasta and mussels at a great place which was located in an alley way, which gave us easy access back to the hotel.
The walk back to the hotel brought us by a two cathedrals called….. which was a nice stop along the way back, but unfortunately neither of them allowed us into the buildings. Most of the time in Europe there is no issue with entering churches, just for this particular day and city, it was nt our luck. We decided to have one beer next to the hotel at a bar, which is where I discovered another wonderful beer called La Choufe white. This was a wonderful BELGIAN beer, and with that, I believe we had finished our full list of food items to try while in the cultural center of the country. It was time to explore that smaller towns the next day!
(5:10-8:22….from Luxembourg )
(7:16 IC 109 -9:54, 10:01 IC 532 -11:00)
WALKING TOUR
Royale Palace of Brussels
Eglise Notre dame Du Sablon
Manneken Pis
Maison Dandoy
Grand Place
Le Botanique
National Basilica of the sacred Heart
Atomium
Parc du Cinquantenaire
-Beer tour
-Public Market
-Old Town
HOTEL: Theater hotel brussels CONFIRMED 148016209435 (53.36)
EXPENSES
Day 15- brussel
7.25 coffee
4 bus
19.75 Maison dandoy waffles
4 city tax
39.55 dinner
6.40 beer
Total- 80.95 (47.50-1 46.50 over)