Days 116 - 117 (June 30 – July 1, 2013): Brussels, Belgium

The Quick Facts

* Our last Eurail train ride from Bruges to Brussels
* 1.5 days in Brussels, the capital of the EU and home to one of the most beautiful squares we’ve seen in Europe
* Stayed with my old friend from high school Kate who, despite having four small children, was kind enough to open her home to us for two nights and even cook us dinner on one of them (yes, she might be superwoman)

The Good:

* Catching up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in an age
* Brussels is a bustling city, with beautiful architecture and very defined neighborhoods that make it quite lovely and livable
* Great park spaces – the city devotes a lot of space and attention to its parks

The Bad:

* Nothing

The best thing about Brussels is the opportunity to see a very old friend….although over the course of two days we managed to eek out one picture together which is a little pathetic:

 

Anyhoo, the central part of Brussels is demarcated by the Grand Place, which is one of the most beautiful and powerful squares we’ve seen in Europe.  I’m sure these pictures don’t do it justice, partly because they were setting up for some event while we were there so there was a lot of stage construction activity obscuring the grandeur of the square.

 

There’s also a cathedral, which is big but not that impressive once you get on the inside.

 

And then there’s this….a peeing statue (the so-called “Manneken Pis”).  Not sure what to make of it, or that it’s one of the most popular sights for people to go see while in Brussels.

 

Slightly (OK, more than slightly) more appealing is the Arc de Triomphe knock-off in Parc Cinquantenaire.  It’s huge and imposing, and unfortunately closed on the day we went so we couldn’t go to the top.  Oh well, we got some good pictures anyway…

 

 

And that was that.  Our time went by too quickly.  With that, it was our last train ride across the English Channel to London.

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