Strolling through Brussels, Belgium
japra | Aug 06, 2008 | Comments 8
Our first stop on our trip last week was in Bruxelles or Brussels, Belgium. One of Mr. DJ’s colleagues said that “Brussels reveals her charms slowly.” Hmmm. I don’t know. I thought the old girl was pretty charming from the get go. Although my opinion might have been swayed by where we stayed…
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The Conrad. The same Belgian colleague said that this is where the rock stars stay. Well, I didn’t see any rock stars, but the hotel was very nice. Our room was BIG and most importantly, Roxi could stay in the room with us. The bathroom was huge too–bigger than my studio in England. Really!
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The cafes near our hotel were tucked away on the side streets. We didn’t eat here because somehow we turned the other direction and ended up walking around in the neighborhood behind the hotel. We found a small bistro, which was actually pretty good. There were fewer people, at least!
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I loved this garden! English gardens are still my favorite, but I like the orderliness of everything here.
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Brussels architecture seems like a marriage of Dutch form with details that reminded me of Paris.
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Close up of some buildings in the old town square or Grand Place, which dates back to the early 1400s.
The Grand Place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and rightly so. It’s probably the prettiest town square we’ve seen yet.
I mean, just look!
It was stunning.
Here’s where we had the drinks and nibbles from yesterday’s post. It was hot, by the way–in the high 80s. That’s hot when you’re walking around playing tourist. It’s not so hot if you’re in Texas and going from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car to an air conditioned store. ;-)
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This is a typical street in the old part of Brussels. Lots of shopping and little food places.
Here’s what I wanted to see–this famous Brussels icon…
Mannequin Pis or Little Man Pee! I was surprised to see him wearing this costume. Apparently the little guy has several hundred outfits. A brass band plays when he changes clothes–hee hee! I think this statue provides a lot of inspiration because we saw two men (one in The Hague and one in Pairs) striking this pose. They were facing a wall at the time. Ew.
Saw this on the way back to the hotel. Look how tall those doors are compared to the garage door.
From our hotel room window. Don’t you love that terrace? The next morning, there were people having coffee out there.
Filed Under: Belgium • Blog • Brussels • Destinations
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
“Brussels architecture seems like a marriage of Dutch form with details that reminded me of Paris.”
Look at you! You’re becoming so well-traveled that you can actually say and realize things like the above quote.
It looks like such an interesting and beauiful city. You’re so lucky!
Absolutely gorgeous!!
What a gorgeous city and your photos capture it so well. It sounds like it was the perfect vacation. I miss the beautiful architecture of Europe and the history.
Good to hear (below) that your husband didn’t get caught in a nasty hurricane. The weather does seem to be getting so much more extreme lately. It’s wet and cool here – makes me feel like I’m back in England.
You make me want to go back there. Your pictures of the architecture really show exactly what its like.
They have a great art museum, and I love to just site at a cafe and people watch in the main square.
I went to Brussels last with some Dutch family friends for a underground Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit and then a special dinner afterwards. They are the kind of people who stop for coffee every few hours, lol! It was great fun and amazing food.
I also like window shopping, there are some great clothing innovative designers in Brussels.
Alyson–Ah, if I were really good, I could drop in words like like “stepped gable” without getting tongue tied.
Laurie–Yes!!
Sarah–I will miss all this oldness when we go back. I liked your post today about the SPF! I actually wished that I had remembered the sunscreen on our trip. It was hot and sunny. I got a tan!
Susan–Oh, it was all I could do not to linger and sigh as I walked through Brussels. I am a pokey walker in general, but put me in an interesting city, and I’m crawling at a snail’s pace. I try to remember that there is no way I can see it all in one trip and that one day I’ll go back. I bet that Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit was fun! And I don’t think I’d mind stopping every few hours for a little refreshment :-)
I’ve never been to Brussels — obviously an oversight which I must correct! Your tour makes it all look lovely, and I really want to check out some of Little Man Pee’s other outfits.
Thanks for the ‘trip’, for some reason I thought you had gone away for 2 weeks.
How do you manage with the restaurant menus (in French?)
Christine–Roxi and I speak a little French, but for the most part, most of the locals speak enough English to help us with the menu. Another good tip is to read a guide book for “local specialties” and write them down on a card to carry in your purse. This is what I had to do in Germany where many of the menus were in German only! Also, a lot of the restaurants in the big tourist areas have menus in English too. But when in doubt, memorize the words for chicken, beef, pork, etc. :-)