I haven’t had a chance to update in awhile. Life suddenly got busy with traveling, school and parties (>.<”). Get ready for a series of updates on what I’ve been up to the past weeks!
For two weekends, I’ve headed to Belgium. First just to Brussels for a day trip (Sept. 20) and then to Brussels, Antwerp and Brugge for a weekend trip with a high school friend.
The train ride from Maastricht to Brussels is about 1.5 hours. On the weekend you have to switch trains in Liege, Belgium. The first place we headed to was the Grand Place (Grote Markt) in the center of Brussels. The Grand Place is a UNESCO World Heritage site and as soon as you enter it, you definitely know why. It was gorgeous. Words cannot describe the intricate detailing that went into the architecture. I can only imagine how long it took for it to be built.
The town hall
Even the second time I went back, it was still really awe inspiring. Everywhere you turned there was something different and interesting to look at.
Another major highlight for tourists is the Manneken Pis. No one really knows why this statue has become such an icon for Brussels. One popular legend about the statue is that a man had lost his child and when he finally spotted his boy at this corner relieving himself, the father created this statue as gratitude. The Manneken has a variety of clothing options. Upwards of 600 different types of outfits. In my two trips to Brussels, I saw the Manneken Pis in 3 different outfits.
Another popular site, just off of Grand Place is the 't Serclaes monument. Everard ‘t Serclaes was assassinated for his participation in a rebellion against the Lord of Gaasbeek. This statue was made in commemoration of him. It is said that by rubbing the statue, especially the arm and the dog’s nose, will bring you luck.
Around the corner from this statue is the St. Hubert Gallery, a covered shopping area. There are two parts of the gallery: the King’s Gallery and the Queens Gallery. Dividing them is the Rue des Bouchers, a famous restaurant area (more about this later).
The galleries reminded me of the Louvre with its high ceilings and intricacies in the wall. Instead of displaying fine art, the galleries were lined with fine chocolates and lace. There were so many varieties of chocolate available! Pretty much anything you wanted, it was available. Just walking through and taking a look in the shop windows was pretty cool. And you can smell the chocolate! Heaven =)
Next we headed to the St. Michael and St. Goedale Cathedral. There was a wedding going on so we weren’t able to see too much of the cathedral. From what I saw it was pretty impressive. This church has been here since at least the 11th century and has a lot of history behind it. There is a crypt, but we decided not to go.
Inside the church with the wedding procession
We headed to the Parc de Bruxelles and the Palais Royal next. The park, was not a park – not by the Canadian standards at least. Yes, there are trees and some bushes, but no grass. The paths were huge, filled with rocks. Not too much green space, but I guess its still nice as its right in the middle of the city.
The Palais Royal overlooks the Parc which use to be the hunting ground for a couple dukes. It is the official palace of the King of Belgium, but the King doesn’t live here (he lives somewhere on the outskirts of Brussels).
After all this activity, we were starving so we headed back to the Rue des Bouchers for some mussels. It was such a touristy thing to do, especially with the waiters coming out to talk to you if you even glance in their direction. For 10€ I got a bowl full of mussels and frites. I not a big fan of mussels in the first place, but wanted to try them anyways. Now I can say I’ve had mussels in Brussels. ^_^
We also went to the EU buildings, the Palais de Justice, Chocolate museum and to a viewpoint of the city. I wanted to go to the comic book museum (Tin Tin references are every where in the city), but in the end we decided not to go opting for the chocolate museum instead. Looking back I really regret this decision. The chocolate museum was not worth the entrance fee (4€ for students). All they had were displays of teapots and lots of posters. They had a demonstration of how they make chocolates, but the person did not speak English very well. If I ever head back to Brussels, I definitely will be going to the comic book museum and the musical instrument museum.
Streets in Brussels are extremely confusing. They use two languages: Flemish and French. As a result, each street has two names. When using a map you need to keep in mind which language you’re in and look accordingly. Definitely almost got lost a couple times because of this!
To see more pictures, head here.
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