Bruxelles, Belgium (Feb 2013)

Benelux.  What?  Where in the heck is Benelux, and while I'm at it, where does Holland fit in?  A trip to Brussels (Bruxelles as they spell it here) helped answer that question.  Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg joined together (BeNeLux) several years ago to form a united economy that would help them compete in the larger EU.  Seems to have worked, and Holland is really Netherlands and neither of them has anything to do geographically with the folks in Norway, Sweden or Finland.  Geography lesson complete with my apologies to our friends from way up north!  (I'll save the language complications for another day.)

Cinquantenaire Park:  Quote of the Day "I'll bet this place is beautiful in the spring."  It was cold, but I thought the misty, gray fog was kind of ethereal!  The park was designed in 1880 for the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence from the Netherlands.

We arrived in Bruxelles and discovered the parking area for the hotel was impossible to find: our GPS “Heather” was quite confused!  After several passes around several *not so straight* European “blocks”, I ran to the hotel to inquire while Mike circled around again to wait for phone instructions.  

• Lessons learned: call ahead to find out where to park and get those directions;  
•  be prepared for your prepaid phone to run out of minutes/money really fast when “roaming” in a foreign country!  

Hotel Matignon, run by a wonderful French-speaking Belgian couple, was magnificent and only 2 blocks from the Grand Place!  Because we have a large family by European standards, we required 2 hotel rooms-- lofted “junior suites” right next to each other with views of the beautiful La Bourse (former Belgian stock exchange).  La Bourse was built in the late 1800’s with sculptures by Rodin adorning parts of the building. (This particular building project early in Rodin's career actually provided him the means to study in Italy and eventually be "discovered".)

View from our room--down the street into the Grand Place and the ruins under the street.  Right outside Hotel Matignon was an underground museum --during street renovations in the 1980’s, a large section of the medieval city was discovered.  Road work ceased, and a permanent museum was put in place for all to see!  Ruins from 12th century buildings and the bones of a nobleman were discovered at the site.

Waffles, real Belgian waffles, were the real conquest for this trip!  Zach had been dreaming of eating authentic waffles for several months!  One can find 2 types of waffles in Bruxelles:  Liège waffle--softer texture, sweeter batter with carmelized sugar coating, typically not rectangular,  and the Bruxelles waffle: crispier waffle, rectangle shape made from yeast batter with larger indentations on the top to hold all the gooey yummy toppings!  Just like there’s a coffee shop on every corner in Seattle, the same goes for waffle shops in Bruxelles!  Only €1 if you didn’t want all the gooey, sticky messy good stuff on top.

Of course, a trip to Belgium isn't complete with chocolate!  Truffles, rich and
creamy, in all sorts of shapes, colors and sizes!  Imagine our surprise in the chocolate
store when we spotted an old NCR (Dayton, Ohio) cash register being used for display!  

From the waffle shop, we wandered all over the town and discovered many beautiful buildings, interesting shops and lots of people.  Established as a market place in the 11th century, the Grand Place is an expansive square surrounded by Guildhalls (trade unions) and the City Hall --"Hotel de Ville".  The Grand Place now contains museums and shops--many of which sell Belgian lace and chocolate.  Near the Grand Place is Europe's first indoor mall, the beautiful St. Hubert Gallerie.  The glassed covered shopping center was constructed in 1846 and featured a glass barrel vaulted roof.  Inside, shops provided a meeting place for such giants as Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas.  Now it's full of high-end shopping and eating experiences.

top left:  guild halls; top right: City Hall
bottom left:  inside the Galleria; right: Belgian lace store

Manneken Pis is quite the tourist magnet and has achieved much fame for the city.  The sculpture, by Duquesnoy, was commissioned in 1619.  Legend claims a wealthy man lost his son in a crowd and discovered him 5 days later piddling in the street.  

Our boys had a hard time understanding why all the fuss over the peeing statue!  More intriguing to them was the escargot cart across the street!  However interesting, the only brave soul was Zach who discovered eating snails tasted better than it looked!

And, of course, eating dinner…when in Brussels, one must eat mussels!

The menus were fun to read--French & Flemish
 (or Dutch, depending on which you prefer to call this strange looking language!)

The Atomium was a cool structure to visit:  contracted for the 1958 World's Fair, a series of elevators and escalators transports one from one sphere to the next --each one with interesting science exhibits, amazing panoramic views of the city and even an area reserved for overnight school groups--sleep in a rain molecule!

Near the Triumphal Arch in Cinquantenaire Park was the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History --it was not really that interesting to the boys who spotted Auto World museum across the plaza!  TopGear fanatics, these boys really enjoyed seeing all their favorite European cars under one large roof!

Just when we thought the only sweet shop in Bruxelles was a waffle or chocolatier, we stumbled upon Sucx --a kid's dream--every kind of candy imaginable and available for purchase by the pound! 

As we wandered the streets of Bruxelles, we kept running into comics painted on building facades. Brussels is the birth place of many famous comic strips, including the Adventures of Tintin and the Smurfs!

None of our European visits is complete without stepping inside a cathedral --this one, St Nicolas, was just down the street from our Hotel.  The organ was just fantastic to look at --I'm sure it sounded even greater!  The beautiful dove window, tucked into an alcove of the sanctuary, was positioned above the baptismal font.
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Built in the 11th century, St Nicolas is the patron saint of traders.  How apropos the church was surrounded by trade booths--people selling all sorts of things and squeezed into the smallest of spaces.