Brussels
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The buildings along the Grand Place
Grand boulevards, reminiscent of Washington DC.
Brussels was the biggest disappointment of the trip. The city wasn’t totally uninteresting. The Grand Place, the central old town square, was absolutely gorgeous. The amazing amount of detail on the buildings was almost hard to believe; like you were in a caricature of Europe. But, the surrounding environments were made up mostly of long boulevards, lined with square, bulky buildings. It didn’t help that we had a travel book from Frommer’s that seem to highlight all the uninteresting things and not the things we found of interest. I did get a chance to practice my French. I succeeded in checking in to our hotel room, but, failed to correctly order our hamburgers at a fast food restaurant (we got three meals instead of two!). One full day there was enough.
The triple arch at the edge of the Parc de Cinquantenaire
Fountain and statue in front of a government building
On our one full day in Brussels, we managed to traverse as much as the city that was interesting. We trekked two miles out of our way to see the beautiful building at the Parc de Cinquantenaire and the only thing we missed was the Atomium, which was a ways out of the city. Aside from lots of government buildings and the royal palace, Brussels had several quaint parks and plaza. Just don’t fall for the girls on the streets who want donations for hospice care. It was a 40 Euro mistake Erich won’t make again. We ended our daily relatively early in Brussels and just relaxed in the hotel, took baths, and ordered room service.
