Brussels

Brussels was the last city we explored as part of our 2016 European adventure. I liked it a lot more than I expected. On second thought, I didn't know what to expect. While I still prefer the more Dutch-influenced part of Belgium, there is something rather cosmopolitan about the French-influenced part of Belgium. Perhaps it is because Brussels is the headquarters of the EU.

In any event, I have some decent photos to share.

We stayed in a lovely apartment in a cute neighborhood close to the train station, the Grand Place (town square where the city hall is located), and the oddly famous (and sometimes dressed) Manneken-Pis statue.

View from our living room. My dad spent a lot of time
watching the comings and goings.

Self-explanatory, eh?

We weren't far from the royal palace, which faces the main park in Brussels. Dan and I liked the palace, but thought that the park wasn't photo-worthy.

We met my parents for lunch in the Saint Catherine's neighborhood where we saw a fountain with cool animal-themed fountains within it, and then a very ornate iron train sculpture thing.

Mussels in Brussels. Not as good as the ones I had in Bruges,
but c'mon, mussels in Brussels.

Zoom in to see the animals.

Dan and I went on a very fabulous chocolate and beer tour of Brussels, led by the very knowledgeable and witty Marie. There are a lot of adjectives in that sentence for good reason. It was the highlight of visiting Brussels, in my mind. If you go to Brussels, you must do this tour. I have a lot of photos of the various chocolate shops and little pubs we visited, as well as nearly every type of beer that Dan drank there and throughout our trip. I am happy to share the link to my photo album, if you want to see them.

I liked this chocolatier the best, and went back
the next day to buy gifts.

After consuming high alcohol beers elsewhere,
we were happy to eat some bread, cheese, and salami
with the beer we got at this deli/store/bar.

Like Bruges and Ghent, there were
little alleyways in Brussels... with bars.

The next day, while Dan and I lounged, my parents went to the Atomium, from the 1958 Worlds' Fair. There are crazy steep escalators connecting those little spheres.

Purported view from the Atomium

Part of our lounging consisted making a repeat trip to Toone, one of the bars we visited on our tour. It is a weird little place where they also do puppet shows. With marionettes, not hand puppets. The old marionettes can be found throughout the bar.

The next day we took a train back to Amsterdam, where my Dad proceeded to eat a lunch of leftover salami and crackers, stinking up the train and getting cracker crumbs everywhere. He was cracking me up. He's such a good sport.

We spent the night at a hotel in Amsterdam - the only hotel of the trip and the place where I suspect the fraud on our credit card began. Other than that, it was a lovely hotel and the food we had for dinner was rather good. Plus, they had good instant cocoa and nice bathtubs in the guest rooms. 

Reflecting on another international trip gone well.