Brussels. We spent half the day here and not one word about sprouts.

8494 This is the Automium.  Originally the spheres had aluminum skins but they were replaced in the early 2000 by stainless steel panels.  The tubes connecting the spheres contain escalators that allow you to go into the spheres to see the displays and artifacts they contain.  The very top sphere is an observation deck.  Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it was not intended to be a permanent building but it became an icon of the city so it's still here.

8517 This is Mannaken-Piz and he is.  Crowds of people walk down the short street to see him and then walk right back out usually eating a waffle from the stand right next to him.  Talk about a prime location.

8605 The Brussels Town Hall on the Grand Place.  The long side is the oldest part of the building and the tower is the newest.  Those are relative terms as they were all completed in the 1400s.

8618 D with the Maison du Roi built right across the plaza by the local duke to remind people he still existed. 

 

April 15 – Brussels, Belgium.  This morning we say goodbye to the Swiss Jewel and embark on our bus ride to Brussels.  We arrived there about noon and started a short driving trip around the city.  Our first stop was at the Atomium.  This logo of the city was built for the 1958 World's Fair.  The shape is that of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. 

 

After that we drove past the Royal Palace and the park dedicated to the use of the royals.  The palace has huge greenhouses that contain their collection of plants from all over the world.  They have a large collection of tropical plants.  One side of the greenhouses has had their windows whitewashed.  My grandmother used to use this technique in the spaces where the plants thrived in partial sun.  The whitewash cut out just enough of the light for this type of plant.  We also drove past the Neuhaus chocolate shop.  Mr. Neuhaus was the man who created the praline or truffle as we call them in the states.  (A praline is a whole different thing in Texas and has nothing to do with chocolate.) 

 

Our final destination was the Hotel Amigo a short block off the city's main square, the Grand Place, and right at the start of the pedestrians only zone.  It's a great location.  I'm glad we've booked an extra night here. 

 

One of the hottest tourist sights has been around since 1619 when they installed a very small nude little boy on a street corner.  He's located up high and he's a fountain.  His name is Mannaken-Piz.  And that's exactly what he's doing on that corner.  He has over 700 costumes; most were made for him to wear to commemorate a person or an event.  Today he's dressed in some sort of uniform with a medallion, hat and coat.  Around town you can buy chocolate reproductions of him, some about the same size as the statue. 

 

We took a short walk to the Grand Place while they were getting our luggage sorted.  It's impressive, a large square surrounded by old buildings including the city hall.  The square is mostly unobstructed, a few artists have set up some displays of their art but not too many.  It has an imposing assortment of buildings including the town hall.  This gothic building from the middle ages is a masterpiece.  As it now stands there are two wings and a very tall tower.  The wing on the left as you face the building is the oldest part, completed in 1420.  When the local guilds were admitted to the city government the smaller wing on the right side was added in 1444.  The original building has a small belfry attached.  It was thought this did not quite go with the building as it was updated so in 1455 they added the 310 foot tower that completed the structure.  The spire is topped off with a 18-foot high golden statue of the archangel Michael, Brussel's patron saint.

 

Apparently this monument to the city's government irritated the local duke so he constructed a building, also Gothic, across the Grand Place from the city hall to remind everyone that he was still the duke and they were just the city.  It's called the Maison du Roi, although no king has ever lived there.  The Dutch speakers in Belgium call it the Breadhouse because it's built on the site of the old, unused bread market.  The entire square and the buildings around it are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Just like in Antwerp, the guilds also constructed grand buildings along the square.  The success of the merchant class was bringing it to prominence over the royalty who were mostly broke.

 

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café just of the Grand Place.  We were eating at an off hour and all the cafes nearby were full of coffee and beer drinkers.  Plus the Hard Rock operates on US rules, meaning it doesn't take 3 hours to order, receive and pay for your food.

 

We will be traveling by train again day after tomorrow and we want to ship some of our heavier acquisitions home so getting back to the hotel and sorting things out was a time sensitive matter.