Brussels - waffles, beer, chocolate, frites - but not a single sprout anywhere!

So there is more to Brussels than a peeing boy...

I like Brussels - not as large as Paris, London, etc - probably more like the size of Rome if memory serves correct.  They have an efficient subway that thankfully we are only a 1/3 mile from or so.  Works great if the ticket machines work... if not, well we're only another 10 minutes to the next stop.
We're about 2 stops from the main train station and about 5 from the historic center of town.

Waffles anyone?

As mentioned we started the day getting waffles (of course) and seeing the Manneken Pi.
From there we were a 2 block walk from the Grand Place square.  Of all the great squares in Europe that I have visited - Leicester Square, St. Peter's Square, the Piazza del Duomo in Milan - the Grand Place to me rivals only maybe Piazza San Marco in terms of wow factor.  I realize I haven't seen every major square in Europe or even the minor ones, but when you walk into the square through any of the narrow streets surrounding it, you instantly stop and likely say "WOW!" out loud.  It is a beautiful place and well preserved. 

The dark, grey, imposing King's House - now the City Museum

Scaffolding was being erected for a concert

The Town Hall tower

The Grand Place is completely surrounded by historic and intricately decorated buildings all well preserved.  The most notable is what is the City Hall with the tall, pointed clock and bell tower which looms over the many café tables and umbrellas with the grace and nobility of a palace.  Atop the tower is a golden statue of St. Michael slaying a devil.  The hall was built in the 1400s.  Just opposite of the tower is the grey, dark former King's House.  Today this houses the city museum and the thousands of costumes that the Manneken Pi has adorned over the centuries.  We toured the museum under the guise that we could see a large portion of this collection....and were quite disappointed to discover only 4 on display.  But if you want to see the entire collection, then you can sit at a table on the 4th floor and use a giant tablet type table to navigate through images of every costume the boy has been given by just about every country over the many centuries.  There are dozens from the United States alone including several military versions, cowboys, football players, and of course an Elvis Pi.

That museum was of course stuffy and hot as it is housed in an 800 year old building  and they are unwilling to open windows because of the preservation attempts going on inside the building.  Besides Manneken Pi costumes, the museum housed some impressive religious and cultural items from centuries of prestige and regality.

The Grand Place today has converted old guild halls and houses for aristocracy into cafes, chocolate shops, and museums.  The Hard Rock Café, Starbucks Coffee, and Godiva Chocolatiers have all claimed prime real estate.

One of three beers

Following our museum tour, the ladies sprinted across to the square to their beloved temple of temptations otherwise known as... Starbucks.  I noticed several folks sitting out under umbrellas over tables for outdoor cafes all enjoying fresh cold Belgian beers.  So while I waited for the ladies I perused menus and finally found the place for me.  The ladies joined me at a table in the shadow of the Town Hall tower and I took in a 3-beer sampler - a light, medium, and dark.  I never did get the name of the beer but that was okay.  It was fun to taste and having no real food in me, it was also silly to feel after about 2 beers.  I needed some food...and when in Belgium... you have three clear choices:  waffles (already had that), chocolate (not the right fit with beer), and frites (fries).

Oh yes.. fries.  No one does fries better than the Belgians.  Time to try the famous Belgian frites,
And that is exactly what we did.

On our way to find fries, we found shops...and a quant historic church.  While the ladies shopped, I checked out St. Nikolaus.  Pretty awesome place... but I was still hungry and the ladies showed up...and the frites were within eye sight!

FRITES!!

Maybe we WILL get some

Let me tell you...those waffles were something special.  These frites were amazing!!!  3 Euro for a big cone of hot, fresh, twice dunked fries.  Oh my my.  l was happy.  My sister was happy.  And once the girls got a taste (they initially said they did not want any) they also were happy.  Let me tell you, those fries make people happy.

I'll have to continue our sites of Brussels later - after this we trekked over to the Museum of Musical Instruments - something Alyssa wanted to see and was highly rated.

For now we're trying to figure out what we're doing today.