Brussels

We went to Brussels. It was the third time to get on Eurostar for me, but the first time to Brussels. And also it was our first overseas trip but we don't call this a honeymoon:) It's a weekend trip. The train was full, at least in our carriage. Some people got off at Lille station, some maybe changed train to get to Switzerland.

Here we are. We arrived at Brussels-Midi station. It was a cold and snowy day!! I'd never expected to have snow. I bet my husband is a snow bringer! Because he always brings snow, because when we had weekend trip to Rutland last time, there was heavy snow. Anyway, I had been so excited!

Brussels is the capital of the European Union, so there are flags of EU countries near the station. We got on a taxi to a hotel, checked in and started to stroll around.

Buildings were different from London's, rather similar to Paris' but more heavily decoration and gorgeous with gold! Especially seeing the buildings on the Grand-Place with my own eyes was really overwhelming! These pictures are dark because of weather, but they were shining!!

It's a postbox with a lot of junk stickers at the corner of a street. But I like this design:)

When we turned a coner, I could easily understand the reason of a crowd of people. Yes, it's Manneken-Pis. To my surprise, it got dressed up in a fancy costume and baggy hat. He is not naked anymore...

One of the places I wanted to go was Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a glazed shopping arcade. It was like a big treasure box, you can enjoy watching shopwindow displays and shopping, and gratify your senses. There are some chocolate shops and were crowded with sweets-lovers. 

We passed through the busy streets, visited St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. It's a Roman Catholic church. It was a magnificent building with a sense of holiness.

It was a good time to have a break with Belgian waffle, but we couldn't find a nice cafe with tables and seats. We were so frozen. I also took the wrong path, and it started to reduce my husband's mood. We found a nice cafe around Mont des Arts, and had a lovely lunch, but no Belgian waffle... My hands were very icy and it was even hard to take out money from my wallet!

We passed by the Musical Instrument Museum, our next destination was Palais Royal, the offical palace of the King and Queen of the Belgians (however it is not used as a royal residence). Again, I took the wrong path and got to there in a roundabout way. In front of the palace, there is the largest public Brussels Park.

My husband wanted to go back to the hotel to get warm and rest, while I wanted to visit Place du Petit-Sablon. Eventually, we continued to stroll together. We went to Place du Grand-Sablon, where is famous for antique market. There were some stalls, but it was not as interesting as I expected, maybe because of bad weather. There was Eglise Notre Dame du Sablon near there.

Brussels is a very attractive place to walk around. Shop windows are also an enjoyable tourist attraction. It must be a prime city for those who love chocolate:)

  

Next morning, it was white with snow outside and minus 5 degrees. During our stay in Brussels, we could see almost everything I planned, and it was a wonderful trip. I bought Speculoos from Maison Dandoy and some chocolates from La Belgique Gourmande:)

On our way back home, at Brussels-Midi station, my husband met his ex-colleagues!! What a small world!!!