Waffles and peeing fountains. That is a decent summary of our day in Brussels.
We dropped John off at work, then made the 90-minute traffic-filled commute in to Brussels (should have been an hour). So it was already almost noon and we had to leave by three. Whomp whomp.
As we drove in, we went down a street full of embassies, many which had soldiers with massive assault rifles standing out front.
Once we parked, I was already a little stressed as we started our walk. Driving over three hours already that morning didn't help. Plus, Brussels is a large city (1.2M) with large city traffic and brazen pedestrians, and I haven't had to deal with that much other than Lyon. But we pressed on.
My plan was: 1. Grand-Place; 2. Peeing fountain tour (there are three!); 3. Tour Cantillon Brewery and pick up some delicious lambic beer to bring back to the States.
Im still sad about it, but I never made it to Cantillon. My lack of GPS meant I did a few stupid things that sucked up our time. I had the foresight of taking screen shots of parking garage addresses and names, and walking directions from the Grand-Place to each fountain, but if I couldn't find a street I had to just figure it out aka wander all over. I asked one shopkeeper (after buying some of her damn expensive chocolate) for directions and she wasn't any help so I decided I was on my own.
First snafu: I headed in the direction of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, thinking it was the Grand-Place because I didn't look behind me to see even taller spires, duh (and then wondered why the map had shown the parking garage to be so much closer!):
At least it was a pretty mistake. 11th century cathedral flanked by 13th century towers.
Also stupid: I was using a map off Trip Advisor, but I couldn't really zoom out to see the streets as a whole so it was pretty useless. I wandered around trying to find somewhere I could buy a map, but didn't have any luck.
Lucky for me, Boo was in the happiest mood on Earth. Plus, as soon as we started our very chilly (maybe 42° or so) walk, I grabbed us both a gaufre (waffle) and it was DELICIOUS. So she was placated while I kept my cool on the outside, but felt pretty overwhelmed on the inside... especially as soon as I realized my parking ticket had dropped out of my pocket. Sigh. Just one more thing.
Reflecting back, I was flustered, but Boo's cheery demeanor and excitement about what we saw in three short hours made it a much better day than I had realized.
Brussels is the de jure (in law) capitol of Belgium and the de facto (in fact) capitol of the European Union. All road signs are in Dutch and French, and I found it easy to converse, as I speak survival French and basically everyone there spoke at least a little English.
After snapping a few pics at the cathedral, we headed toward the Grand-Place, and spotted this statue:
Charles Buls - Belgian mayor from 1881-1899, and owner of some fierce facial hair.
Medieval palace ruins next to the pretty museum.
The Grand-Place is the central square of Brussels. It was fantastic and I see why everyone visits! All the surrounding buildings are gilded and it is a gorgeous sight. The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) was so tall I cut off the spire in my pics, sigh.
From there, time to head to Manneken Pis, the classic "peeing boy of Brussels." Apparently he has all kinds of different outfits, but I'll admit I was a little annoyed because I wanted to see the classic naked version. C'est la Vie.
The bronze statue was put in place around 1618 or 1619.
Next, the lesser-known peeing tributes, but first a bathroom stop. Cost me €0.50. For a city so big on peeing things, they like to throw up some obstacles to do so myself! Luckily I had the right coin.
After a lot of back and forth walking to try to find a specific street, I was about to give up on finding the next statues, then stumbled upon it on my last attempt. Why couldn't I find a street? First, the street signs suck and aren't always posted at each corner so sometimes I'd have to go up a few blocks to find out, and second, there are a million tiny streets and alleys to pick through.
But I found it! And thus was able to find Miss Jeanneke Pis, the "peeing girl statue."
Jeanneke joined her brother in 1987. She's behind bars to protect from pervy vandals. We left a coin in the fountain and I told Boo to make a wish. She wished for a freaking drink of water. Life must be good if that's all she could think to wish for. Wish was granted, by the way.
After Jeanneke, we went on to find Zinneke Pis, which isn't a fountain, just a statue:
Guess which one was Boo's favorite? This statue joined the family in 1999. He was hit by a car in August, so I'm glad he's back because I'd have wandered all over the place trying to find it!
At this point, it was 3pm and time to go. I'm going to a Belgian beer store in Belgium this weekend, so I'm hoping to find the Cantillon Lambic there (I'm not optimistic). Why do I keep going off about Cantillon? What's lambic anyway?
First, note the awesome logo:
From Wiki:
The brewery was founded in 1900 by Paul Cantillon, whose father was a brewer as well, and his wife, Marie Troch. As of 2011, the owner is Jean-Pierre van Roy, fourth-generation brewer at Cantillon. Since its foundation the only major change has been a shift to organic ingredients in 1999. Cantillon was one of more than one hundred operating breweries in Brussels at its foundation, and was the only one to remain operational through the 2000s.
And lambic:
Unlike conventional beers, which are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts, lambic is produced by spontaneous fermentation: it is exposed to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Zenne valley, in which Brussels lies. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, usually with a sour aftertaste.
Lambic beer is widely consumed in Brussels and environs, and frequently featured as an ingredient in Belgian cuisine.
I love framboise (raspberry) lambic, and usually drink a bottle back home with my friend Nikki when she visits, so I was excited to bring her a legit bottle of the stuff. Plus, I had been told the tour is great.
Maybe someday...
That night we stayed at Château de Harzé in Aywaille, Belgium, and ate at a small Italian restaurant in town. This time the food was delicious. Boo mowed down her spaghetti bolognese and my goat cheese pizza was delicious.
So. Many. Stairs. But the breakfast had hot, fresh-baked breads, so I was happy.
Right now, it is looking like Munich isn't happening :( Paris, hopefully Versailles, and England are, but time is winding down incredibly fast and Munich is 10 hours spent on just driving. So we will go someday, maybe for Oktoberfest or when we go to Italy.
Next week is two days in Belgium, and John and I are talking about going to the Netherlands (Maarstricht - 2 hours away) for the weekend. Then, off to France for most of the week, head to UK, and collapse before having to go back to the Paris area. Boo and I may stay back and go to her buddy Hazel's birthday party instead.
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