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I travelled by train from Paris to Brussels.  Wow - Brussels has such a different feel.  I  really like it here.  It's cleaner, smells better and the people are friendlier.

View of Brussels from La Place Royale.

The center of the town is called Le Grand Place.  It is a square with a museum and older buildings - very nice architecture and gold leaf accents.  There are patio cafes and people milling about.  

Le Grand Place.

Side street off Le Grand Place.

The city hall in the Grand Place is a big beautiful building with a tall spire.  The rumor is that the spire is slightly off center and the architect was so upset he threw himself off the summit of the tower.  Looks straight to me - or is it?!?

Brussels City Hall.

I found a lush, green park and stayed there for over 3 hours.  It was sunny, warm and beautiful.  A man was playing a flute, and then two sets of church bells started ringing in the distance.  There were many people enjoying some rest and fresh air in the park.  It was such an foreign, surreal experience for me to enjoy relaxing and not feel pressure from within to be working. 

Entrance to the Parc de Bruxelles.

Lovely view from park bench.  This was (so far) one of my favorite days in Europe.

The next day I ate some yummy Belgian waffles with strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. 

Somewhere under all that whipping cream is a Belgian Waffle.

I walked around the Grand Place and the took the city bus tour.  Did you know that Belgium invented French Fries?  I wonder why we don't call them Belgian Fries?

One of many french fry stores.  They serve them in a paper cone with mayo on top.

There are over 400 types of beer here, you could try one a day for over a year!

Stella!!!

I went to a chocolate museum.  A "praline" in Belgium means a cream filled chocolate; there are no nuts in a Belgian praline (hooray!).  I learned about how white, milk and dark chocolate are made.  I even tasted the original cocoa mass (basically the straight chocolate with nothing added to it) - whoa!  The cocoa mass was so bitter that my eyes watered and my lips puckered.  How someone in the 1800's envisioned mixing cocoa mass with sugar to make it taste better, is beyond me.  I would have dropped it and ran in the other direction.

The chocolatierre making pralines.  She went to cooking school and specialized in chocolate.

The museum taught all that the myths about chocolate are not true.  It does not give you pimples, it does not rot your teeth, cause headaches or make you fat.  Everything in moderation, of course!  The chocolatierre taught us how to make pralines and then we got to eat them.  I love it here.

It only took me a few hours in Brussels to master a new trick.  The first day I arrived (for those of you who know me, yes, it was the first 10 minutes) I bought a few chocolates in the first store I saw.  I now have a bag - my proof that I am a so-called spender.  I then go into the many other chocolate and candy shops, with my empty  bag (empty unbeknownst to all shop owners) and they give me free samples.  I barely had to eat the entire time I was in Brussels!  I have never seen so many awesome chocolate, candy and cookie stores in my life.  Brussels is Zanner Heaven.

Cookies - my favorite food group.

Brussels is also famous for eating mussels and fries otherwise known in French as  "Moules et Frites".  I had to take a break from the chocolate and enjoy this local delicacy.  The waiter provided me with a big silver bowl to throw out the shells.  The mussels were served in a salty broth with onions, celery and something green.  I loved it.  The fries were so good I didn't need ketchup.  To make my meal even better at Chez Leon, the Moules & Frites special which came with a  free Belgian beer.

Moules & Frites with Belgian beer (only 399 more beers to try...)

No trip to Brussels would be complete without seeing their famous statue - the Mannequin Pis.  It's a statue of a little boy peeing.  With all the fan fare I thought it would be huge.  I almost missed it!  Other than the crowd of people around - I would not have noticed the little guy.  Years ago, the king of France (Louis XV) provided an outfit for the Mannequin Pis as an apology as a Frenchman had attempted to steal the statue.  As tradition, France has provided many different outfits for the statue.   He was naked when I saw him. 

Mannequin Pis.

Mannequin Pee in relation to Mee.

Of course the city has to capitalize on everything Brussels is famous for.  Someone created a life sized, chocolate inspired, waffle eating, little boy peeing statue.  Much to the delight of tourists.

Whoa lady!