Brussels is the exact opposite of Bruges. No more quaint town, this is a big city with well over one million people. Our apartment was three blocks from the main square, and the hustle and bustle went on until early in the morning. Though not nearly as big, this felt more like being in New York than anywhere else. Everything was a bit grittier with a lot more ethnicities, homeless, and overall chaos. While we never felt unsafe, there is just a different vibe here. One big positive is that it's big on monuments, museums, and overall things to do. We started with a trip to the European Union. Europe’s 732 parlimentary members, representing 25 countries, are all headquartered here. During our three and a half days we also visited several museums. We happened to be in town on the first Wednesday of the month, in which all the city museums were free. For this reason we packed in a few more than normal. We started at the Fine Arts and René Magritte Museums. After that it was across the street to the Musical Instruments Museum, a.k.a. MIM. The following day we included a trip to the Royal Museum of Military History. Full of tanks, war planes, and artillery from the last 200 years, Cole and I had plenty to keep us busy. Ella was fighting us though as this museum was too “boyish”. We concluded our stay with coffee on the square. Armin Staehling, whom we met during our visit in Germany, happened to be in town with his family. He arrived the night before we left, which worked out perfect to meet up one last time. Here's the sign in front of the EU announcing "European Parliament" in 23 languages.
Brussels main square is aptly called "The Grand Place".
Cole sharing his plans with Mia to take over the world.
Waffle Overload
Having been here, having read about it, I still don’t fully understand why a boy peeing is such a big deal. Manneken-Pis was created in 1619 to provide drinking water for the city and since then everyone has a different legend on how he came about. Considered the cities mascot, his statue is always packed with tourists and his 700+ outfits have a special place in the City Museum.
Here are a couple of photos from the airplane hangar in the Military Museum.
The MIM Museum had over 1,500 instruments. Everyone wears headphones and when you walk near an instrument you hear it in your headset. Very cool.
Mussels In Brussels!
This is a look down the street from our balcony. I only include this photo to show you what we're dealing with at bedtime. This picture is unedited and taken at 10:00pm. Even with all the walking, getting the kids to bed at a normal hour is no easy task.
