River Cruise 2015 - April 30 - Part One - Brussels

Today at 10a.m., we left the Da Vinci  for a scenic coach ride to Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and the "de facto" capital of the European Union, also the headquarters of NATO. 

The 338 foot tall Atomium was built for the 1958 World's Fair, and is a model of an iron crystal which is magnified 165 billion times!  The top steel sphere houses a restaurant which you can get to by elevator. 

This monument, seen from the bus window, I think is a kind of cenotaph, built in 1830. 

The king's palace. 

Don Quioxote and his faithful squire, Sancho. 

Just a cool sculpture in one of the squares. 

I really liked this shopping area, had to go back for a second look.  There were several chocolate stores there, but oh, so expensive!  I did buy my uncle a sugar-free Belgium chocolate bar. 

 

There were several big flower boxes in this shopping area...... 

....and these as well. 

This huge square is called Grand Place, and the whole square is surrounded by amazingly beautiful buildings...... 

 

Like this one, which is the City Hall.  Victor Hugo once said that it is "the most beautiful square in Europe"! 

Another beautiful one! 

I think I should know who this is, but I don't remember.  He is watching over the Grand Place.  I asked someone one time about the gold that we see so much of, and was told that it is gold leaf.  I wondered if it was paint, but apparently not!  There sure is a lot of it! 

I love the horses! 

Brussels, home of the Belgium waffle!  We had to have one!  When on our own for lunch, Van Dykes give us each a generous amount of lunch money, and there were lots of places to spend it!  We opted for waffles - can you guess which one is mine?  I decided to have a cafe-au-lait as well, and paid 3 euros for this tiny cup!  It did taste pretty good with the waffle.  :-) 

 


The bronze "Manneken Pis" is a well-known icon in Brussels!  In fact, we saw models of it everywhere, even chocolate ones.  But this is the real one! And it is only about 2 to 3 feet tall!

 

Erin and Megan, this is for you!  They were no better than the ones we get in Edmonton! 

Just a picture I like. 

The coaches brought us here to see this, and for the life of me, I cannot remember what it is!  I searched for a long time on the internet, and couldn't find it. 

I seem to remember that this is General Montgomery with his back to the monument in the previous picture. 

.....until next time.....