Brussels wasn’t originally on our list of “must-see” places and only because of a bomb scare at Heathrow did we do a last minute change of plans and head that direction from Ireland. Funny how things turn out, Brussels is an amazing gem. Called the Capital of Europe, and with good reason.

So glad we detoured to this beautiful city of grand architecture, excellent transportation systems and very nice people. And not to forget the most important things – the chocolate, the waffles, and the beer!! There are stores with actual working chocolate fountains in the windows, beckoning us inside for a taste.

The Grand Place is one of those town squares just stepping into can literally take your breath away. You are surrounded on 4 sides of this huge square by some of the most magnificent Gothic architecture – with stern statues of crusading knights, caricatures of gargoyle faces, and famous people we aren’t sure exactly who they are, but they must have been important to be immortalized on a building, right? It was more than my eyes could take in at first – we stood for a long time just gazing upward and the most intelligent thing I could think of to say was “WOW!”

Along one of the busier thoroughfares, is the famous Manneken Pis. He’s this adorable statue of a chubby little boy very happily peeing on the streets of Brussels! Legend has it he was sculpted after a child who saved the city by extinguishing an explosive in very much the same manner in which he’s posed today. He’s such a fixture here that the locals dress him up for all types of social occasions—he even has a Mickey Mouse costume!