Pictures from this day can be found here.
Today we slept in a little bit, and then headed downstairs to try out the (included) hotel breakfast. This breakfast was better attended by the guests of the hotel, and they had a much bigger selection of foods. We ate a pretty big breakfast, and then set out to explore the city.
First stop was across town to see the Grand Palace, situated in old town. The route to get there was a little tricky, mainly because we didn’t spend much time looking at maps, and also because the design of the city hides the Grand Palace until the last minute, creating a dramatic discovery. It was quite effective, too. We spent some time kicking around the palace taking pictures and watching the preparations for some kind of festival in the square, and then went south looking for Mannekin Pis. Mannekin Pis is kind of the symbol of Brussels (or so the guidebook said) – the little boy peeing into the fountain. It certainly is a frequently seen symbol around Japan, and so we thought we ought to check it out. When we finally saw it, well, it was smaller than we expected. But I’ll bet he hears that a lot. For such a popular landmark we were one of only about four people that turned out to see it at that hour. Just early-risers, I guess.
The weather continued to cooperate with our travel plans, and we had clear skies while we explored Old Town and the surrounding areas. St. Michel Cathedral was especially impressive, as well as the European Union’s new headquarters. After a couple hours of sightseeing we were getting tired and ready to take a break, so we followed a guidebook suggestion and found a restaurant/brasserie called Le Atomme near our hotel. The place was well decorated, it had young, friendly staff that spoke English (and even translated the menu for us) and a wide(!) selection of Belgian beers. We tried a couple of new ones with lunch – Kuniko had a rabbit stew, and I had a beef one. Both were excellent, but the Kuniko’s soup was really good – definitely a taste that I’ve never experienced before.
Back on the sightseeing trail we used the free Wi-Fi at McDonald’s to check some messages and organize a plan to meet my aunt Nancy’s friend Roger in Zurich, as well as have a Belgian waffle for dessert. We even made a stop at one of the many chocolate shops in town to have some intense chocolate truffles. We also hit one of the Carrefour Express convenience stores to stock up on supplies for the next day’s long train trip to Munich. Carrefour Express was great – lots of interesting stuff, and as usual, the wine, cheese and dried meats were ridiculously cheap. Why can’t somebody in Japan do something like this?
All this walking around, drinking and eating was pretty tiring, so next stop was a long nap in our hotel room, with the window wide open to hear the sounds of the city. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me – the view from our room was great, and the breeze blowing in the strange sounds and smells made for a very relaxing nap.
We got organized and headed out once again to Mannekin Pis, because someone I know had recommended a bar across the street with a good beer list, and I was looking forward to trying more Belgian beers. We found Mannekin Pis completely swamped by tourists this time, and we settled into a bar across the street to watch the mayhem and sip our beers. It was a little tricky ordering beer because I was just shooting in the dark. The bartender wasn’t too helpful – I sensed that he was teasing me a little with a regular sitting at the bar. Still, I would probably do the same if the roles are reversed, and it is enjoyable to make fun of tourists. I used to do that a lot in California.
For dinner we found a place called Taverne du Passage, which was in a touristy area but had friendly enough staff and a traditional Belgian food menu. Not knowing much about Belgian food we wanted to at least try something local, but as we discovered Belgian food draws a heavy influence from France. Not that it is a bad thing, but we wanted to try something uniquely Belgian. The answer was what Kuniko ordered – waterzooi. A cream-based chicken stew, it was a little light on flavor, but it made up for it in volume. Not bad. I was craving eggs for some reason, so had a ham omelet that was simple, salty, but quite good. We dodged some raindrops on the way back to our hotel, but managed to avoid some heavier rain that began after we got back.
