July 19th - Brussels, Belgium

We had a restful evening last night and tried to organize our bags as much as possible.  We had a large room with bunk beds and a cute little kitchen area – it was perfect for our little group.

After the girls settled in to sleep we decided to search online and plan a great final day before heading home.  Brussels is a large city – but not as large as the other cities so we thought it most important to just have some fun.  After checking out all the major sites, we decided to do a chocolate tour.  I told the girls the only thing we would eat all day was chocolate.  The girls protested saying that we would get sick, but I told them that it was a chocolate tour and all we could eat was chocolate.   We decided to compromise so we ate chocolate, waffles with fresh fruit and cream, and Belgian frites with spicy mayonnaise. We covered all the national foods of Belgium and had a yummy time!

While we were on our chocolate tour, we saw the Grand Place and were in awe of the gorgeous buildings that made up the square.  All of them were ornately carved and it was full of colourful flowers and cafes.  During a rest time, Mik and Zoe took out a deck of cards and played while sitting on the cobblestones.  We also went to the Chocolate Museum to see how chocolate has developed over the centuries and how chocolatiers create such beautiful masterpieces such as chocolate masks, shoes, instruments, dresses and so much more!  It was a delicious tour indeed – but our stomachs were full and we decided some walking was needed to work off the treats.

Another part of our tour included locating statutes that needed to use the bathroom.  The most famous of course is Mannequin Pis – a little statue of a boy going the bathroom into a fountain.

The story goes that visiting dignitaries bring various outfits for the little statue when on official visits and he will wear various costumes during holiday times – http://ordre-manneken-pis.blogspot.com in French.  The second statue is a little girl Jeanneke Pis; she’s squatting into her fountain but is locked up firmly behind a wrought iron gate.

Finally there’s a dog named Zinneke who is raising his leg against a fire hydrant.

We’re not sure why the Belgians keep making statues of characters going the bathroom – but it’s fun to find them throughout the city.