Brussels

This past weekend was spent in Brussels, Belgium, home of Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolate.  I went with a few girls from my program, and it was a nice change from Paris!  Belgians speak multiple languages, one being French and another being Dutch (or maybe German...not sure), so everyone is speaking different languages and we didn't stick out quite so much by speaking English as we do in Paris, where French is about all you get.

In the tunnel we took to reach our room in the hostel...it was half a sports complex, half a youth hostel located about a 30 minute metro ride and a fifteen minute walk from the center of the city

Such good chocolate in Belgium! This is the store we stopped into the first night...and the second...and before we left...

Cute little Belgian house we passed on our trek back to our hostel

Jewelery stand in the market in the center of town

 

La Grande Place (Grand Place)-The ballerina was just dancing around on the cobblestones

Eating a real Belgian waffle.  They have stands all over the city, kind of like the crepe stands in Paris

Mannquin Pis-it's a fountain of a little boy peeing that is apparently very famous.  I was underwhelmed, to say the least-it was a tiny little statue.  But Brussels is very proud of their fountain.

Posing with some street art ...

And some statues...

Kind of cool, kind of creepy doll display.

L'Atomium.  It was made for a world fair, like the Eiffel Tower, and is a huge metal structure of an atom.

Taking a much-needed break on the conveniently located lounge chairs in a park.

This looks disgusting.  But it is really one of the best things I've ever had...falafel from one of the multiple Greek food stands.  This particular one was run by a man who took a liking to me and kept calling me "Miss Alabama" and telling me he loved me.  "Miss Alabama! I love you.  Good falafel? You like?"

All in all, it was a great weekend! I got to add another country to my growing list, and eat as many chocolates and waffles as my heart desired.  Not too shabby for Molly.

Tonight I'm having dinner with Hadley's (a girl in my program)  mom, who is visting this week. Next weekend I'm off to the Loire Valley with API to see the chateaus and castles. I'll try and do a better job of keeping you up to date.