Highlights from Brussels

Alliteration aside, I decided to do a quick post today to talk about one leg of last year's European Beer Tour. I have posted articles on Spain/Catalonia, Czech Republic, and Bremen, Germany already so you if you missed them. Go here:

https://steemit.com/travel/@energyaddict22/we-re-drinking-beer-beer-beer-oktoberfest
https://steemit.com/travel/@energyaddict22/autumn-in-carlsbad-karlovy-vary-czech-republic
https://steemit.com/travel/@energyaddict22/russians-love-to-visit-bremen-germany-here-s-why

Many of my followers requested to know a little more about my beer drinking exploits last October and I had failed to mentioned our visit to Brussels. I'm going to be honest and I hope any of you Belgians aren't too offended, but Brussels was nearly the lowlight of our trip. The only thing that saved it from being the worst place we went is that we went through Finland, which may be the most boring country in the world. If you need a cure for your insomnia, I strongly suggest Finland because that is where excitement goes to die. The only way to enjoy Finland is to go there with Russians. I will move on now so you don't get 1500 words on why Finland sucks.

Needless to say, I was very excited to see Brussels, eat some mussels and, OF COURSE, drink some beer.

The Belgian Obsession with Children Taking a Piss

The most iconic and popular attraction in Brussels isn't its beautiful square with gorgeous, majestic buildings steeped in history. It isn't the restaurant that we ate at that is well over a century old.

The main tourist attraction centers around a water fountain statue of a young boy taking a piss. Yes. Haha, that's great fun and they even dress him up in different clothes to add to the fun. Apparently this fountain has been in place for quite a long time and is part of the "charm" of Brussels.

Of course, we live in an age of gender equality so the Belgians felt it was necessary to represent both sexes in their urinary fetish, but felt that she needed a little more protection from the "dress up" gangs.

Here is a closer look because I KNOW you want to see how a little girl peeing is portrayed in sculpture. I know it is your artistic curiosity and nothing more.

A Beautiful Day and a Safe Walk

We spent most of one day walking the streets and taking in the sights. There are some wonderful churches, monuments, and buildings outside the main square that are definitely worth visiting. We walked through a large park, but it was not well kept at all. It was dirty, in disrepair and uninspiring.

This cathedral looks so much smaller from the outside. It is very deceptive. The inside is lined with a plethora of altars some dating back several centuries. It was impressive and perhaps the one place I enjoyed most during our stay.

We found our way to a large mansion on one side of the park and were informed it was the King's Palace. I now know why Western European leaders/monarchs hate Russia. The Russian palaces have guest houses larger than the King of Belgium's house and are far more beautiful. I would have taken a picture but I was almost out of disc space and I didn't want to miss photographing another statue of someone pissing.

On our way back to the square we felt very safe knowing that men walked the street with automatic weapons. I find it interesting that in all my years in the U.S. I have never seen men/women walking the streets with automatic rifles despite our reputation as gun toting cowboys. Coincidentally, we don't see military style troops with automatic weapons walking the streets of St. Petersburg either.

Not a Budget Friendly Place

Yes, the food was good. Yes, the beer was good. No, neither the food or the beer was worth the price we had to pay. We spent more money per meal (and per beer) in Brussels than any other city we visited during our tour. There were some cool things about Brussels, but they didn't warrant the costs. My suggestion is to buy a magnet in the airport (they have them with pissing boy) and catch a flight for Prague, Czech Republic where you'll get twice the food and drink for the price. A city much more beautiful than Brussels and just as safe.

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Photos are mine, in the public domain or downloaded from Pixabay.com.

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