Royal Palace of Brussels

Beer, Waffles and Chocolate in no particular order. Now repeat. That's been our mantra since we entered Belgium and I must say it's a delightful one. We spent a few days in the Flemish capital of the north Brussels. The city's architecture is beautiful and there is plenty to do and see in the European Unions administrative home.

Belgium is actually a relatively new country in Europe. Belgium had a revolution and won independence from the Netherlands in 1830. Surprisingly, the catalyst of the revolution was an opera called "La muette de Portici". The opera was focused on nationalistic themes and when the opera finished on August 25th of that year, patrons immediately started to revolt on the streets! After the revolution, Belgium also started a new constitutional monarchy and elected Leopold I as their king. He apparently didn't want the job, but eventually accepted.Read more