We started mainland Europe with a day briefly exploring Brussels, which was an exciting but, to be honest, quite a dirty city. It was great also to meet up with our long-time friends and travelling companions Steve and Kim for the next few destinations.
Brussels wouldn’t be the destination it is without a few arcades full of touristy Belgian chocolate shops, and we started off with a walk through the elegant Galeries Royale St Hubert.
The Grand Place, next up, was spectacular, surrounded on all sides by public buildings and guild-houses all dating from the late 1690’s. We wandered down in the morning, when it was cool and uncrowded, before continuing our walk.
This took us up the Mont des Arts, a beautifully-designed complex of gardens and public buildings climbing up its sloping site. Here, solely for our entertainment, of course, a fun run was taking place, the runners spurred on by a female drumming group. The views back down the hill were fantastic.
We saw the attractive 15th-century Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon, and the neat and perfectly-groomed, neo-renaissance Place du Petit Sablon opposite, before finishing up at a viewpoint next to the scaffolded-up Palais de Justice.
Back down the hill, we pushed through the crowds at That Statue, probably even more unaccountably famous than the Little Mermaid, before a quick look at the Grand Place again and a few snaps of the beautiful St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral dedicated to the patron saints of Brussels.
It was a busy day, if only a brief look at Brussels, and we finished off with a nice Italian meal before going home to pack up again.
Jun 27–29 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C