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Friday, August 4

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This is what we saw when we came up to street level – from the parking garage.

This area of the city of Brussels was set up with a variety of fun things for adults and children to do during the warm days of summer.

This is where we met our “guides” for the afternoon and evening – Sem and Kaat and their children Noah, Alma and Sienna. Cerwin was pleased that Alma gave him a hug.

I will have a lot of pictures of this city that is for your view enjoyment – without a description, because I don’t know what all the designs and statues mean. 🙂

There was a volleyball competition going on, but most was behind walls. Once in a while we could see a ball in the air.

We saw several human statues. I saw this one move slightly as we walked by.

This one definitely moved when he posed with this young boy.

There are many views of our walk through the city.

Brussels is the DeFacto capital of the European Union and headquarters for NATO.

This Catholic church was in an interesting position behind this shop. Kind of like they were part of the same building.

Notice another pulpit that is high above the audience.

Every Catholic church has lighted candles. They are often referred to as prayer candles or intention candles, since the individual lighting the candle makes a prayer with a specific intention.

I was drawn to this white statue of Jesus and a child.

The baptismal area with a dove above it.

From the Internet: Jean-Baptiste was a baker and in 1829 opened his first shop in the heart of Brussels. 194 years later, butter and sugar still rule the roost at J. Dandoy.

Looking over all the molds and goodies.

Our purchase. We haven’t tasted them yet, because we are tasting the many chocolates we brought home. 🙂

Some of the old molds are still used.

There were chocolate shops everywhere.

A pretty, artificial flower in a shop window.

We walked into this shop because of the variety of candy and enjoyed samples that were given to us.

Enjoying more shops.

Lots of t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Walking into the large city center.

Street musicians

Many of the designs were done on purpose and with meaning by the architect.

Can you imagine designing and constructing all of this.

Sisters: Rebekka, Kaat and Hannah

The tourists who were immensely enjoying the walking tour.

If I remember correctly, this is a statue that is supposed to bring good luck if you touch it. The reason so much of the black has been rubbed off.

Noah and Alma posed behind this painted board.

Wherever there was a restaurant, there were tables along the street.

An interesting window

When in Brussels you must see the Peeing Boy. 🙂

From the Internet: The name of this tiny statue simply translates to “Peeing boy” – while the French version, Petit Julien, literally means “Little Julien”. You can see the statue at the corner of the Rue de L’Etuv and Rue du Chene. It is a replica from the 17th century statue. The original stone version is much older.

The statue most probably started out as a public fountain, with the peeing boy as a homage to the tanners, as medieval tanners let children and street urchins pee on leather to make it more supple.

Time passed and people forgot how the statue got there in the first place, so incredible legends started to explain its origins. The most popular story states how the little peeing boy saved the capital. In this tale, Brussels was surrounded by enemies. One day they seemingly retreated but had put tons of gunpowder under the city. A little boy saw the burning fuse and quickly peed on it. In another well-loved tale the peeing boy is actually a historic figure, Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. As a child, he was put in a basket in an oak tree to encourage the knights fighting in his honor. Every now and then the toddler stood up and peed on the heads of his enemies.

We entered this area to look for chocolates and a place to enjoy a snack. Sem told us there was good chocolate in these shops.

From the Internet: Le Pain Quotidien means the daily bread. And to us, that means everything. It’s much more than mere sustenance; it’s a way of life. As our loaves emerge from the ovens, warm and fragrant, friends gather around our communal tables to share in the time-honored tradition of breaking bread.

There was a large table waiting for us. 🙂

It was good to take a break from walking and enjoy a snack and something to drink.

Our next stop was Neuhaus Chocolates – recommended by Sem.

This is a chocolate statue of the founder of the company.

We bought two boxes of chocolates here and are enjoying their delicious taste as we allot ourselves one piece a day.

We walked a few more streets, enjoying the scenery and all the tables outside restaurants.

Then we came upon the “peeing little sister”. 🙂 It seems it was created because there was a peeing boy on another street.

At this point our guides Kaat and Sem were taking us to a tall building where we could see the entire city from above. Sem said it was a parking garage when he was in the university. He wasn’t sure of its name today since it has been transformed into a high point for tourists and city dwellers.

This is where we were going.

What a view!

Looking down on a street.

Relaxing on their rooftop.

A view of the Atomium that we saw, and I described on our first day in Belgium.

This gives you a better idea of why this is the fifth-largest Catholic church in the world. This is the church we visited on our first day in Belgium.

The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg is an unmistakable landmark on the Brussels skyline.

There were also restaurants on top of this building.

It took us about 25 minutes to enjoy a slow walk around the top of the building.

Sem had a 6 pm appointment at a nearby restaurant.

Our waiter offered to take a picture that included me when he saw me taking one just before this.

Appetizer for the table.

Cerwin’s egg dish.

Somebody’s hamburger.

My tomato soup. I know it doesn’t look like tomato, but it was very delicious with an ingredient that settled on the top making it look yellow. It looked like tomato soup underneath.

This meal closed our day in Brussels. By the time we got home, it was time for bed.

The map of our travels on this day.