Brussels

Grand Place
see all photos »

We got into Brussels without a set agenda similar to how it was in Vienna. It was nice to just go explore on our own not knowing much about the sights.

One really great thing was the hostel we stayed at. When we got there the guy at the desk told us we had the "penthouse," turned out to be an obscurely lit ikea decorated converted attic. It was actually quite cool. We had a giant window that overlooked downtown Brussels and neon lights everywhere.

One of the best, albeit strangest things about Brussels was the city´symbol. The city is represented by a little metal statue of a boy peeing. It is known as Mannekin Pis and supposedly shows the quirky nature of what it means to be Belgian.

Sara outside of Galeries Saint Hubert
see all photos »

One night we had a craving for some American sports and happened to find an American style sports bar located next to the hub of the European Union. I still can't really figure that one out. Anyhow it happened to be a Sunday so we got to watch the 49ers play. It was a great taste of home (albeit a 30 or so point loss). We met a couple at the bar from Boston who were working in Brussels at the time. The first question they asked us was, "Why on earth would you come to Brussels..." Apparently they were not big fans of their newly adopted home.

Inside of Galeries Saint Hubert the first ever mall
see all photos »

One day while we were in Brussels we took a brewery tour of the last remaining true Gueze style brewery in Brussels. They use a process called "natural fermentation" which works by allowing natural airborne yeast to react on the beer. This causes a bitter beer that assuredly would not be to everyones liking. We had great fun at the ancient brewery. It was like getting a tour of a living museum.