mussels in brussels??! you bet!

sorry, i just had to use that for a title... i mean, i did eat mussels in brussels, but i wish i'd found muscles! anyways... some people don't love this city. i did! i'm not sure if it's bc i spent just long enough there not to get bored or if it was my new outlook on my travels, but i really loved brussels!

i started the morning peeling back the covers to a rather comfy bed, enjoying a nice shower with the l'occitane products, skipping the 25e breakfast and heading out on the town to explore. and explore i did! i meant to head to the old town square first which is called the grand place in brussels, but instead... i misread the map (shocker, i know!) and found a street of very expensive shops - think rodeo drive - and then came upon this square with a war memorial:

it's hard to read in the picture, but it's a memorial to WWI. even though these guys look kinda mean, i also kinda liked them. it was kind of like they told me "yeah, chica... wrong way!" and i was all "there is no wrong way b/c lost = exploring!". yes, i talked to the statues. it may or may not have been out loud! and so... i went to check out the view.

belgium has basically two levels to the city: the high part and the low part. this is a super cool elevator (that's free and no i didn't take) that takes you to the lower part of the town. i chose to meander and find my own way down the hill.

this was on a memorial in the middle of the square. i just liked it. perhaps b/c i cold actually understand it. perhaps i liked the font.

i saw these in paris too and loved that you could just grab a bike, use it, and return it to any of the stations that happen to be convenient for you! i thought, wow, the US could use these! then i went downtown one day when i got home... and saw a bike station. when the heck did we get those?! and where are they?? not near me... i'd totally use it!

after making my way down the hill and seeing some more parks, churches, sites, etc... i found the bell tower in the distance! if you haven't figured it out by now: bell tower = old town square = tourist area!

and this was on the way to the square in front of the church.... i liked the colors.

my attempt at being creative at a photo

leave it to me to find the world's first shopping mall! this is the galleries st. hubert and it was opened in 1847. it's more of a sight to see the architecture than for shopping (i thought).

me in the middle of the Grand Market/Grote Mkt.

that is an overwhelming amount of signage!!!

legend has it if you rub this statue, it's good luck! so duh, of course i had to touch it! and pull out the hand sanitizer promptly afterwards!

in my guidebook, it told a funny (to me at least!) story about the statues that sit atop the buildings in the grand place. this guy supposedly says "ugggggh, what's that smell... and pointing says - was it you that farted?!"

to which this guy replies "ummmm, no! it must've been that guy!"

and then this guy hangs his head in shame and fully admits it was him. yep, 12 year old humor and i found it funny! no idea who thought that one up, but there it is...

i wandered away from the square after spending quite a bit of time there and came upon a gorgeous old church with a big park in front of it and these super cool looking benches!

so i had to test them out. and they were actually super comfy! there was a bit of sun, but too soon it was too chilly to sit there any longer and i didn't have a book to read anyways... so i went to check out the church that sat high upon a hill with a fabulous view of the city.

it kind of reminded me of notre dame in paris... though obviously it is not. but it was gorgeous! after checking out the inside and paying my respects... my walk continued on...

now, is it just me or does this look like toilet to anyone else?! gosh, they put these big signs up everywhere and it looks like toilet to me!!! ladies, it actually says "to let" as in hey, if you want to lease this building... but still... toilet to me.

and then i headed toward a big shiny pretty object b/c hey, why not?! it was another big pretty church - on the dome there were such pretty gold/bronze stars all over it.

i continued walking and found myself in the very obviously very muslim/turkish area. i was most definitely the only tourist and while i wasn't scared, i wasn't very comfortable either... and it's not exactly like that area was on the map or in my guidebook... nor was this church so i don't really know where i was, but i headed towards a big street and recognized it as the outer ring to the city and walked. and explored! and eventually found...

the city building... i'm not sure exactly what was housed here... but all of a sudden a bulb went off in my brain and i felt stupid. very very stupid all of a sudden as i realized that i had been there this morning! and how close i had been to everything and not known it b/c seriously the maps are crazy in europe and i realized that as i looked down the street in one direction was the war memorial and literally if i looked in the other direction, there was the star cathedral and omg, seriously!? my hotel was just over there and i realized that, wait: i had been exploring and seen so much more of the city! so what if i could have done less meandering... isn't traveling all about discovering different things about a city?! so what if i could have walked a straight line!?! and suddenly, i felt much smarter. especially b/c then, then i really knew my way around and how to get to and from various places!

ha! looking to the right straight down the street... the star cathedral!

and looking dead left... the building that was in the same square as the war memorial.