Brussels 2nd Day
Cathedrals & Exploration
After a good nights sleep and some very good coffee. (our Air BnB had a Nespresso machine, Bonus!) We made our way to Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert in the Îlot Sacré neighborhood of Brussels. This is a beautiful glazed shopping arcade designed by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer opened in 1847and it is stunning inside. We found a place for breakfast and walked around window shopping. The displays and Christmas decorations were amazing. The Christmas light show in The Grand-Place the night before and walking here window shopping you can’t help but start humming “Joy to the World”
Our true purpose today though was to visit Cathedrals. We both really enjoy visiting cathedrals when we are in Europe. We always make time to do so and today was no different.
First stop was St. Michael and St Gudula Cathedral which is Belgium’s national church and is the church for royal weddings & funerals. It was stunning to say the least. The ambo (what the catholics call the pulpit) was stunning, an intricate carved wood structure full of symbolism and just beautiful to behold.
Brussels Park was next as we strolled around the city just admiring all the beauty that is everywhere. The park is surrounded by Royal Palace of Brussels, Belgian Parliament and the US Embassy.
The next stop was Church of Our Blessed Lady Of The Sablon which is smaller but not any less stunning inside. Visiting churches that were built in the 15th century (and earlier) puts things into perspective for me. The history everywhere in Europe is so easy to admire.
We continued our walk around the city and on our way came across a barricade very close to the Royal Palace of Brussels and we also started to hear what we both thought was tear gas being fired, which made us nervous thinking that the riots celebrating the Moroccan win started again. I asked the police officers at the barricade what was going on and he informed us it was a peaceful protest. We found out later that evening it was 10,000+ police officers protesting for more severe penalties for killing a police officer. There was a police officer killed in the line of duty and the convicted person received a lenient sentence. As I mentioned we did not know this to begin with and we were nervous after the prior evenings “festivities”.
During our walk back we stopped by Chapel Church which was sadly closed, and we found a dead end Street named Sint - Jacobs, Sint is dutch for Saint. We have found that some of the best discoveries of a city are when you get away from the tourist areas and take the side streets. It was beautiful.
On our way back we discovered we were not too far from Manneken-Pis which is Dutch for, well I think you can figure that one out for yourself. Somehow this statue of a little peeing boy has became one the best-known symbols of Brussels. Poor Brussels, New York City has the Statue of Liberty, London has Big Ben, Paris has the Eiffel Tower and Brussels a statue of a little peeing boy…. Fun fact though this little statue has more outfits than Imelda Marcos had shoes. He was dressed in a traditional Albanian outfit to celebrate the Albanian Independence Day (November 28th 1912) we of course took pictures, everyone does, and then got some chocolates and then ate a late lunch, gotta have desert first when on vacation!
That evening we had a fantastic dinner at Nuetnigenough, it is described as THE BRUSSELS BRASSERIE FOR GREEDY GLUTTONS AND FINE BEER LOVERS. That sounded perfect for me and Annette loved it as well. The manager spent time with us to help us pick out the correct Belgian beer to go with our dinner. Annette is not a beer lover at all but he found something that even Annette liked very much. This place is off the beaten path and frequented by locals, so many good experiences can be had by getting off the beaten path.
We then went back to see Manneken-Pis and noticed a couple that was little upset that they missed him dressed in Albanian garb, he is changed several times a day (how would you like to have that job) come to find out they were Albanian and wanted a picture of him dressed in Albanian garb, of course I shared the photo’s I took earlier that day. They were so appreciative and happy to have the photos. Again it is the connection with fellow travelers that is so amazing. These are the memories we will have to look back upon that will bring smiles to our faces.
The evening was capped off with another viewing of the Light Show at the Grand Place. It was even better this evening because there was no rain or riots!