"Brussels is ugly and we love it, and if we don't love it, we live with it" -Quote from the Brussels tourist map

Today I'd like to start by saying thanks to everyone who's sent me emails and letters in the mail! I love hearing from you all and getting updates from home! And to those who don't know, my mailing address is:

Allison Bonner 94B
165 Great Dover Street
London Se1 4xa
United Kingdom

So if any one feels so inclined...drop me a line in the mail!

Alright on to the adventure of Bruxelles, Belgium! This past Friday night I literally stayed up all night because I went out with friends, and then had to catch my train at 5:30am (the earlier the train, the cheaper the ticket!) I love traveling by train because check in is fast and the train is faster! I arrived in Brussels at 10am local time, and the wonderful Will Wooten, who's from my program but arrived a day earlier, met me at the station. We went to our hostel to check in...my very first hostel! It was in a great location just behind the Grand Place which is in the picture you see here. To the left is the Hotel de Ville (or the Town Hall), and to the left is the Maison du Roi.

The first day Will and I toured around it poured down rain. I'm slightly surprised I didn't catch pneumonia. I was literally soaked all the way through...even through my raincoat! Most of the buildings we saw the first day were "look don't touch", meaning we could see the outside of places like the Royal Palace, the Royal Courts of Justice, and the European Union, but we couldn't go inside. It was still totally worth seeing all of these places though...even if I was a human rain puddle for a day.



European Union



Triumphal Arch of Parc du Cinquantenaire



For those who don't know, Brussels is the capital of Europe. They are a bilingual country speaking Dutch and French. And as my map explained, "Be yourself in Brussels especially if you're weird. Acting cool may work in Paris, but not here. The word 'branche' (trendy) is often used as a criticism, but 'a l'aise' (easy-going) is something that everybody wants to be and that real Brusseleirs truly are".

I didn't really get a feel for the city until the second day when I started interacting with the "Brusseleirs". Honestly, my map could not have told me anything more important. I've never been to a city so chill and laid back in my life. People from literally all over the world come to Brussels to visit or work, and then just never end up leaving because they love the atmosphere.

I probably learned the most about Brussels from the tour I took of the Hotel de Ville. Our tour guide told us the Hotel de Ville was first built in an L shape, but then another city built a better town hall. So of course Brussels needed an EVEN better town hall, and they added another L to the right of the tower. However our tour guide said, "Now if you all would do me the honor of looking at the outside of the building when you leave, you'll see the style of the building is the same on both sides, BUT the two sides are not symmetrical. And that is Brussels." He's right too. If you look at the picture below...the two sides are definitely not the same! The ratio of statues on each side is different, the door isn't even in the center of the tower, and that's not just my camera cutting off the edges on the right side of the building...it really has less windows than the left side (you can see this even better if you Google a picture of this place).

Another reason the Belgian people may be so easy going is because over the course of their history they've been Spanish, Habsburg, French, German, Austrian...and instead of having a serious identity crisis, they just decided to go with the flow. They also have a joke with people from The Netherlands because during the Catholic reformation many Belgians fled to The Netherlands while the very Catholic people from The Netherlands came to Belgium. So, if anyone from these two countries banters with one another, the "fight" normally ends with something along the lines of, "Well you may be from Belgium, but you're really probably a descendant from The Netherlands!" and visa versa. You can't help wanting to chuckle at the good natured attitude of the people in this city. Basically everything that happens in Brussels is all in good fun, and how could it not be when the mascot of your city is the Manneken Pis...

That's right. You'll all recognize this little guy. Probably the most replicated garden fountain statue anywhere in the world. The little peeing boy... There are multiple legends about him, but I think my favorite one is the one that goes like this: Once Brussels was under a siege. The enemy thought they would trick the people by pretending to lift the siege only to blow it up when the Brusseleirs' guard was down. Only one little boy saw the fuse that was lit leading to the explosives, and the only way he could save the city was by peeing to put out the fuse. The people were so happy the erected a statue in his honor. Again, the people of Brussels love to laugh at themselves. Really, what other city has a good enough sense of humor to have their city mascot be a peeing boy?

Finally, to wrap up I'll leave you with a few thoughts. Belgian waffles are DELICIOUS, and it is totally worth going to Belgium just to eat a waffle. I personally preferred the Leige waffle to the Brussels waffle, and you could get them for just 1 EURO! They're literally on the level of a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut (actually better if that's possible)! I also ate Belgian chocolate...again very tasty. Also, for all you beer lovers, I went to Moeder Lambic which was dubbed the 10th best bar in the world 2011. They always have 46 beers on draft and specialize in Belgian beer. I'm not a huge beer drinker, but even I enjoyed the Val-Dieu they poured to meet my specifications of less alcoholic, blond, and less bitter beer.

And that friends pretty much wraps up my 2 days in Brussels! I know that was a lot to take in, but the city had too many good anecdotes not to share! Look forward to hearing from you all!

Until next time....