Belgium Adventures Day 13: Brussels

The anticipated Tuesday strike prompted me to leave a day early, which gave me a surprise day in Brussels.

After checking into a hotel room, and playing with the Murphy bed, I rode the train a few stops to Brussels Central. On the train I met a dark chocolate colored man from Ghana. He was trying to figure out how long before his train would arrive in a station I had never heard of. As I had already exhausted my international allotment of high speed internet, I was struggling bringing up the map. A woman noticed my helping him and found the answer on her phone faster. The man asked where I was from. I said near New York City. He said his brother just moved to Brooklyn from Manhattan because it is cheaper. I asked how he was doing (assuming he is just as dark skinned as my new friend). He first said he was doing great. His whole family lives there, too. Probing I expressed my concerns for his safety with this new/old administration and offered to pray for him. He seemed to appreciate it. I encouraged him to not visit his brother in the United States.

Once in Brussels I sought the most basic of tourists destinations completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tourists. In Liege I was one of only a few tourists, but in Brussels there were large international tour groups, every other shop was a tourist trap, and everyone looked at least a little confused. I kept my valuables close to me.

The top destinations are the Grand Place (which has a McDonalds and a Starbucks so you don't feel too far away from home), the Mannekin Pis statue, an old shopping arcade, and the cathedral. Including having dinner (because the hotel was nowhere near any food), I was in Brussels about two hours. The highlight was stopping in a Tintin gift shop and thinking of my uncle Drew who introduced me to Tintin back when I was an exchange student. 

Though I visited Brussels a couple of times (at least once as a student, and during our honeymoon), I don't have the map of Brussels imprinted on me. I remembered the Mannekin Pis in an archway attached to the Grand Place instead of down a side street and on a corner. It really is smaller than I remembered, not that I remembered it being that large. The LEGO model in the Brussels Airport made him appear larger.