Morgan and Jane's EXCELLENT Adventure: Brussel- 13th

St Nicholas' Church

After leaving Bruge we headed an hour or so east to the town of Gent. It’s not such a picturesque or touristy town as Bruge but does have a lovely town square filled with gothic buildings including a Belfort, St Nicholas’ church and St Baafskathedraal. The Cathedral contains a very famous biblical painting, Van Eyck’s “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” which we spent a while in front of, trying to look intelligent!

Random carved decoration in St Nicholas' Church

The back of the alter

Our campsite for Brussel was about 10 km north east of the city in a village called Grimbergen. The campsite was really handy to the bus and a lovely spot to stay. The weird thing again is that campsites in Belgium don't supply toilet paper- strange.

Grimbergen is a very pretty village with an impressive church and a real family feeling. As always, food played a big part in our stay. We were lucky enough to be there during their local fair, which meant that there was lots of street food to try. I feel deeply in love with Smoetbollen, deep fried donut balls covered in icing sugar- delicious! Morgan had less success with the snails but we both enjoyed the local beer.

Grimbergen

Locals in front of Grimbergen local church

The inside of Grimbergen church

Ahhh Prinsen-wandeling. Nothing like it.

Oh that's right, we don't like pastis. Morg takes one for the team.

Smoetbollen- food of the gods. I just can't figure out why I've put on 3kg

Morg samples the local brew

The snails. I wouldn't eat them because they really look like snails.

We spent a couple of days exploring Brussels in the gloom and surprising cold. It took a while to get our orientation but once we did we really enjoyed this busy city. Highlights from our visit included the Grand Place, a collection of gorgeous baroque buildings in the town square; the Galerie Saint-Hubert, a shopping arcade with a high glass ceiling and beautiful shops; The Palais Royale, the residence of the Belgian Royal family; and the Park Cinquantenaire, an impressive arch with museum buildings on either side. Low points were the fact we didn't see either brussel sprouts or Jean Claude van Damme during our stay.

Morg at the comic book museum

Cathedrale Sts-Michel et Gudule

This photo is for Barb- see the railing half way up the organ on the side wall? That's where the organ player sits!

Galerie Saint-Hubert

Hotel de Ville

Grand Place

Manneken Pis statue- apparently it's famous

One of many chocolate shops. I really wish I liked chocolate a bit more!

"Old England" building, now a music museum

Palais Royal

Statue in Parc Park

Museums and Arch of Parc Cinquantenaire

A lot of the museums and galleries were closed when we visited but, luckily for Morgan, not the car museum. Our random lunch in their restaurant was a really pleasant surprise and the museum itself was actually pretty cool.