Brussels, Belgium: Beer and Chocolate

Today we got up to take the train to our second country of the trip: Belgium.  The picture above is of the ladies in Paris's Gare de Nord station, waiting for our platform to show up on the board.

When we arrived in Brussels, we quickly realized why Belgium is so well-known for beer and chocolate: there are bars (with 250+ beers) and chocolatiers on every corner!  We even found a chocolate fountain that gave free samples...mmmmm.

After strolling around the Grote Markt and doing a bit of window-shopping, we found a place off the tourist track that had a nice (and cheap!) selection of Belgian beers.  Some Euchre and some beer and these were a few hours well-spent!

After our games, we wandered back down to the Grand Place to see the main square by night (and of course, find the requisite ice cream).  The picture above is of the Hotel de Ville, which comprises one side of the Grand Place.

Our final stop on our beer-chocolate tour of Brussels was the Manneken Pis fountain, which literally translates as 'little boy peeing'.  We thought it would be huge, given that its a major destination, but it's only a few feet high.  Jamiann and I elected to take a picture next to the much-larger piss statute at the nearby waffle store!