Second and final day in Belgium's capital, this trip is flying by! By tomorrow evening i'll be out of Belgium and on my way to Norway (if all things go to plan and Ryanair aren't as terrible as I've heard. Pert sure they could give Jetstar a run for their money..)
After a hot nights sleep last night (6 people in one room makes for some heavy breathing and serious heat), and a fabulous shower (where I had two hands free for the entire time!), I went crazy on the breakfasts, although they didn't have a toaster (back near the French part of Belgium so it makes sense) they had fruit toast, apple juice, yogurt!!, crazy stuff. Loaded up on as much as I could muster for the day ahead (and as much as would fit with the many leftover waffles still chilling in my estomac..)
By 9.15am I was pounding the pavement and I'm pretty sure that today I walked the entire inner Brussels. I pretty much followed my feet and managed to see a huge part of Brussels, seeing some of the more well known areas, as well as leading myself to one of the more dodgy parts of town which, alone, was a pretty interesting experience. But after escaping that (and making sure I still had all my belongings) I strolled back to the heart of town past the many hidden wall paintings that grace this city. I saw a lot of churches, and a lot of beggars who hang out around them, and even made the most of a locals tip, to head to the rooftop of the parking building on rue de la vierge noire, which is a secret spot to get a panoramic view of the city. It was amazing! Unfortunately the day was a bit overcast, but I was able to see for ages in every direction! So cool.
I could even see the balls of the atomium. I even visited them later in the afternoon but they are closed for maintenance from January 9th to 13th, gutted! They are massive balls, all joined together and were created for a World Exhibition of 1958. They're supposed to represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. Apparently this was during the belief that atomic energy would one day save the world. Maybe these nine balls are the place to be when Decemeber 2012 rolls around.
Other than walking across Brussels like a mad woman, immanaged to check out the two peeing statues. The main one is now somewhat of a naional symbol of a boy peeing which doubles as a water fountain, with the water coming from... well, you can guess. His name is Manneken Pis and his suit is actually changed a couple of times a month by a guy called Jean-Marc, all his clothes are kept in the City Museum. Random! No idea what it's for. There's lots of chocolate shops on the street (and everywhere, actually. It's like Brussels got Parkinson's when dishing out these gems) but one of the chocolate shops has a super sized chocolate replica of the peeing boy in their shop window. On the opposite side of the street is a waffle shop, with the peeing boy (incidentally he's brown like chocolate) and holding a waffle to cover his pee...) I really have to question the campaign decisions behind promoting this city. I then checked out the obligatory follow up, the peeing dog. Its on a random street, just casually peeing against a post and someone has spray painted yellow paint onto the pole. Genius. It's a must-do.
Brussels is so big and I spent the whole day doing everything I could, knowing we have to leave early-ish tomorrow to catch our late afternoon flight out. (Ryanair is cheap, but it's clever. It doesn't fly from the main airports if it can try. Hence our flight is from Charleroi, outside Brussels, rather than the convenient Brussels airport.)
Can't believe I'm off to Norway tomorrow! This is where the value of exchange's is apparent, I never would have thought of going to Norway before meeting R! First night in Oslo, next in her family's village house, the next in her family's countryside cabin and the last back in Oslo!
Also checking the weather forecast, high of -7degrees! Think I may have to wear everything I own.
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