We made our way to Mons after our World War I cemeteries tour and stayed the night. Today Tim had his conference, the whole reason we came to Europe.
We got up around 9:00 because Tim had to buy a parking ticket until 11:00. We puttered around our cute hotel and at about 10:40 Tim loaded the car and dropped me off at Ikea. My original plan was to just spend a couple hours there in the mall, but I ended up spending the entire time; just admiring all the unique European stuff. Tim's conference ended a bit short, so that helped.
He met up with me at about 3:45 and after buying a baguette we set out for Brussels. The drive felt a bit long even though it was only 75 km. We arrived to our hotel after some stop and go traffic in the downtown.
We had an awesome spread of cheeses and meats for diner.
It was still early and both of us did not feel like doing much; kind of felt like a waste driving north to Brussels just to drive back the next day. We mustered the effort to go check out the downtown; the grand palace was only 200 metres from our hotel. Wow was it worth coming.
The Grand Palace is the centrepiece of the most beautiful town square we have seen to date, ever! It is rectangular space that closes all directions with beautiful multi-floored gold clad buildings. The art on the buildings very detailed with many depictions of kings and heroes.
There was a single Gothic looking building that stood out because it was a lot darker than the others. It really had an evil feeling about it; something that we may not have noticed during the day.
We walked around and enjoyed the ambiance. Brussels had a very different feeling than the other cities we visited, both on this trip, but also our trip to central Europe. The downtown was busy, but relaxed. The roads we closed, so it felt like a different time; it could have been 200 years earlier and the only thing missing would be the clip clop of horses.
We enjoyed a Belgium waffle; wow! They come is some pretty fancy varieties, but we opted for a simple waffle and cream. It was incredibly good but a little messy. I can not imagine eating one with more toppings without a proper cutlery set.
We toured the many shops and were able to add another shot glass and beer stein to our collection. After a couple hours wandering the cute streets, we just stood in the town square watching the many other people just enjoying this beautiful, albeit wet space. Brussels was well worth the trip, even just for a night.
