梦。游。迹: 31 March, 2009 – Brussels, Belgium

Today I just decided to wander around Brussels without any planned agenda. We all know that the famous Manneken Pis is one of the main highlight and a major landmark in the City of Brussels. A bronze statue of a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. However, looking at the town map, I noticed that there were actually 3 different Manneken Pis statues in the town of Brussels. Despite the little boy, there were actually another statue of a little girl (Jeanneke Pis) and also one of a dog. Intrigue, I made up my mind to find and "collect" all the 3 mannekken pis while I wander around the city (mission accomplished by EOD). See them in my album (album link below)

Rue des Bouchers, a street near the Grote Markt is basically lined up with various seafood restaurants, where you can have a seafood meal for 13euros, mainly targeting tourists. However the reviews from the internet are not favourable towards the food quality / service standards. At the Grote markt, there were a group of school children playing games. Each group will have a game board with Brussels' main tourist attractions on the board. The children will throw a dice, and then depending on where they landed, they need to go to the places of interest, get some information or photos and maybe answer some questions before coming back to the Markt and continue on. It's such an interesting way for the children to learn about this historic place :)

Wandering on, I got attracted by the sweet aroma of chocolates. OMG, it was heavenly :D Just standing outside the store itself admiring the macarons, handmade chocolates etc with the sweet scents probing out from the store is such a treat to my senses. Some of the chocolates stores have some very beautifully and creatively decorated / arranged artwork using chocolates. Of course all these comes with a hefty price tag for a backpacker like me... so just pure admiration and sniffing will satisfy me.

Another tip for those of you visiting Brussels, go to the carpark named 'Parking 58' @ Rue de l'Évêque, to enjoy an aerial view of Brussels city without having to pay a single cent. take the lift to its 10th floor, and a big parking terrace will open in front of your eyes. From here you can get a beautiful 360 degrees view of Brussels. Open daily from 7am until 1am (or 2am Friday and Saturday).