August 4th and 5th, 2013. 

We arrived in Brussels, Belgium last night.  Had a great slow, leisurely drive from Brugge.  Saw wonderful contemporary homes along the way.  Also, we saw our first windmill.  The architecture and building materials have changed dramatically since leaving France.  Red brick seems to be the building material of choice.  Villages are not built around a “town center and church”, but around a “ town center and a public building which is a tall tower and is usually the city hall.

The draw to Brussels was to see the Grand Place.  A magnificent town center, which was started in the 15^th century.  It consisted of a City Hall, Kings House, and Guildhalls.  It reminded us of how powerful and wealthy Belgium was at one time in history.   We also had to see the statute of the little boy peeing.  Don’t know why we had to see it, but we were not alone. About 25 adults were standing around photographing and video recording this two-foot high statute of a little boy peeing toward them.  What can I say?  You have to be a tourist some days.  Before we left Brussels, we loaded up on Belgian Chocolates; Rita didn’t think she got enough sugar from her Belgian Waffles!!    Really though, Belgium is known all over Europe as the producer of fine quality chocolates.   We can attest to the good chocolates, and may never look at a Snicker the same way again!