Today I had decided I was heading out on an unguided tour of Brussels. I planned a route around all the major sites at the hostel before breakfast, expecting it to take me most of the day as it looked pretty far.
I had bread and hot chocolate for breakfast. The hot chocolate was basically just melted chocolate. It was so good.
I had woken up with a sore throat and decided that it was a good enough reason to get a chocolate milkshake from AMT to soothe it. I had a little chat with the guy behind the counter about where we were from - he's from Egypt. Then I headed off to the cathedral which as cathedrals go isn't the most impressive I've seen on this trip. The 21st of July is Belgium's national day type thing so everywhere is preparing for that. Apparently there is going to be a big parade. Outside the cathedral the army were practising marching up and down steps.
On the way to the cathedral I passed Albertine square, where there were two statues, one of Albert and one of Elizabeth, having a face off. I assume most Belgians and people in the know will know who they are because I don't. I think Albert was a king once upon a time.
From the cathedral I walked a short distance to colonne du congress, which is a fancy war memorial, before walking to the opposite side of town to St Katherines church. From there I headed osst a fancy art gallery to Grand Place.
Grand Place is a beautiful square with the town museum on one side and a magnificent town hall on the other. Then I headed to what is apparently the most famous landmark or symbol of Brussels - Manneken Pis. A fantastic name for a statue of a little boy peeing. I probably would have walked right past it if it wasn't for the massive crowd gathered round it. Its in a corner of a random street and you can't see it from the direction I was walking in. Also its absolutely tiny. Nothing special about it at all really.
There are two different stories as to how it came about. One about a rich parent findig his missing child like that in that spot and one about the boy peeing on a burning wick planted by enemies that was meant to start a fire to burn down Brussels and therefore saving the day. I don't know if either are true.
My map and the guide book both mentioned a flea market in one of the little squares south of my hostel, whereas everything I had visited so far was north. The market ended at 2:00 but the map said lot of people don't bother clearing up so there would be free stuff left. It was only about 12 when I got there but I had a quick look round and there wasn't anything worth waiting for so I walked back to the hostel, stopping at a lebanese place for lunch and acquiring the left over accompanying pitta bread for dinner.
I had a rest at the hostel until abouy 3 at which point I headed down to St Giles church and the Hotel de Ville, which was a nice building. Whilst walking around the outside I saw a building that looked like a castle and went to investigate. It turns out its a prison. It can't have been a very secure one as there were no guards and people were going in and out.
I'm so knackered. It has been so hot today. Tomorrow my bus to Amsterdam is at 5 so in the morning I'm going to investigate north Brussels. This evening I'm going to sit in a freezer.
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