Belgium, Part II

Giants and castles!

It's been a wonderful few days in Belgium recently.  We used Saturday to chill out - relax, refresh ourselves.

On Sunday our hosts took us to a village called Belœil.  The reason for going was to check out the grand castle there, and admittedly it is a very grand castle (you can check out further details here).  We spent a good hour or so just wandering through its majestic halls and ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

However, while we were in the village, there was also a parade of sorts.  The village hosts a 'giants' parade where they make 10ft dancing giants, and then invite other dancing giants from nearby villages to attend, then they all make their way to the castle before dancing away.  From what I can figure, it's an excuse to eat frites, drink bier and have a generally good time while brass bands play music.  Anyway, such fun.

Monday was pretty much a complete write-off - train to Belgium, Nick not feeling well, so crashed at the Hotel.

The cobbled streets of Brussels

  However today (Tuesday) we did get a lot done.  Brussels is a truly wonderful town.  It has all the history and majesty of a larger city with less of the dirt and poverty.  Undoubtedly it's there, but just not so much of it.  So we got up and got ready, walked into town and stopped at a lovely little bar (Nick had a coffee, me a beer), then went around all the local tourist attractions.  Most of the inner town is lined with cobblestone and brickwork, and a lot of it is closed to traffic.

After visiting the Manneken Pis, we made our way to The Grand Place, which is rather lovely - like a town square surrounded by beautiful baroque buildings.  We then wandered around for a while, just darting in and out of side streets, before making our way to view the cathedral and then the Comic Strip Centre which includes pretty much a whole floor on Tintin (of course).  

Uptown to view the Musee Margritte, and to view the Palace of Justice with spectacular views over the city.

So all in all a very busy few days.  Tomorrow off to Bruges and then Gent on Thursday.  Keep it coming, Belgium!