Oyster Eater: What did I get myself into?: Brussels, Belgium

In Brussels, I saw the national symbol of Belgium. A little pissing statue called "Manneken Pis."

Close up of the peeing action

The square in front of it was packed with people looking at it and it just really isn't that cool. It was so funny to us. We were standing watching everyone ooo and ahhh thinking what the hell is the big deal. Seriously the image of this little pissing statue is all over the country of Belgium. They even have a person dedicated to designing little outfits for it. We just missed some people putting outfits on it, which would have been the best part of seeing it I think. I looked it up on Wikipedia and found this explanation, but who knows.

"Another legend states that in the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held its ground for some time, so the attackers conceived of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Julianske happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city. There was at the time (middle of the 15th century, perhaps as early as 1388) a similar statue made of stone. The statue was stolen several times. In 1619 it was replaced by the current bronze statue, created by Franco-Flemish Baroque sculptor Jerome Duquesnoy, father of the more famous François of the same last name."

Me shrugging my shoulders because I really don't get it.

Chocolate Mannekin Pis with touristy Belgian waffles all around.

The next few pictures were taken all around Grote Markt (Grand Place). A market square in the center of Brussels. I had recently seen many town squares and this is the only one that made my jaw drop.

I definitley let out a squeal or two because I couldn't describe in words what was so beautiful about it.

This is just one of the string of facades surrounding the square. Each building's facade reveals its history in the market place. For example, the boatmen's guild has a stern-shaped gable.

View of Brussels from the top of a parking garage. Pretty sure we interrupted a couple who thought the roof of this parking garage would be empty.

My unintentional Statue of Liberty pose with the beer menu and my delicious Trappist beer at the Delirium Cafe. That menu has over 2004 beers. Wow. It also looked like and felt like it had been spilled on 2004 times.