BRUSSELS Doubts...

... not Brussels sprouts, haha. So, Tori and I were greatly anticipating our visit to Brussels, but for the wrong reasons. We didn't hear too much praise of Brussels before we left-- our friend Spencer said he saw two guys mugged in one night, my host mom said it was dirty and cold, and Tori's host mom said the other cities were much better. With that in our minds, we were a little skeptical to say the least. Brussels, however, was much better than we expected. The weather cleared up by early afternoon and we had a great day of visiting attractions.

After checking in for the last time of the weekend, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed towards the city center. We started by walking through Brussels Park, located right in front of the Royal Palace. This park was the epitome of Fall-- the leaves were changing, the trees were rustling and people were bundled up. It was a breath of fresh air in the middle of the big city. After the park, we checked out the "Manneken Pis", Brussels National icon. I didn't see the importance of this tiny peeing baby, but it's famous. It was built nearly 400 years ago and many legends have been formulated around the statue. The most popular suggests the statue is of the two-year-old Duke Godfrey III. Legend has it that during a battle, the Duke's troops put the baby lord in a basket, hung it from a tree where he proceeded to pee on the opposing troops, thus leading to their victory. Hahaha, those crazy Belgians!

From here, Tori and I couldn't resist the chocolate shops any more. We ducked in and out a handful of shops until we found our favorite local (and cheap) shop. Here, we spent plenty of time debating which chocolates to buy and who to buy them for. In the end, let's just say we spent far too much money on chocolate, but the recipients better be grateful! After chocolate shopping, we walked to the Markt or City Square where we stumbled upon the Statue of Everardt. Apparently, this guy is a Belgium hero by dying trying to protect the city. Today, it is rubbed for good luck by all who pass it. As for the market itself, it was pretty impressive. It is enclosed by guildhouses, the impressive Town Hall, and the Breadhouse. They were all really cool buildings.

After the Markt, we caught the Metro out to the Atomium, one of the most impressive monuments I have seen. It was built for the 1958 World's Fair. The structure is in the shape of a unit cell of iron magnified 165 billion times! We bought tickets to go inside and caught awesome views of the city from the top. In addition, we were there at night, so the whole monument was lit up making it all very cool.

That night, we went out for a few beers, but stopped into Delirium first-- the Guinness Book of World Record Holder for the most variety of beer in one place. However, it wasn't cheap enough for us students, so instead we headed to Celtica for €2 beers. Here is where our night got interesting. First, we met a few Australian travelers who were really cool. We talked about our travels and shared stories over a few beers. With them, however, were a couple of old creeps from Ireland and England. These guys were nuts. They were hammered and talking in the most incomprehensible English imaginable. We withstood their company long enough for them to buy us a beer. After that, we called it a night, hahaha. Overall, Belgium offered an experience I never thought I would have. Every city offered a new, unique experience. Despite being exhausted by Monday, the trip was totally worth it!