Every time I think of Belgium, three things come into my mind; Belgian waffle, divine Belgian chocolate and Hercule Poirot. Long before I even planned to visit Belgium, I promised myself that I’m going to try the first two whenever I am in Belgium. Since the last one it’s only fictional character in Agatha Christie’s book, sadly I won’t be able to meet Hercule Poirot.

The opportunity to visit Belgium finally knocked on my door when I was in Paris. So I hopped on the high speed train Thalys at Gare du Nord (North Station) in Paris at the break of the dawn and arrived in Brussels, Belgium within 1 hour 20 minutes. No plan on hand I thought to just wing it. As I exited train station I wondered should I make a left or a right, decided to make a right and it turned out to be a good decision. Along the way I surprised myself as I encountered many unexpected things, from a Belgian flea market, an old church, a small park with a water fountain, Godiva store and Belgian waffle from the street vendor. The smell of waffle had completely awaken me. Ah…I could hear the angel was singing in the background as I took my first bite, the best waffle I ever ate.

 

After a lot and I meant a lot of walking, I bumped into visitor center. At this point I was desperate for direction to Palais Royal de Bruxelles (the royal palace of Brussels). I got a city map from visitor center, with the map on hand, I finally found the Royal Palace of Brussels. Located in the center of the nation’s capital,  Brussels. After a few poses, a few pictures, then I walked across a long square called the Paleizenplein/Place des Palais to go to the Brussels park. Brussels Park located right across from the Royal palace of Brussels. It was in the middle of fall season, so I fully enjoyed the changing color of leaves inside the park. The park is free of charge and has a collection of statues all over the park. Still feeling athletic, I continued walking to the Grand Palace from the Park after a short stop at outdoor café for a quick bite and a cup of cappuccino. The Grand palace or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is the most famous landmark in Brussels. The architecture of the building mesmerized me. It looked so tall and so grand, surrounding by town hall, guildhalls, and the Breadhouse. By the time I leaned on the wall in front of the building to admire it, the day had gotten dark. The reflection of the light on the building made the Grand palace looked even more beautiful

.Before I left Belgium to return to Paris, I had one more thing on my list that I needed to cross; the Manneken Pis, also known as little man pee or le Petit Julien. The Manneken Pis is a small bronze sculpture in Brussels, depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain’s basin. What drawn me the most to Manneken Pis was a legend behind it. There are few version of the legends and my favorite one is the legend that states that in the 14^th 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. What a heroic little boy.It was already dark so I couldn’t locate the Manneken pis, instead I bumped into a gourmet chocolate store and ended up buying a full bag of different flavors of Belgian chocolate. The sales associate behind the counter was a nice young girl. We started talking, what a surprise when I found out that she used to live in Brooklyn, New York. Bonding over the fact that we both have lived in east coast, we exchanged the email address and she gave me a detail direction to the Manneken Pis. I waved her goodbye and walked toward the famous landmark.

There you are! I thought as I spotted the bronze statue right at the corner of Rue de l’Etuve and Rue des Grands Carmes. The statue is smaller than I thought. It’s only 61 cm tall. The Manneken Pis was designed by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder. After more pictures, I could hear my growling stomach. Time for late dinner. I headed toward the coble stone road surrounding by restaurant left and right. It was hard to pick since the waitresses literally were standing in front of the restaurants to invite you in. Finally I picked the Indian restaurant. The waitress recommended me the city of Bruges for my next visit. So my next time in Belgium, I will be happy to get lost in Bruges.