Winter Europe Trip 15th December 2022 (Thursday) Day 19 Brussels, Belgium

 (This posted is written on 29th October 2023, I finally have time as the school year is coming to an end and I really missed our Europe trip) *Look at that, I managed to update my travel journal till Day 19!

The next morning, we woke up to have breakfast at ibis and it was super underwhelming, full of people but just the very basic as its a cheap 3 star hotel. It was so bad or we were just bored with hotel breakfast that we did not take any photos. We were disappointed that there wasnt even waffles or crepe even though we were at Belgium, kind of worse than the three stars hotel we stayed in Copenhagen. Anyway, that was the last day during the trip when we had hotel breakfast, we totally skipped it the next day and ate at a cafe before heading to London. P totally condemned the hotel due to the fact that we did not have wifi for both days. Sigh. 

Back to the Grand Place in dayilght

Took some time to help P with his jump shot, totally Munich feel

Ended with couple photo

Artist in action 

After breakfast, we went back to our room to nap again and got out at 2pm for some sightseeing as that was the only day we have in Brussels before heading to London the next day. It did not feel as cold as Amsterdam and there were also lots of tourists around, so the vibe was good. 

Starbucks is another landmark here

Went in to take a look but didnt get anything

Filled with people

After taking lots of photo of the Grand Place in daylight, we started heading towards the Manneken Pis as that's the iconic landmark of Brussels, its a walk of about 15-20 min away from the square. The world famous manneken came about as a remembrance to the brave little boy who saved his country by peeing on the fuse of the explosive, its a well known story that I had heard for ages so visiting the peeing statue is a must. 

Colourful crosswalk 

Had read lots of review of how small the actual statue is

Lots of tourists trying to get their photos

As we got nearer to the statue, there were many shops selling souvenirs related to the peeing boy and we saw more and more tourists walking around. This area has a lot of shops and eateries, plus the murals on the wall attracted many people.

Very cool standing bar just next to the statue area

Waffle and ice cream looked so good

Trying the fries is a must in Brussels

We finally got ours

Chocolate version of Manneken Pis

Belgian chocolate museum 

The little boy had abs and there were penis shaped dessert

Hmmm...

After taking lots of photos with the statue, it was time to fill our stomach and indulge in Brussel's desserts and snacks. There is always a debate for the best place to get fries and we saw lots of those shops as we walked to the Manneken Pis, we finally just decided to get from this shop that looked good and there were people queueing up to get the fries. It tasted not too bad when the fries are piping hot.

Wall mural of funky Manneken Pis

We visited a church

Away from the hustle and bustle

Iconic Belgian comics Tintin

Wall murals certainly spiced up the place

A long stretch supporting LGBT

After eating the fries (the portion was big), we walked around taking photos of the murals scattered all around Brussels city and then headed back to the Grand Place once again. It was 4pm+ then and we decided to get back to the hotel room for a nap (again!) before heading out as we were feeling a bit tired and sleepy.