Out and About in Brussels

We did a wonderful walking tour in Brussels. The guidebook says it's 90 minutes and two miles. (We did them in Antwerp and Bruges too.) However, they take us considerably longer, and a good many more miles, as we deviate down side streets, and wander into shops or stop at a cafe. Ultimately, I think that's the point of the tours anyway.

Brussels is nice for walking, but surprisingly, we weren't enthralled with its museums. We're both museum people, but lots of 15th and 16th century Flemish paintings weren't holding our interests. So we did a lot of walking.

One of the wonderful things about Brussels is its history of comic book art. Turns out that the country as a whole is quite famous for a number of its comic strips, including Tintin and the Smurfs. This was one of the things Greg most wanted to see.


There are eighteen of these street murals around central Brussels, each the work of a different famous comic book artist. In addition, a number of the streets hold dual names, in similar tribute.


The Museum of Comic Book Art is housed in an amazing Art Nouveau building by Horta. The exhibits were fun, but I enjoyed the building more.


Yes, it's Tintin and Snowy.

Of course, the tour has to route by the most famous of Brussels landmarks, the Manneken Pis. No one is quite clear WHY this little fountain has become the national symbol of Brussels, but here's the obligatory photo.



It also routes you near the national church of Belgium. I'm not a big fan of churches, but it is "the finest surviving example of Brabant Gothic architecture." The Cathédrale Sts Michel et Gudule is quite nice.

Yes, my vertigo kicked in getting this one, but it was worth it.


For me, this was the best part. This organ was absolutely amazing, especially the way it appeared suspended on the wall. I would have liked to have heard it.

The only other museum we visited in Brussels was an accidental find, and a wonderful treat. (No pun intended.) It was the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, and kept very odd hours, so we were lucky. When you enter, you are greeted with a biscuit dipped in warm melted dark Callebaut chocolate. You then proceed to the demonstration area where a chocolatier (or, for us, a chocolatière) demonstrated the art of making Belgian praline chocolates from molds. We got to taste test these shells too, which were from the same chocolate, but now cool and dried. The museum wasn't very large, but was quite informative and a lot of fun.


The chocolate goddess! And yes, she is carved from blocks of chocolate.


Beautiful molds for chocolate.


These dresses are not just made from chocolate, but were actually worn during a fashion show.

Good thing we had some other day trips planned.