"Manneken" is Flemish for "little man" (boy) and "Pis" needs no explanation (does it?). The legend goes that this little boy helped to extinguish a fire, by urinating on it, that would have burned the King's castle (and the town of Brussels). Normally, this street corner is filled with on-lookers. Additionally, the statue wears costumes. Just up the street is a museum that displays all, or most, of the costumes he wears. When we walked by the previous evening, he was dressed as Krampus.
This is the backside of City Hall (Hotel de Ville, in French) as we're walking towards the Grand Place.
And, here it is from the front, bathed in sunshine.
More pictures from the Grand Place. I'd have to say that this is my favorite European plaza (so far).
Some pictures from the chocolate tour;
This is one part of the Brussels shopping arcades. They're based on the ones in Paris.
Our first stop, on the tour, was this shop. The name escapes me right now.
We're on our way to the second tour stop, Chocopolis, and we encountered this statue that memorializes a former mayor of Brussels.
Some of the buildings in this little square have been around a long time (and, these aren't even close to the oldest ones).
Because Belgium is the home to many cartoonists, Brussels adorned several empty building walls with famous local cartoons. Some of you might recognize Tin Tin.
These "shells" are in fact signposts to the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. There are about 50 of them in Brussels. They designate two routes thru the city.
Ornate wooden carvings on an old wooden church door.
Next stop on the chocolate tour; we got to make our own candies! Here are some of the goodies we would incorporate into the chocolate.
Dave hard at work. I can hear my mom now; "wouldn't it be easier to use your right hand?" No mom, it wouldn't.
Results of Dave's hard work.
Some of our cohorts on the tour. If I recall correctly, the two on the left were from Wisconsin and the two on the right were from California.
Now, we're going to make praline (in a form). According to Brussels chocolate makers, a praline is any chocolate that has something hidden inside (and usually made in a mold).
Here I am using piping bag to finish the praline (covering the nut with chocolate). It wasn't easy.
Here are some finished ones that were made earlier in the morning. The woman that made these was from Nepal. She spoke very good French and English and she had been in Belgium for about seven months.
Here's Kasey's haul.
Lesser known is that the Manneken Pis not only has a female counterpart, Jeanneke Pis, but also a dog known as Zinneke Pis, who is forever lifting his leg onto a Brussels street pole. Zinneke Pis was installed on the corner of Rue des Chartreux and Rue du Vieux Marché aux grains in 1998, centuries after his symbolic master was installed in the city in 1619.
Our tour guide.
We're now back in the Grand Place at Mary's. This store has been around for about two hundred years. We purchased some of their chocolates. They were very good but not our favorites.
We hate American fast-food places in Europe. FU Pizza Hut! I later discovered that there is a McDonalds on the bottom floor of the Marriott. FU too, McD's!
After the tour, we had some tea in the Royal Arcade and then visited the Museum of Brussels in the building where the King used to live.
This Mennekin Pis is not the original but quite old. As you can imagine, being outside for years and years has a tendency to be very hard on you when you're exposed to the weather.
Here he is wearing some of his costumes.
When we left the Museum, we managed to catch a free walking tour of Brussels, given by a local. Her name was Yse and she was great fun to listen to. I believe she studied to be a school teacher but was having a hard time finding work. I don't think a lot of people realized that she relied on tips for compensation. Highly recommended. The following images are from our walking tour.
About half way thru the tour, there were two women directly behind us. They were clearly sisters (based on their facial similarities). They were also talking in a language we didn't understand or recognize. The tour was in English so I knew they understood English, if only a little. So, at a corner waiting for the light, I asked them what country they were from. In a perfect American accent, the closest one, to me, replied; "Texas" ("it's like a whole other country!"). If that isn't the most Texas thing ever, I don't know what is. It turns out that they were speaking Arabic. One was working in the Middle East, as an engineer, and was meeting her sister for a quick Euro holiday.
Nighttime in Brussels is magic.
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