Last October, my sister Debbie, Tom and I took the Eurostar to Brussels for a long weekend in Belgium. Our destination was Brugges with a quick stop in Brussels for the night.
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| Eurostar map from London to continent |
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| each tall building housed a different guild |
We only stayed one night in Brussels so after we checked into the hotel, we headed for the Grand Place which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world. It was started in the 10th century as an open-air marketplace. The Grand Place is the central square of Brussels and is surrounded by guildhalls. In Belgium and throughout the other Low Countries medieval guildhalls were built in every city for each trade. They were elaborate buildings demonstrating the guild's status. Each guildhall was marked by the coat of arms of that guild, and hung from the outside of the building.
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| Swan Guildhouse |
This is the front of the Swan guild house . In the 15th century a cabaret group was established here. It was demolished in 1695 when French troops of Louis XIV bombarded the Grand Place. One third of the buildings in the city were destroyed. It was rebuilt and in 1720 was sold to the butchers guild for their guildhall. It became an inn in 1830 and this is where Karl Marx wrote his 'Manifest'.
This is the House of the Dukes of Brabent in the Grand Place. It never housed royalty but is named for the busts of the Dukes that decorate the outside. Inside are six separate guild houses.
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| Town Hall with Guild buildings to the left |
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| Brewers Guildhouse~L'Arbre d'Or (The Golden Tree) |
No visit to Brussels would be complete without lots of stops in chocolate
shops. Here are just a few samples of the amazing chocolate selections in Brussels.
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| Chocolate shop in Brussels |
After we toured the Grand Place, the rest of our time in Brussels was consumed with chocolate shopping, moules frites (mussels and fries, popular in France but originated in Belgium), sipping some Stella and checking out the lace stores.
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| shopping for chocolate on the Grand Place |
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| Great selection of beers! |
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| Lace was in all the stores but most of it is now machine made |
Our final stop was to see Manneken Pis. It is one of Brussels more unusual attractions. It's high on the list of tourist attractions but it is a very small sculpture (only 2 ft tall). The sculptor Jerome Duquesnoy was commissioned to make it in 1619. Manneken Pis literally means Little Man Pee in Marols, a Dutch dialect spoken in Brussels. It's easy to see why it attracts tourists!
