Remember when I said we were
in a food coma yesterday and that we’d work it off today…well we did and then
some! We met up with our guide from
Brussels Bike Tours and three other adventurous souls for a four hour bike tour
of the fabulous city!
Some of you will find this
part especially humorous…I had to get a kid’s bike because my legs are so
short! The beauty of the kid’s bike
though was pedal breaks which came in very handy going downhill in the rain.
We literally went all over the
city today and I must stay I was quite pleased with the way the drivers look
out for bikers and yielded to us...definitely impressive for the capital of the
European Union and headquarters of NATO.
First stop on the bike tour
was our little friend the Mannekin-Pis. This
morning he was still au naturel, however, stay tuned to see how he was dressed
later in the day in celebration of France’s Bastille Day.
Titch, our guide, took us
through parts of the city we would not have seen on our own which was
great. We went through the poor part of
town, the rich part of town, the government sections, parks and of course
tourist areas. Because of the rain, not
too many pictures today but the sights of the town are imbedded in my memory.
Titch did take a little pity
on us and stopped under the cover of the EU Parliament buildings so I did
manage to get a few pics before we braved the rain again.
Thankfully our next stop was
for frites and beer! I opted for the
small order with the traditional Specialé Sauce (mayo, curry ketchup and
chopped onions)…yum yum!
The latest in rainy weather
fashion! Don't hate us because we're beautiful!
Our final stop on the tour was
at Saint Michael’s Cathedral.
We made our way back to the
garage…downhill thankfully! Only twice
during the tour did I come close to crashing…and one of those times I almost
took out an old lady and lamp post but fortunately we all returned in one
piece!
Desperate for something warm
to drink and a dry place to sit, we headed back toward the Grand Place but made
a pit stop at a little chocolatier. I
tried dark chocolate with chili pepper and dark chocolate with Earl Grey and Julie
tried the Earl Grey and a dark chocolate with almond pieces…we both concluded
our choices were quite wonderful. We
enjoyed our chocolates in a little café with a fire and cappuccino.
Refreshed and ready to brave
the on again/off again rain, we headed back over to see the Mannekin-Pis decked
out in his little French ensemble. For
all world holidays and other important dates, he dons on one of his more than
800 outfits and his hidden behind flags of Brussels until the special parade
makes its way to him. At which time, the flag is removed revealing him and to retaliate
he no longer pees in the fountain but on the crowds.
Once again, we could not
resist the smell of the Belgian waffles and picked up one to fortify us on the
walk to the central train station where we bought our tickets for tomorrow’s
day trip to Bruges. Today we decided to
forego the “tourist” waffle (Belgian waffle with all the stuff on it) and opted
for what the locals get…a plain waffle for only €1 and it was perfect as it is
sweet enough without all the toppings.
We’re taking a little respite
from the rain and will be heading out again to explore more of the city we both
plan to revisit. The people here are
ever so nice and feeling of the city is just so welcoming.
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