A Croissant A Day: Brussels and Mini-Europe

Brussels

A Weekend of Chocolat, Gaufres (Waffles), Frites (French Fries), and Bière (Beer)

Moules Frites

As Rick Steves says, "When in Brussels eat Mussels!!"

Hôtel de Ville at night

Hôtel de Ville during the day

City Square

Galeries Royal

Truffles!!

Just a very cool glove window display

So much Chocolate!!

Frites and Mayo!

Kelly and the Frites

Again sooo much chocolate!

Kelly tackling the 50ml
(it is not uncommon in Belgium to see old ladies doing the same around 3pm instead of an afternoon coffee or diet coke)

Snake Dog beer. I don't recommend it.

Manneken-Pis

The unofficial mascot of Brussels, the Manneken-Pis (translation Little Boy Peeing) is a fountain/statue of a little boy peeing. The original statue (that was not a fountain) was believed to have been constructed in 1388, but was later replaced by a bronze fountain version in 1619. There are many stories to the statue's history, the most famous being that a wealthy merchant was visiting the city and his young son got lost. With a search party involving the entire town, they eventually found the boy happily urinating in a small garden. As a gift of thanks, the merchant had the statue built for the town. Other legends are based off of more fable-like stories, and the city at one point just decided to built the statue as a tribute to those famous legends.

Starting in the 17th century, it became tradition to dress the boy up is various costumes. The tradition has carried onto today. Being that Brussels is the center of the EU, many countries know about Manneken -Pis and many send elaborate costumes for him to wear representing their country. All of his costumes from the past can be seen on display in the City Museum.

Needless to say Brussels is obsessed with the Manneken-Pis. He can be seen all over the city.

Manneken-Pis statues at a chocolate shop.

Original Manneken-Pis statue now on display in the City Museum

Model of Brussels in the Medieval Times

Some of his costimes
(NASA, Bee Keeper, Russian, and French Chef)

Spain Costume

Another Spain Costume

Russian

Elvis costume - clearly from the USA

Mexican Mariachi Costume

UK Costume

Seeing Eye Dog Costume

And finally the real Manneken-Pis.
The day we visited he was dressed in a costume from Japan

Atomium and Mini-Europe

Atomium
The Atomium, a scale model of an iron crystal (magnified 165 billion times) was originally built for the 1958 World's Fair.

Mini-Europe
Right next to the Atomium is a place called Mini-Europe. With an hour to kill before dinner, Kelly and I decided why not check the place out - it would probably be pretty amusing. Needless to say it was. We both felt like we were on a mini-golf course who's theme was the famous monuments of Europe. Hey why pay to travel all over Europe when for 10 euro you can see it all in one place and under an hour?!

Note: All the info provided is from the walking guide booklet they give you - I did not memorize all the places at mini-europe.