Bruxelles & Brugge

Bruxelles. Land of Surprises! First surprise: it was really freaking cold. I went in the middle of May and found myself shivering despite my three layers of clothes. 10° C! In MAY! Not okay. Work on that Belgium. Next surprise: it's really small. I think you can traverse the entire city in about 20 minutes. Also, it's kind of weird. Oh and final surprise: a lot of things I once thought were French actually come from here. Interessant.

Manneken Pis. Brussels' most famous sight and a good representation of the small and weird side of Brussels. It's a statue of a peeing boy who as the legends go, saved Brussels through urination. One legend says he stood from a tree and peed on the opposing troops, and another says that he peed on the fuse of explosives meant to destroy the city.

Manneken pis made of Belgian chocolate, eating a Belgian waffle. Whoa.
Brussels is also the capital of the EU. And, yes, that is a troop of people on stilts walking through the street.
Brussels is also big on comic books. Throughout the city there are many murals showing comic book scenes. Pretty cool.
Not the greatest view of Brussels, but it's the only picture I have that shows Atomium - a giant model of an iron molecule (upper right).



I cannot remember what this was...let me know if you find out. Palace of Justice. (Thanks, Dad!)

Train station seen from above.

Grand Place.

At the Comic Book Museum.

Brugge. Cute little town nicknamed "Venice of the North." I guess they're both cute tourist towns with canals...but other than that - not so similar. I can't say there's a whole lot to do there, but it's definitely worth a day trip.
The line at one of many fries stands. They were definitely worth the wait.
The Belfry of Bruges. Sadly, I have yet to see the movie, In Bruges, but I hear this bell tower plays an important role.
The Provinciaal Hof.
My day trip to Bruges coincided with the once a year Procession of the Holy Blood. You can sort of see part of it here. I didn't get the greatest pictures because for most of it, I was trying to take refuge in the heated stores.
Markt.
City Hall.
Art piece in front of City Hall, nicknamed The King's Car Wash.
Pretty canal.
Another view of the same pretty canal.
Different but also pretty canal.
Swans!
Look! A hot air balloon!
Sorry for the lackluster captions that sort of dwindled at the end...I had high hopes for this post and then...well I don't know what happened. You just have to deal with it.