This blog
continues the previous Part 15,
Monday, June 25, 2018
Leaving the Grand Place and the many visitors I found the Manneken Pis
(little pee man in Flemish), the statue of a young boy urinating into a basin
of the fountain, not far away. Already designed in the 17th (!) century by J.
Duquesnoy the Elder (1597-1643), the statue became an institution, a
'must' for every visitor.
When I arrived there were some people so I took the obligatory picture
but mounted my telephoto lens first. The little man stands only 61 cm tall and
all photographers zoom in to let it 'grow' for the photo. As some might know
there is a different costume for every day or occasion, there is even a museum
showcasing the clothes of the original naked boy. Why the boy was dressed in
obviously Dutch clothes was beyond my knowledge...
Beside the fountain are different waffle shops showing the small boy
seemingly made out of chocolate in larger sizes. For anyone disappointed about
the original statue can take photos of the models in front or in the
shops.
I
walked back to the Grand Place and enjoyed some quiet moments there. It is
amazing how much work and money goes into the buildings to keep them for the
world to see...
From there I walked to the Boulevard Anspach, the main road between the
Place Rogier in the north and the South or Midi train station. The road was
still rebuild when I walked along and came to the Brussels Stock Exchange or
'Bourse De Bruxelles' in French. Behind the dry word 'stock exchange' stands
actually a quite stunning building erected from 1868 to 1873; mixing elements
of the Neo-Renaissance and Second Empire architectural styles. It has an
abundance of ornaments and sculptures, created by different famous artists of
this time.
Beside the fountain are different waffle
shops showing the small boy seemingly made out of chocolate in larger sizes.
For anyone disappointed about the original statue can take photos of the models
in front or in the shops.
I walked back to the Grand Place and enjoyed
some quiet moments there. It is amazing how much work and money goes into the
buildings to keep them for the world to see...
From there I walked to the Boulevard Anspach,
the main road between the Place Rogier in the north and the South or Midi train
station. The road was still rebuild when I walked along and came to the
Brussels Stock Exchange or 'Bourse De Bruxelles' in French. Behind the dry word
'stock exchange' stands actually a quite stunning building erected from 1868 to
1873; mixing elements of the Neo-Renaissance and Second Empire architectural
styles. It has an abundance of ornaments and sculptures, created by different
famous artists of this time.
Covering a large distance on my 2nd day in Brussels I've decided to head
back to the hotel. There were still many things to discover beside the road,
some buildings were decorated with large sized famous Belgian cartoons which
caught my attention.
Back to
the hotel I've discovered that all beds with all furniture of my room were
dismantled and my luggage in between. I went to the reception and they told me
that the room will be redecorated and they arranged a new room for me. So I
went back, packed my things and moved into the new room.
It had true bunker beds with curtains like on ships which gave the room a
very comfy and private atmosphere. I choose a bed on the 1st floor, bed no. 6
on the picture. The pillow case, the sheet cover and mattress cover all were
prepared, so I started to work on my bed. It was a little awkward to get
in but I had a 220 V outlet right beside my pillow which I used for charging
the batteries of my cell phone and camera.
I
felt great in this bed but decided to a nice shower first. Later I would meet
some other roommates but, as mentioned, I have the experience that this
generation is very interested in their smartphones and neither want to
communicate and nor reveal much about themselves.
Tomorrow
I will start my walking part of the trip. Originally I planned to take my bike
on a nice tour to Namur, a beautiful city and great destination south of
Brussels. But the bike did not work out so I decided to make the same tour but
to walk instead. Some people might wonder why to bother but Belgium is a very
reasonable place, there are not many mountains on this tour and the route
seemed to be manageable. I planned to see the country side while walking
step by step to discover new places and people. I did not have a map but rode
some name places in my notebook which would be enough...
For
today I would sleep early and prepared myself for a trip covering roughly 5
days with around 100 km by foot starting tomorrow.
But first I closed my curtains, put my head on my pillow and had a good
night's sleep.
(to be continued @
Disclaimer: I traveled Belgium by myself, I am not sponsored by anyone. Interested subscribers and/or followers in traveling an in this small but beautiful country are more than welcome! If not convenient to subscribe on Blogger.com, I've started my own homepage @ https://gerhardwanninger.wixsite.com/travel
No comments:
Post a Comment