Brussels...

Who knew how easy it was to get there, the Eurostar only taking around 1hr 30mins to arrive (thats quicker from Leeds to London). The Midi station is also very close to the centre, metro's and trams running frequently so I suggest even a day trip is absolutely worth it!

There is plenty of things to do and see, the comic museum showcasing strips of Tintin and Smurfs aswell as other artist's work. 

It was very inspiring to see many original pieces of artwork, from little notes to first drafts and the booklet helped guide us through the different artists aswell as production. There were also many different styles of drawing which I was surprised to see, usually associating comics with cartoon characters, but many were written for the adult reader aswell.

The Atomium, a massive structure of an iron crystal is also worth a visit. It was built back in 1958 for an expo, only meant to last 6 months but as it was so well received by the public it became a modern monument for Brussels, symbolising its development in science and discovery. 

As the Atomium is a little further out from the centre, its worth spending the day around this area. The Mini Europe is about 5 mins walking distance away, a little model village with all the famous monuments in europe. A very entertaining and interesting walk.....why not see all the famous buildings in one go!

You can't mention Brussels without mentioning chocolate or waffles. There is a very nice little chocolate museum right in the centre- in Grand Place. Costing only 4euros (for students) you get a biscuit dipped in chocolate as a starter, a quick demo of how they make their chocolate and free tasters of the range of chocolate they make. Flavours including cinnamon, ginger, apricot, lavender, thyme, rose, cherry, chili to name a few. Some are very delicious and some taste wrong (lavender tastes like air freshener and rose tastes like pot pourri). Following the crowd upstairs there is a display of toiletries that use cocoa such as leg wax and shampoo and the story continues of how cocoa is picked and mixed to produce chocolate. Lastly you have the dessert of fruit dipped in chocolate, which by then I was far too full to consume anymore. The chocolate museum, I consider is a very cheap and filling lunch!

I recommend not to buy waffles sold at little stalls on the street. They are all the same and some are served cold. I recommend to pay a little extra and get one from a proper restaurant. Waffles from La Rose Blanche serve the best in my opinion and the service is also top notch. Spend a bit of time looking for a decent restaurant because in restaurant valley (as i call it is an area packed full of restaurants on a winding cobbled road) they all serve the same menu which all cost the same. My first waffle was from one of these restaurants and it was very disappointing. Mussles are very popular around here, serving 1kg per person for the main course, so it was quite safe to give it a try.

Art around Brussels is awesome. In the Metro stations there are many different pieces, aswell as paintings on walls and around the streets. It makes these places much more pleasant aswell as give it some culture and background story. Wherever you go, there was always some art piece whether a sculpture or painting that attracted my eye, making the whole experience much more enjoyable.

 

This was a very different way of saying "welcome into the building" making it more noticable to passers by.

The little hole in the middle of the map showed which stop we were at on the Metro. Ingenius way of catching the eye at a glance instead of trying to find the red arrow or blob.

Some art on the walls inside the metro. It stretched along one whole side.

A beautiful sculpture called "de Bode" i saw as I walked through a park.

This also caught my attention along the way to see the Atomium. Very modern and funky. It included the 2 pillars into its design, creating a statement in the corner.

More paintings in the Metro, this one reflecting on the trams used in the past.

This odd piece of sculpture was attached on the ceiling. My guess is that it serves as an extra bit of lighting in the evenings but looks amazing either way.

The buildings are also full of history, all showing the different styles of the time they were built in, and their influences from either the french or dutch cultures.

This was an empty property but pasted with a photograph, now decaying after the years of rain and wind.

A very fancy building, which looked out of place on the corner of the street next to the other buildings.

This castle looking building was unexpected, showing how many different influences and styles were present in the country.

The concrete outer walls almost seem to hold the building up, the core structure on the outside rather than the inside. Again, very interesting but also quite intimidating.

A close up of the building in Grand Place, many parts were highlighted in gold making it stand out looking very grand and magnificent indeed.

The Manneken Pis in Brussels is like the Statue of Liberty in America. Although not nearly as big....a little statue of a boy in an alcove peeing.....it is very close to the centre so not too much hassle to go and take a look.