Brussels!! Nice waffles..

Leaving Amsterdam after a full breakfast at Stayokay hostel..


Telphone booths..

Looks yummy.. while waiting for the Brussels train.. took some pictures..

Vending machines selling hot chicken or beef wrap.. hmmm.. just slot the correct money in n u can open the door to yummy meat..


Use a credit card to buy a train ticket from these machines to save yerself the 50 euro cent service charge per ticket if u buy them over the counter..

Arrived at Brussels.. the train station looked real dilapidated.. haha..

along the way from Amsterdam, we saw some Amsterdam like RLD in Belgium.. train was too fast for me to take a pic of.. just gers sitting by windows scantily clad in broad daylight..
Green green grass... a sight that i have not had a chance to see for a long time.. since most of the time since i arrived in Stockholm,i see Snow...

We saw a small booth in the train station selling waffles.. n ppl say try Belgian waffles when u r in BElgium n so here we go...

Me with my sinful waffle coated with thick chocolate.. ooooh.. yummy..

Yummy...

the central train station..


We were clueless after getting out of the train station.. dont noe wat to do n where to go.. so we anyway explore til we reach a nice church.. a very big one as well... its called St Michel..



Outside the church, Dom was fooling around with JL when suddenly she lost her balance n fell.. It was pretty embarassing for Dom as many ppl were watching as JL sat on the floor stunned.. funny.. haha

we went inside n took some pics.. impressive organ..

after this, i asked around for nice places to go in Brussels n i led the 3 of them on a Brussels walking tour..
Traffic lights in Brussels seem to be always yellow.. no red or green so its pretty hard to cross the road.. have to be alert.. press this button to get the light to turn in yer favor.. hopefully..

Belgium is famous for
Chocolates..


Lace...

Pls dont eat n drool outside.. haha

Waffles..


We went straight to the town hall.. a very beautiful place with a Gothic feel..




Next we proceeded to see Manneken Pis..
It was such a disapointment.. i never expected to be such a small statue.. i expected it to be smt bigger.. no big deal jsut a statue of a small boy peeing..


There are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about Duke Godfried II of Brabant. In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke (currently Neder-over-Heembeek). The troops put the little boy in a basket and hung it in a tree, to encourage them. From there, he urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle.

Another legend goes like this: in the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held their ground for quite some time. The attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Juliaanske from Brussels happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city.

According to an article posted in the History section of http://www.manneken-pis.com, the statue once was used to dispense liquor.

Next we proceeded to Sablon.. another gothic looking church..

then we went to Place Royale..




There is the Royal St Hubert Galleries with its unique architecture n its a shopping centre by itself..


Outside this shopping centre.. there is the long street of restaurants.. no very cheap though..


We settled down for some cheap easy sandwiches for dinner..

took a train down to Chaleroi airport to catch our flight back to Stockholm..

We took a Ryanair flight back.. there r no TV screens to demo the safety feature of the plane.. flight stewards performed manual demos n we r supposed to pay our full attention..

the menu for in flight food n drinks.. NOT veyr cheap..

there seems to be hole inside the aircraft.. n it seems that the air stewards have just stuff some tissue to cover it up...

everyone in the plane clapped when we touched down safely in Stockholm.. i felt weird.. aint we supposed to touch down safely n its the pilot's responsiblity to do so.. why must we clap.. haha
by the time i reached T centrelan central station to take the Tunnelbana back home.. its almost 1am.. i reached the platform, n saw that my train is coming in 3 minutes time.. i looked at the timing of the next train.. 5:06am!! phew luckily i arrived just in time or else i would have to camp here for the nite..