By the way, if you look real closely at a pack of Camels, you'll see his silhouette...
last updated 13 July 1999
Of all the places I've visited or lived, I think I left the largest part of myself behind in Brussels. Although the city has changed (drastically, in some ways) since I last lived there, and even since my last too-short visit, there's still something about the place that makes me think "home".
The photos shown below are not mine; they have come from a couple of different sites on the web, and will have to substitute until I am able to create decent scans of my own pictures (I shot & cataloged over 200 rolls of film -- all 24- or 36-exposure -- when I lived in Belgium, and shot a couple more during my last 1-day visit "home", so getting good scans is a bigger job than you may think!)| Here he is, folks: the Manneken Pis, "Brussels' oldest
inhabitant", and possibly the best-known symbol of the city. There are several
different stories about how he came to be standing on his street corner, but if
you're in the Gran' Place it's worth the couple of short blocks' walk past the Town
Hall to see him... and yes, he really is doing what it looks & sounds
like... <grin>
By the way, if you look real closely at a pack of Camels, you'll see his silhouette... |
|
|
This is the Atomium, Brussels' other best-known symbol around the world. Built for the 1958 World Exposition and symbolizing an Iron atom, it's still open to the public and offers great views of the surrounding area from the topmost sphere. |
| Here's a partial view of the Gran' Place, the original city center. Except for the large building on the right (and City Hall, directly across from it), all the buildings were guild halls, and each was designed to outdo the decoration of the others... leaving Brussels with (IMHO) the nicest town square in Western Europe! By the way, that big ornate building houses a museum housing all the special costumes for the Manneken Pis... and my friend Felicija used to have a lace shop right there in the corner of the square... | |
|
This is the Cathedral of St. Michael, the city's patron saint. In its basement you will find an archeological excavation of the Roman and pre-Roman ruins it is built on... the Gran' Place is just down the hill (you're facing the wrong way or you'd see it!) St. Michael's also has stained glass windows that are well worth a visit. |
| This is a shot of the Cinquintenaire Arch built to celebrate Belgium's 50th birthday. A little ways out from the center of the city, it sits astride one of the main roads in & out of town, which runs through a tunnel directly under the Cinquintenaire park, so you really need to get out of your car to see it well! There are also several large military & history museums in the immediate area. | |