Friday 9 May 2008

brussels, belgium

brussels

brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
we arived in brussels in the evening, had dinner and took a walk around town before heading to the hotel, this is la bourse (stock exchange), the place for financial meetings.


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
one thing i love when traveling is to capture the lives of the locals, what's 'happening' in their part of the world, ahhh.... 2012 on the street? OoOoo... i've read about it, intrigue by it. google if you wanna know more.


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
we spent a night in brussels and continued our tour the next morning in the city. the weather was a little unfriendly, it rained. but that certainly didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.
this is brussels park, right in front of the royal palace (which i didn't take any photos, gene has them)


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
perfect to describe the weather. there are many statues like these around the city.


brussels, photo by gene canon 350d
town hall, a.k.a. the market place or old town. great architecture.


brussels, photo by gene canon 350d
the guild (meaning corporations) houses, during the middle ages, the wealthy and politically powerful had corporations and build their houses around the main town square. above is the house of the dukes of brabant.


brussels, photo by gene canon 350d
statues around town hall


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
no visit to brussels is complete without visiting menneken pis, few variants of this little boy's story, the funny one is that he saved the city from fire by peeing and got every men to do the same to put out the fire. he's a hero because he pee-ed! this boy has been pee-ing in public for more than 600 years!


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
wet morning in city streets. flags of eu. brussels is home to the european commision and to the council of ministers of the european union (eu).


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
and oh... of course there's belgium chocolates! caught gene eyeing chocolate houses on display.


brussels, photo by gene canon 350d
chocolate fountain!! yummmm!!


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
we had some free time to explore the city on our own. some interesting photos of the city. hmm... macho sauna anyone??


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
this painting on the wall is super cool!


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
the seafood street, famous for it's fresh seafood served, oysters, mussels ect, some eaten raw... erm... not my taste.


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
getting ready to display the seafood on ice.


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
st. hurberts gallery


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
here's another statue near the fountain.


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
brussels is a busy city.



brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
back at the town hall, while waiting for others to arrived, we were approached by a camera crew while getting ready for a group shot, the man with guitar asked the group to sing a song...


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
and it was in french! it was totally a whacky fun time!


brussels, photo by gene canon 350d
hohkay... credit to the photographers, we decided to take silly photos our ourselves, statue styled. yours truly... so duh!


brussels, photo by alison canon 350d
and gene... weeewit! ada gaya.

phew... finally, that's our holiday. hope you've enjoyed the photos as much as i enjoyed sharing them.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you so much, I so enjoyed these photos. What a trip...I love all the statues and the architecture and the flowers. The photos are really well done, I enjoyed them all.

    And that cathedral where you cried? I have spoken with others who have had the same reaction in it...and it is love. A very pure love. I envy you your experience!

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  2. marion: *curtsy* thank you for clearing my doubt on the 'crying experience'. :)

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  3. Hi,
    I love the photos, the painting on the wall is really cool may be we should try it here in Malaysia. the chocolate fountain really inviting, Everything is so beautiful.Thanks for sharing it

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  4. NICE! been to amst...now brussels looks inviting!

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  5. I love the meineken pis story..that's amazing. And again the clean streets, the unique paintings, billboard and the locals..not forgetting the architecture..they're so amazing. Thanks so much for sharing all this Alison..wish I could witness all this by myself one day.

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  6. laily: ya, we are many street graffiti around town, which i think some of 'em are cool, but they're (teens i presume) doing it at the wrong places.

    mirror: brugge and brussels, gotta go brugge! :)

    hliza: thanks, glad you enjoyed the photo tour, may your wish come true hliza :)

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  7. I loved going through every one of your photos, Alison! First of all, the subject matter is great. But even more so, you and Gene have such wonderful eyes. I always enjoy your perspective! The street shot with the flags is amazing. Loved the Macho Sauna sign! that is a HOOT! And meant to say that you two are way too full of life to pass as statues...although the pics were very cute! :-)

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