Brussels

Words I would use to describe my experience in Brussels:

Cold, Chocolate, Christmas, Pretty, Chocolate, Chocolate, Mulled Wine, Chocolate, Beer, FREE Chocolate, Cold, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE, Christmas, Pretty, Chocolate.

Just watching Kate go absolutely nutters over the chocolate has been entertaining enough to be worth the whole trip. She really is quite amusing, sneaking more free samples when the chocolate vendors are not looking, buying more chocolate than she can afford, and how quickly chocolate disappears when she is around. For such a little girl, she can eat A LOT of chocolate.

So last night and all day today we have been shopping and eating, more or less. The Christmas markets are incredible. The city decorations are breathtaking. Everyone is friendly and helpful. The most tragic thing to happen has been that I spilled my first cup of mulled wine. Honestly though, the chocolate I have eaten today has been the most delicious I have ever tasted in my life. It's like there's a whole other world to chocolate that only exists in Brussels. Our lunch today consisted mostly of free samples, as we went to about thirty different chocolate shops.

Random things: There's a famous fountain here of a small boy peeing, called the Manakin Pis, I think...anyway it's all over the merchandise so we tracked it down and took a picture. Also, there is a huge boutique devoted to the comic Tintin. Kate freaked out about it, but I had never heard of it, and did not recognize it. Does that mean a lot to any of you? The famous square in the center of down town has this eletric light and music display set up that goes off on the top of every hour. The music is kind of like Christmas funk, and at one point there is a light shadow of Santa and his reindeer going across one of the buildings. Well worth freezing for a few minutes to sit and watch.

One of the Christmas markets had two carousels, an ice skating rink, AND a humongous ferris wheel. The carousels were particularly neat looking, unlike any I have ever seen. Instead of just lots of ponies, there were all kinds of things to ride on, such a dinosaur, a rocket ship, a hot air balloon, etc. Very artsy and I wanted to take one home. I satisfied myself by taking a couple of videos of them.

Besides the amazing chocolate, I have also gotten to try the famous Belgium beer. I had a brown brew, can't remember the name but I took a picture. It was sweet and rich, divine. There were also fresh waffles available from street vendors, and we took advantage of those.

I would definitely say that the shopping in Brussels is the best I've seen on my entire trip in Europe. It was so much fun to just peek into all the shops. Really great quality and variety and specialties, I wish you were all with me to see it.