Brussels
Above left is the famous Mannekin Pis and on the right is a view down our street looking toward the Grand Place.
We rented a spacious two-bedroom apartment on the Rue de L'Etuve* in Brussels. This is a very busy pedestrian street and our apartment was situated between the Mannekin Pis and the Grand Place, the busiest part of the street, so we were a little apprehensive about noise levels. Relieved to find the apartment to be almost sound-proof when we closed the windows, we had the pleasure of watching the activities below us - the passing crowds, processions, horse-drawn carriages etc. - with none of the drawbacks.
Some mornings it was a real pleasure to get up, shower, have breakfast, and then sit with our coffee and watch the street wake up - and then at the end of the day to come back, exhausted, and sit with another cup of coffee and watch the busyness below for a while before preparing and enjoying a relaxed dinner.
* Also known as 'Stoof Straat'. Street signs are bilingual French/Flemish.
A procession. We have no idea what this was about.
Tourists in a horse-drawn carriage.
After we had settled in on our first day, we went out to explore 'our' neighbourhood. It was soon obvious that Denise had chosen an ideal base from which to explore the city ...a central location, shops conveniently nearby, and plenty of variety in our immediate neighbourhood.
A gay pride mural. As is appropriate for the comic capital, there are comic murals to be found all around the old part of town. This was one of the few advocating for a specific cause.
Cheese shop ...not every shop is a chocolate shop -though at times
you could be forgiven for being surprised by this!
Many streets are reserved for pedestrians. Coffee shops abound.