Brussels

  Brussels was our home base for the trip.  We stayed at Kathy's apartment which is very close to the heart of the city, just outside the petit ring.  We didn't do a large amount of actual site seeing in Brussels.  We did do a few walks around the city.  The first day Kathy took us for a walk around some of her favorite spots (Parc de Bruxelles and the fish people, for instance).  Melissa and I spent a couple days walking down to the Grand Place for lunch and wandered around various other places like Mary Chocolatier (the official supplier to the Belgian royalty).

  All in all, Brussels was a decent walking city although the number of things to do in the "center" as a tourist were somewhat limited.  The Grand Place is, for sure, worth visiting as are the various churches around the area, and the Palace of Justice (I can't help thinking "Hall of Justice"...).  Sitting at the outdoor cafe in the Parc de Bruxelles sipping a capuccino was definitely worth it!  It's the moments like that the make visiting Europe special.

Click here for pictures of Brussels