Brussels, day one.

I have known since Josh had the opportunity to travel to Belgium last year, the first thing I wanted to do in Belgium was try the waffles.  Well, after arriving, dropping our stuff at the hotel, and walking to the waffle shop, that's the first thing we did.  After tasting them, that is the second and third and fourth thing I wanted to do, too. 

However, I refrained, and we did some other things like enjoy the Grand Place (said 'pla-say'.  It is beautiful, and was such a fun atmosphere with little shops and restaurants all over, people everywhere enjoying the gorgeous old architecture.  It was fun.),

 and visit the Mannequin Pis, which is significantly smaller than I expected. (I found it strange that Brussels is famous for such a strange thing.  He was nude when we visited, but apparently he gets dressed up in costumes throughout the year.  I suppose today he wore green, or something.  Weird.) 

On our way there, we were stopped by a group of travelers from Utah, who noticed Josh and Brigham's hats and struck up a conversation.  Nice folks.  Anyway, it had been like 30 minutes since our waffles, so we headed to a friterie to try some Frites (french fries were actually invented in Belgium...so they are famous for their fries and waffles).  I've got quite the sweet tooth (like, 28 of them) so for me, the waffles were way more impressive than the fries.  By a million.  I've had some good fries in my day...(Oklahoma Joe's, Galaxy Diner, Neilsen's Frozen Custard).  But I've had nothing that compares to the waffles.  You can smell them from a ways away, and the sweet goodness fills your nostrils.  I can't really compare it to much, except for maybe the way you can smell the churros at Disneyland.  But the waffles are way more impressive than churros.  They are delicious to the taste, and yeah.  You can top them with anything sweet, or you can have them plain.  There was one shop that was even selling savory waffle sandwiches, but we never made it back for those.  Next time.  Fortunately, we did lots of walking around the city, which helped me justify the poor snacks.  And the chocolates.  Ooohhh the chocolates! (More on them later...)

 We walked to a really old church that I never caught the name of (we stopped at Godiva shortly before then.  I couldn't really concentrate after that.  I had two boys who were begging for 'more please chocolate'.  Not that I don't want my children to experience the deliciousness, but from now on I need to travel with a bag of M&M's or something.  They would have been completely satisfied with that, and wouldn't have eaten all of my expensive chocolates!)  

 We tried to find another one (church) that we never did find.  We walked to the Justice Center, past the Parliament building, and got some pictures by the Royal Palace.  There is a huge park across from the palace that we let the boys burn off some energy in, then we headed back to get some dinner (doner for Josh and waffles for me). 

 This next one is a picture of us perusing the first shopping mall.  Apparently, all of the US shopping malls are patterned after this one.  It was really neat and beautiful.  

Brigham is checking out one of the many chocolate stores. They have beautiful displays and very delicious things to choose from. 

Josh spent only a few days there last summer, but I was so amazed at the way he completely had his bearings on the city.  He was the perfect tour guide and led us from site to site, with no confusion whatsoever.  It was a delightful and perfect first day.