B R U S S E L S - BELGIUM
So on the 4th June 2016 we boarded our second cruise of the trip....this time the Emerald Princess bound for the Baltic region.
Our first port was in Belgium - Zeebrugge. We made the decision to join a ship tour and travel into Brussels... I think the distance and the safety due to recent terrorist attacks had us a little nervous...so we felt safer as part of an organised group.
First stop out of the bus was at the 'Atomium' ...this weird structure was built for the world fair in 1958..apparently it represents the shape of an iron crystal and stands 102 metres tall.
The tour bus provided us with an informative commentary as we drove through the city..pointing out the various buildings...and sites of interest. We drove past the European Union building.
We had a traditional Flemish lunch at the Scheltema restaurant in a beautiful old cobbled street district....
From lunch we spent some free time in the Grand Place.. a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site.... with its 12 century guild halls. .. this is apparently known as the most beautiful square in Europe.
The gorgeous Gothic style Town Hall was built in 1420.
We visited the famous 'Manneken Pis' statue...standing 61cm tall...
I fell in love with this beautiful horse pulling a carriage so stopped for a pat.
Without me noticing it began eating my jacket....and managed to suck almost the entire side into its mouth....I had to reef it out to save it...and spent the remainder of the day walking around with horse slobber all over it.
After being away for so long it was lovely to spy a little piece of home... 'The Australian Ice Cream shop' ...we called out our best... "Aussie Aussie Aussie" ...they just stared with expressionless faces like we were crazy..... clearly they weren't Australian,
Of course we couldn't visit Belgium without trying some chocolates...
....and one of my biggest regrets...not finding enough room to sample a Belgium, waffle... Donna did and said it was beyond delicious.
It was then another 2 hour return trip back to Zeebrugge... all exhausted from our day.
