On the menu in Brussels

I’ve already posted a fair bit about a four-day get-away my younger son and I made to Brussels, Belgium. He chose the city for our get-away (his first time there) and we saw a lot, but he continues to rave about Brussels and say he’d like to go back. Although we had a lot of…

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Manneken Pis: Symbol of Brussels

I’ve already expressed my doubts about the symbols of Brussels. I enjoy Belgium’s capital. I love its elegant art deco galleries, and its stunning, gold-plaited Grand’ Place, so it does seem odd to me that the symbols of the city are a giant model of an atom and a fountain dedicated to a urinating boy. That…

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Visiting Brussels’ Atomium

Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Rome the Colosseum. In London it’s Big Ben, and outside of Beijing it’s the Great Wall. Brussels has – er, well – either (take your pick) a tiny statue of a urinating boy or a large model of an atom built 165 billion times its natural size. While I have…

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A solitary, early morning walk on Brussels’ Grand’ Place

I was recently in Brussels for a conference. I haven’t been to Brussels for years, and was curious to return to its central Grand’ Place to see its whimsical architecture, but my work schedule and flights made that difficult. So I woke up early one morning, took a walk, and made the startling discovery-well, perhaps…

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