After a fantastic time in Ghent and Bruges, we caught a train to Brussels and our AirBnB accommodation. It was in the St Catherine area, and we were delighted to find it close to the centre of Brussels, meaning we could walk everywhere.
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| Marg outside our Air BnB in Brussels |
Brussels is the Belgian capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city, with many historic landmarks that we were looking forward to seeing.
We walked around the St Catherine’s area when we first arrived, and liked what we saw there. It’s delightful, with small cobbled streets and squares filled with eating places, all centred on the ancient St Catherine’s Church.
Close-by we found the St Catharina Beguinage, a housing complex built to accommodate religious women who wished to live independently from their family, or husband, or the church.
The next day, we walked to the Grand Place, which is the central square of Brussels.
The next day, we walked to the Grand Place, which is the central square of Brussels.
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| Grand Place Guildhalls, Brussels (UNESCO) |
The square is enclosed by beautiful historic buildings. They include the town hall and belfry, churches and several guildhalls built in the Gothic and Baroque architectural styles. It is gobsmackingly beautiful, and we could see why it’s preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We wandered around there, and the small cobbled streets nearby for ages.
After a while, we needed a break so we had coffee and chocolate at a small lane café, before moving on to see more of this lovely city.
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| Taking a break in Brussels (UNESCO) |
The next day we walked to the Sablon area. It is full of antique shops and grand buildings, with a different feel to the centre of the city.
Later, we stopped for lunch at a Michelin star restaurant, and sat outside on the pavement enjoying a lovely meal while we people-watched.
After that we walked up to the Palace of Justice to get a great view of the city, and then went down through Mont des Arts, a beautiful square. This city is full of palaces and squares!
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| Mont des Arts, Brussels (UNESCO) |
We spent several days in Brussels and saw many palaces, UNESCO sites, churches, squares, gallerias, and grand architecture.
What a place. We really enjoyed this city.
The architecture and monuments were amazing, and coupled with the many chocolate shops, cafes and restaurants, the place had a wonderful vibrancy.
Despite the fact it is big, its old area is lovely. It was such an easy city to walk around to enjoy all the sights.
Despite the fact it is big, its old area is lovely. It was such an easy city to walk around to enjoy all the sights.
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| Inside the Palace Egmont, Brussels (UNESCO) |
A few days later, we caught the metro to the Gare Du Midi to pick up a rental car, so that we could see other parts of Belgium outside of Brussels.
We managed to cope with driving on the other side of the road, and navigated our way out of the city ok. We were headed east.
Our next stop was Tongeren which is the oldest town in Belgium. We thought it very quaint.
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| Belfry of Tongeren (UNESCO) |
Driving a small car made finding a parking spot much easier than when we were in the big campervan we had just used in the UK. So after we found parking, we went for a walk around.
Tongeren has a couple of UNESCO sites, namely the belfry and the beguinage.
They were very easy to find during our walk around, so we saw them both and much more. We really enjoyed the historic feel of Tongeren.
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| Shifting furniture in Tongeren |
While there, we were amused at how they moved house furniture in Belgium. The houses are multi-story, but very narrow and old, so they move their furniture via the windows.
The fellow in our photo is using a ladder with a small electric platform on it, but in Brussels and Ghent, we also saw cherry pickers being used.
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| Roadworks, narrow streets and grand buildings in Liege |
Driving on, we arrived in Liege. It seemed to be a city full of road works and a lot of traffic, which made it tricky to navigate through. So instead of trying to find parking, we just kept driving around.
It had some impressive buildings and the Palace of the Prince-Bishops stood out. After a short stay we moved on.
Leaving Liege, we headed further south. Our next stop will be in Luxembourg.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The first blog is called "Off to do the UK in a motorhome".