The Scrapbook Treehouse: Brussels

Our second day was the day we were really able to explore Brussels, so settle back for a long post! We didn't wake until 11am though. And after we were up and dressed, we went to find a place to eat.
We settled on Peck 47 close to the Grand Place. It had great reviews and was highly recommended on a blog post I had pinned about places not to miss in Brussels.

It was a cute little cafe, and we were able to sit outside on the patio.

I loved the chalk sign out front, but honestly we weren't super impressed with the actual restaurant. It was an unusual menu for us and Mike was a little surprised when his orange juice came out as you can see on his Snapchat photo.

It looked more like the beaten egg yolks than juice, and didn't quite taste like what he expected. He had also planned on having a waffle, but the choices were a little different to say the least.

I had a Cuban sandwich that had too much mustard and not enough pork, but it was actually pretty good otherwise. Not our favorite restaurant on the trip at all, but it was ok.

After breakfast, we headed off on a little walking tour with some help from this Blog Post.

Using Google maps, we were able to figure out which stop was closest to our hotel. So we headed left and found ourselves at St. Michael and St. Gudala Cathedral. Our walk to the Cathedral was all uphill. Brussels is definitely hillier than Amsterdam and London, which was actually a nice change because it gave us some incredible views at times.

Like this one that I posted on Instagram which I will talk more about in my next post.

But from the Cathedral steps we were able to see the top of City Hall over at the Grand Place.
It had started to rain by the time we arrived at the Cathedral and thankfully we had brought a little umbrella with us.

You can read more about the cathedral Here.

The Cathedral has been around since about 1000 AD and is really beautiful inside. One of the things I love about Europe is how so many buildings have been around for so long. There is so much history over there that it just can't compare here in the United States.

So many gorgeous windows inside.

I love that it was originally devoted to St. Michael the Archangel who is my husband's patron saint.

There is a pretty cool statue in his honor inside.

And an amazing pulpit.

Our next stop was the Royal Palace (Palais Royal de Bruxelles). We actually did walk through Brussels Park (Parc de Bruxelles) first.

And it was still raining just a little bit. Just a light rain, but it was kind of nice sharing an umbrella. :)

The Royal Palace is still the official palace for the King and Queen of Belgium, but they do not actually live there. We happened to be there at the right time, because it appears it is only open to the public for about six weeks out of the year - July 21st until beginning of September. So we decided to go inside for the tour which was free. Online a blogger had mentioned it takes about thirty minutes, but I'm not sure if it was even that long.

Here are a few photos from the inside. Lots of chandeliers!

But I think this one was the best!

The chandelier and the artwork on the ceiling are actually made from the wings of Thai jewel beetles! Very unique and unusual to say the least.

Of course after the Palace, we had to stop at Manneken Pis.

Yes, it is a statue of a little boy going pee. And it is a very famous and well loved landmark in Brussels that was designed in 1338. So it's definitely a must see if you are ever in Brussels.

I actually had to a photo of those windows above the statue, because I loved them so much. They were so pretty in person!

Next up finally, we got waffles from Maison Dandoy! The Manneken Pis is a short walk to the Grand Place and the Maison Dandoy tearoom is located on the way right around the corner from the there. Maison Dandoy has more than one location though. One is just a shop and the other is a shop with tearoom where you can eat in or get your waffles to go! We actually ate in the tearoom this time around.
Not the prettiest shot of our waffles, but we didn't think to take a photo until after we had started putting everything on top. lol
And I will say the waffles are every bit as good as the internet says they are! So yummy and highly recommended.

After filling up on waffles, I stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe which is also right next to the Grand Place to pick up a souvenir for my dad. He collects pins from the different Hard Rock Cafes and I thought it would be fun to get him one from Brussels.

Up until this point we had been checking out a variety of chocolate shops to find something for the kids. There are so many to choose from! But we finally settled on Le Comptoir De Mathilde. We stocked up on a few things and headed back to the hotel for a nap and some time to relax.

Since we were seven days into our trip, Mike had found a laundromat not far from our hotel where we could wash a load of our clothes. We walked over to the laundromat and put our clothes in a washing machine.

Then we had fries and a few drinks at a little restaurant down the street with terrible service but a fun atmosphere. Once our clothes were done, we walked around for a bit trying to find a place to actually eat dinner. One thing I will say, stay clear of Rue de Boucher. It's a tourist trap pure and simple. It is a few streets full of restaurants with very aggressive "sales pitches" about why you should come try their restaurant. And honestly none of them even looked appealing. I've heard there are a few good ones in there, but really seemed to be too much of a hassle to find them.

Ironically, we ended up at a little place called Ricotta and Parmesan located right around the corner from our hotel. And we loved it! Great service for a change and really a perfect little date night type place. I would totally give it 5 stars! Our waiter was originally from Palermo, but had lived in Philly as he called it in the States for a while. And now he is living in Brussels. It was the best service we had the entire trip and he gave us free limoncello shots on top of it!

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to drop off our laundry and get our nice camera before heading to see the Grand Place at night.

It was so beautiful!

Once again, photos cannot do this place justice!

There were still so many people around that late at night just sitting and talking. It was so cool!

All these photos take you in a complete walk around the entire square.
I think the Grand Market will always be one of my favorite places in the world!