Okay, continuing our adventure, the next day (Sunday), we decided to go into the city proper after breakfast.  (Let me tell you that the Belgians love sweet breakfasts and they had a spread of jams, mouse, chocolate spreads at the hotel.  Of course, I didn't realise this until Chantal, my host in Ghent, told me one evening.)

Eschewing the trains/trams/buses, we decided we would walk around the city.  We had a plan to go from the hotel to Justice Palace, then to the Royal Palace/Garden, before ending up at Grotte Market and do some shopping.  So armed with several maps, bottles of water, and cameras, we set off at about 9 am.  Amazingly, several hundred metres away, we found a Sunday market where they were selling the freshest of fruits and vegetables, clothes and accessories, and other trinkets.  Really, it more than rivals any bazaar we have in Singapore.  I believe I uploaded one or two pictures I took of the market. 

My friends bought fresh sweet cheries at Euro $2.50 per kg and we munched away as we walked under the railway tracks and tried to figure out the best way to get to Justice Palace, which the front desk manager of our hotel said was only 15 minutes away.  As previously, we stopped to ask for directions, again meeting more helpful Belgians but with little English to communicate.  By the time we got to Justice Palace, it was close to 11 am, two hours since we set out and half of our water gone.  We found out later that we had taken the long route to the Justice Palace where instead of cutting through the city proper, we went round the outskirts.  But it was fun as we got to see different things such as this medieval building that was smack in the centre of the main road.  So the uphill/downhill road had to "flow/curve" around the building.

When we got to Justice Palace, we found that it is closed over the weekend and we weren't able to go in there.  Still, it wasn't too much of a waste since it was situated at the highest point of the city and you can actually get a really good view of the city from that vantage point.  We took some photos there (one of them being attached to this blog) and then moved on to the Royal Palace.  Along the road, we smelled something incredible.  Following our noses, we found this beautiful little garden with a fountain flowing inside it.  Lavender was blooming amongst roses, daisies, and other flowers.  Ooh, I had to stop and take some shots.  I even managed to capture some close up shots of bees bustling from one lavender flower to the next.   The garden actually used to belong to the Counts of Egmont (may not be the correct spelling) and their palace was just behind the garden.  But it was not the Royal Palace.

So after enjoying the scents and sights, we headed uphill to the Royal Palace.  I uploaded a picture of it.  While we weren't allowed into the Palace, there was a museum beside it which had some good exhibitions and an underground archeological site which was open to public.  Having paid our entrance fees, Xiu Qing and I headed down to the archeological site which used to be a street beside portions of the old Palace which was burnt down sometime back in the eighteenth century or so.  The old Palace saw both the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy's reigns over Belgium.  It was interesting to see the old cobbled street which was adjacent to the Royal kitchen.  There were still some sewage pipes intact that led from the kitchen into the street.  I imagine that the street must have smelled pretty bad in those days.  And under the street were actually storage places for the Palace kitchens. 

After exploring the museum (Gong Yue opted out of it), we met up with Gong Yue who relaxed at the park across the street and had a delicious but expensive tea with pies and the rest of the cheries.  Given the beautiful sunny day with cool breezes, we had our tea outside in the garden beside the Royal Palace.  Around us were several other visitors who took the opportunity to sip their wine and nibble on their own pies.  That's the first time in the trip that I was aware of the wine/beer culture of Europe.  I think we were the only ones (adults) who were drinking something non-alcoholic.

After relaxing, we took several photos of the palace and headed to Grotte Market.  Chocolates, here we come!  Once in Grotte Market, we could see why people recommended we go there to buy chocolates; there were practically rows of chocolate shops.  Of course, before we actually go shopping, we had to see this little boy who peed - the mannekin pis, a famous landmark in Belgium.  I'm not sure of the actual legend; some said that he was a boy who peed on the hay on the eve of the Waterloo battle and that was the reason Napoleon's soldiers couldn't set fire to the hay.  Others said that he deserted his post and the soldiers found him peeing after searching for him.  Or perhaps it was just as one of the tour guides I met said, the boy symbolises those boys who used to sell their pee to the tanners who make use of the pee to soften the leather.  Really not sure which story is true but the mannekin pis was quite dissapointingly small.  On the other hand, when we were there, I found a stall selling escargot and bought a small scoop.  The taste was quite nice but the soup for the escargot was a little too salty. 

Anyway, we then went shopping and between us, we bought 35 boxes of truffles and a box of hand made chocolates.  With the shopping done, we headed to find lunch (late)...what luck there was this restaurant that serve halal meat; it is not halal altogether as it still serves alcohol and the food might have wine in them.  But given that the owner knows that I am also a Muslim, he ensured that our food was halal.  It's quite a stroke of luck to chance upon the restaurant.

Of course, by the time we finished, it was almost five pm and we wanted to head back to catch the train to take us to Ghent.  After all, we needed to be in Ghent by seven so that we could catch the World Cup finals.  From Grotte Market, it was about 15 minutes back to the hotel and after we picked up our luggage, we headed to the train station.  That was when we were almost mugged. (see my earlier post)  But alls well that ends well and we got to Ghent on time.  From there, they headed to their hotel and I took the tram to my bed and breakfast.  Walking through a scenic river view, I managed to locate the house I was to stay for the next five days.  Chantal and Joel (the owners of the house) were quite welcoming but given I arrived late and I was too tired to socialise (and wanted to catch the finals), Chantal quickly got me settled in the beautiful bedroom (used to be the cellar of the historic house they live in).  Of course, if I had known how the finals would turn out... disappointing.

Okay, so that wraps up my two days in Brussels.   Up next is my Ghent impression and also the experience at the bed and breakfast - http://www.absolutehome.be/  that's the website.  And I totally recommend anyone who's heading to Ghent to stay with Chantal and Joel, a great couple and their children and friendly (but big) dog.

Peace,

Sid