Monday, July 9th
We boarded the Eurostar at St. Pancras Station in London at 8:04 a.m. We traveled under the channel through a portion of France and 2 hours later I found myself stepping off the train in Bruxelles, Belgium. Flemish and French are the most common languages in Belgium. We walked from the train station to the Hotel Alma on Rue des Eperonniers through cobblestone streets and sidewalks lined with beautiful old buildings.  Everywhere I looked was a photo moment.

After we dropped off our luggage at the hotel we walked to the Grand Place.  Along the way there were many indoor/outdoor restaurants lining the street we were on so we choose one and ate under an umbrella so if it rained it didn't soggy up our lunch.  It was so great to sit outside eating salad and frites (fries) and looking down the lovely street with all of its history right there in front of me.  Sitting next to  us under the adjacent umbrella a couple from Texas celebrating their 50th wedding anniversity.  The gentleman had leaned over to say "isn't it helpful that they have pictures on the menu" I agreed with that.  He had been stationed in Belgium when he was in the U.S. Air Force so they decided to return for their anniversary.

We continued on down to the Grand Place, what a spectacular square with buildings on all four sides that are so tall you can not fit them into a photo from bottom to top.  Belgium is known for its chocolate, lace, tapestry, waffles, and beer.  It was great to see signs saying "Belgium Beer" or "Belgium Chocolate" and actually be in Belgium!

To the right in this first photo you can see a large black presence, that is a huge temporary stage getting ready for a music festival that was starting this week.

Our first evening we ended up on the same street for dinner and then later had dessert Hilary moka  ice cream in a waffle cone and me a waffle, plain no sugar :( .  We walked a little more trying to get our bearings and took many photos. I will continue with day two adventures tomorrow.