BRUSSELS, BELGIUM 11/12/00 & 7/10/01

We've been to Brussels a few times (mostly to shop) and not taken any pictures so these are a couple Claire Grainger took when she visited. She also took some in Maastricht.

We went back to Brussels with Steve's mum when she visited and, this time, took a camera so Claire's shots are joined by a few of our own.

In the Grand Place, the King's House or Maison du Roi which houses the city museum. Originally a baker's market (and so called the Broodhuis by the Flemish) it began to be used for administrative purposes and was rebuilt in the flamboyant Gothic style from 1515 to 1536.

And some of the old guild houses also in the Grand Place.

Claire and Steve also went to look at the famous Mannekin Pis - the fountain statue of a little boy taking an exhibitionist leak. Over-rated and, even if you could get through the hordes of tourists of every nationality, not really worth a picture. What was interesting/sad was the sheer variety of Mannekin Pis souvenirs filling every shop in a hundred yard radius: replicas of the statue in every size imaginable, and small statues or reliefs attached to every household item unimaginable. This is the place to come if you want a little boy pissing on a spoon, penknife, corkscrew, bottle opener, book-end, key fob, lamp, etc, etc.

The House of the Dukes of Brabant.

Some more of the old guild houses. At the bottom, that's Steve's mum and Mo on the pavement.