Europe - Brussels

(Previous Stop: Outbound Travel)

It had been four years since I had seen my high school friend and roommate (from boarding school), Harjoth. The big change was that he had recently got his first hair cut. He's from the Sikh faith where the boys dont cut their hair or shave their beards and let it grow out and then wrap it in a turban. After 25 years, he finally decided to cut it. It was definitely a big shock. There'll be no pictures of him, cause he's requested that (scared of the inter-web). Instead enjoy pictures of picturesque Brussels.



A typical street in Brussels: buildings close to each other, one way traffic jammed with cars and nice stores.


Graffiti in the subway. I found it strange that their subway system is based on an honor system. You don't have to go through a little gate to get to the platform, you're just expected to have paid for a ticket. If you're free-riding and get caught, it's a 50 Euro fine.


Brussels was loaded with old fancy buildings, which are great to photograph...


Kids in front of a chocolate fondue fountain... mmm...


There were lots of 'walking traffic only' streets and even being winter, there were lots of tourists around.


This statue of a little boy pissing and holding his pecker is a symbol of Brussels... WTF?








Street band next to Grand Place


Small street lined with little restaurants


Children's choir from Estonia in front of St. Catherines Cathedral. The Estonia tourism department was putting on a little fair.


St. Catherines


They had this awesome looking ride at the Christmas Market for kids with dinosaurs, planes, ships, etc... oh what fun to be a kid again...


The view from the top of the ferris wheel, which was freezing cold (looking down at the ice rink and the stalls surrounding it).


Awesome sculpture near the EU Parliment building (Brussels is the administrative capital of the EU).




A Classic Mini in the same color scheme as my MINI. I would totally get one of these if I lived over there.


A cute looking Fiat


An odd-looking vending machine (quite different from the ones in the States).


"God is coming in 2012"


Another fancy looking building


An oyster shop


Even being winter, I saw tonnes of motorcycles around - die hard riders.


An old Citroen 2CV


Either someone was very drunk or they really didn't like their umbrella...


The very informative subway signs showing where the trains are at and how long before they arrive.


Grand Place. This is the highlight (no pun intended) for a tourist in Brussels, which is lit up quite nicely around Christmas time.








Happy 2007! New Years Eve dinner at Melita's.


Heading to the club... Francois (Harj's friend) leaning on the subway door that has a 'do not lean' sticker on it. Rule breaker.


Heading to the Havana Club to ring in the New Years


Midnight at the Havana Club




And he was supposed to be a designated driver for the night!


Re-freshing at 5 in the morning with some Red Bull n Vod for me and some Stella Artois for Melita.


"Europe - straight ahead" at the train station continuing my journey.

(Next Stop: Heidelberg, Germany)