Romantic Danube: Brussels and continuing to Prague

Romantic Danube: Overview
Romantic Danube: Flying United from Chicago to Brussels
Romantic Danube: Brussels and continuing to Prague

We arrived in Brussels and made our way downstairs and outside to the luggage storage lockers so we could stow our carry-ons while we went into town.  Due to the bombing that had occurred in March 2016, there was an extra security check such that we had to go out to the lockers then re-clear security to come back inside to get to the train platform.

But we found our way to the ticket office, picked up our tickets and did not have to wait long at all for the next train.  Before too long we were in the city center.  C and I walked around the area, just to get our bearings.  Since this is Europe, of course there was an old church nearby so we stopped to take a look around, despite the on-again/off-again mist that was falling.


This is the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.  While a church has been on this site since the 9th century, this version dates to the early 13th century and took about 300 years to finish.  It had a major renovation 1983-1999.

We found a little café nearby and enjoyed a hot meal while we waited for my Belgian friend to arrive.  Once we managed to connect, she was able to lead us on a mini-tour of the area, even though she doesn't live in Brussels but up near the Dutch border.  Her English is fantastic and it was so nice of her to drive down to see us.

Our first stop was a famous status known as Manneken Pis. Yes, it's a peeing boy that dates to around 1618.  The statue gets dressed up for various holidays and festivals but he was his plain ol' bronze self while we were there.

Manneken Pis

Just a few blocks away was a UNESCO World Heritage Site called the Grand Place.  It's a large square surrounded by beautiful buildings.  At various times during the year events are held here like the Flower Market, the Christmas Market, etc.  I'd seen overhead shots during the Flower Market and it was just gorgeous.  But on a dreary day in October it was just a large plaza, though we could see scaffolding on the sides that would be used with the upcoming Christmas Market.

There were quaint little pedestrian-only side streets in the area, each with small shops.  Naturally my favorites were the multitude of chocolate shops.  That the chocolate survived the trip home was amazing - but spoke to how well we were fed on the ship!

All too soon it was time to head back to the airport where we once again had to go outside security to get our hand luggage from the locker (exact change only!) and re-clear security.  We made our way to the lounge where we found we could have stored our luggage for free.  Sigh.  After another hour or so there we boarded our Brussels Airlines flight to Prague.

As on most airlines the intra-Europe business class seats were simply economy seats with the middle seat blocked.  We were served a snack that was mostly cheese and crackers.  I wasn't hungry but asked for the snack just to see what was included.

Since we'd cleared Customs in Brussels, we stepped off our flight in Prague just as if it were a domestic flight.  We'd ordered a car from Blacklane and our driver was waiting for us.  Though he didn't speak much English, he was very familiar with the area.  He took a lot of side streets which enabled us to keep moving when we could see rush hour traffic backed up on the expressway.  About 30-45 minutes later we arrived at our home for the next two nights, the Courtyard Prague City.