Brussels, Belgium

Laura just had 2 weeks off of school for Easter! The first week I set off with some friends to explore the Belgium/Netherlands area. First stop- Brussels! We have really great friends, Ian and Esra, who live in the city. Ian is currently playing basketball in the Czech Republic but his wife Esra was around that week and graciously let my friend, Liz, and I crash at their place. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Belgium and huge part of that goes to Esra for her hospitality. Here are some Brussels highlights:

The square really is amazing!

Part of traveling is experiencing the culture. You don't have to twist my arm to try the Belgian chocolate!
The Manequin Pis. Hmm.. not drinking that water.
Belgian Waffles! Again, I embrace the culture!
Michelle and Helena also went to Brussels. We spent the first part of our trip with these ladies.
Pretty cool shopping center.
Overlooking the city.
Palace- not too shabby
Tried escargot! I actually liked it a lot.
Esra works for the European Parliament. She took us on a tour of the building. Although its not the same thing, it reminded me of the summer I worked for the county of Fairfax in their office of Public Affairs. Great memories!
Liz and I are showing off the section of mailboxes for the Czech Republic, which actually has the EU Presidency right now.
This is where the delegates vote and have meetings. Where the "magic" happens.

The Atom.
Enjoying fancy shmancy drinks at the Metropole- a very posh hotel.
We were there the week before Easter so the chocolate shops had really cute Easter displays.
Of course the fries are famous too so lets add those to the list of things to try. Somehow our "fry guy" jumped in the picture too. Sneaky..
What a beautiful last photo of Brussels the night before we left!
Thanks Ian and Esra for letting us stay in your lovely home! They are fixing up this chateau and have done an awesome job!