Travelin' Tuesday - Brussels, Belgium & Cologne, Germany

Ehh not so fun. I combined these 2 cities because we didn't really do much in either!

BRUSSELS, BEGLIUM
           We went to Brussels because it's the head of the EU, & we actually got to go to the European Commission & got a lecture there about how it works. I wouldn't recommend it if you're not into law, but that's why we were there & I believe everyone found it very interesting! The best part about Belgium though was the desserts!!

Chowing down on some cookies! And of course everyone knows about Belgium waffles. We definitely had those too!!

The Mannequin Pis statue is here too! I thought it would be bigger, but it's so tiny!! It's just the statue of a little boy peeing...classy I know. But it's famous, so I took a picture!

There are pretty buildings in Grand Place & an okay park to hang out in.

But that park is where we got our camera stolen! (And then got it back from the guy with Sebastien's smooth skills). Really Belgium is the only place we had any problem with pickpockets. Another guy in a group had his wallet stolen there! Scary. So for me Belgium is someplace I don't need to go back to! On that note...

COLOGNE, GERMANY
           There was actually a pretty neat little shopping strip here in Cologne which was nice because Sebastien had some school stuff he was working on, so my free time was spent window shopping!!

Here's a view of the strip! There were lots of stores that were common (Zara) & some cute boutiques that had reasonable prices. This is where I did most of my shopping on this trip. Who would have thought?






Cologne is best known though for 2 things. It has a beautiful cathedral that's right in the middle of town. You can pay to go all the way up to the top for a spectacular view! Here are some pictures I pulled off the internet because mine didn't turn out so hot

Don't be fooled! It looks pretty cool, but really it is not worth the trip to Cologne just for this cathedral.  No offense, Cologne! The second thing the city is well known for is the Chocolate Museum!! YUM! Of course we had to go while we were there! It's located just along the Rhine. One of the workers even let us behind the rope so we could get an extra taste :) We sure do loooove our chocolate!!

The coolest thing we got there was chocolate beer! But we took it back to our hostel, put it in the fridge, & forgot to bring it with us when we left :( So I can't even tell you how it was! So sad.

There really isn't much more to say about either of these places, so I will leave you with some pictures. First, what the heck kind of window display is this?? Belgium is weird! (It's diapers if you can't tell...)

Next, this man was huge! I had to take a picture of him. This was in Germany.

And lastly, Cologne (and other places as well) will try to lure you in by having pictures like this:

"Ooooo Ahhhh," But please know that it does not really look like this. Oh & here is a map of Germany so you can see where Cologne actually is (West...near Bonn)! It was just a short train ride from Paris, so this is the first place we went when we left Paris on our way to Munich.

XOXO,