For about four hours today, I did not know where I was or how to get back to my hotel. You’re not supposed to get lost if you’re on a tour, right? Well, I decided to explore Brussels on my own, away from my tour group. Four hours later, 9.1 miles and 20,687 steps later, I finally arrived back at my hotel. Oh, I had a map — which did me no good since I couldn’t find my location; and I had GPS on my phone, but I still wound up walking in circles.So what did I accomplish in one day? Just about everything you can experience in Belgium! We stopped at the Atomium, which was built originally for the 1958 Brussel’s World’s Fair, and took a group photo.

We next went to a chocolate tasting—the first was a Belgian truffle, so smooth and creamy; the second chocolate was wrapped around a piece of fig; and the last burst forth with the flavors of salted hazelnuts.

We then walked to the famous “manneken pis,” the pissing boy. According to a popular story, Brussels was surrounded by enemies who pretended to retreat, but in reality, they were hiding gunpowder under the city. A little boy named Julien saw the burning fuse and quickly peed on it. Out of gratitude, the city made a statue to his likeness.

Without clothes, the statue looks like this:

Our group then went to a local tavern for a beer tasting, then I decided I want to eat the famous Belgian waffles which were in a nearby street.

Then I decided to find the Brussels Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, which was mostly uphill from where we were. Of course, I didn’t find it right away, but was very excited to see the two beautiful pipe organs inside—the main organ is relatively new and dates from 2000. The Romanesque church dates from 1047 and contains the relics of St. Gudula.

Our guide, Oda, had given me directions for public transportation back to the hotel, but I never found the tram and just ending up walking back, albeit not in a straight line! After the Cathedral visit, it took me about three hours to figure out where to walk!

On the way, I stopped by La Trinité, a church with contemporary stained glass. As I was about to exit, a man stopped me and asked me if I understood French. I said “un petit peu,” (a little bit). I should have said ‘non!’ because then he told me how poor children were hungry and did not have anything to eat. I dug around in my purse and gave him two euros, then he said the children needed 5. So I gave him a wad of change, only to have him tell me that the children needed clothes, which would cost 20 euros. At that point, I said, “Désolée (sorry!) and beat a hasty exit. I was feeling guilty for taking so many pictures, but not THAT guilty!

I finally got back to the hotel around 4:00 pm and went out to dinner. I had a super yummy salmon dish while my dinner companions had mussels and fries, a typical Belgian dish. Since Carl and I ate mussels and fries on our last visit to Brussels, I didn’t feel that I needed to order it again, and was very happy with my salmon!

My dinner companions had the mussels and fries.