We've Got Sunshine In a Cloudy Place

This weekend had been beautiful! The past two weeks have been rainy, and in the 60s (*F), but we've had sunshine and 70+ for this weekend - perfect weather for exploring! Saturday us study abroad kids went on a walking tour (of which I regrettably have no pictures) of the area down by the Palace of Justice. This excursion included a walk through of a traditional Belgian brewery. I had heard rumors before coming that Belgians were particular about their beer, but I didn't quite know the truth of it until I arrived. I tasted some "sour beer" called Gueuze. It is not carbonated at all - flat beer. Very sour. Pretty good, actually. There was also some Kriek available for sampling - fruit beer made with cherries. That stuff tasted like war-heads, and I wasn't overly fond.

Today, I got up and went to a church here called the Christian Center. It's located outside of Brussels in the direction of Waterloo. Non-denominational place with a heavy focus on the international, and I really liked it. The sermon is done in English to a group of international folks from literally all over the world - the Congo, South Africa, India, Italy, Germany -- a lot of the Middle East and Africa, actually.

After service, I came back to Brussels with the intention of returning to the Royal Palace for some pictures of the exterior (more on this later - I'm going to make one more visit), but got side tracked when I saw the Porte de Hal. It's a 600 year old remnant of the wall that used to surround Belgium (a gate, I believe) -- the only one still around. When the wall was demolished in the 18th century, Porte de Hal was preserved because it was being used as a prison. It's been recently renovated, and is really worth a visit!




Looks like a castle, no?


And...well...here's me in front of the massive tower.
Some weapons (thought of you, Emily! Too bad they were behind glass and I couldn't get one for you!). The sword on the bottom is easliy as tall as I am - same with the pike and the ax.
Whee - cross bows.
Entrance.
And of course Norbert came along and was ready to valiantly defend the city from this cozy little nook on the 4th story.

The spiral staircase.


C'est moi.


I like the architecture here - how it makes a building more art than space.



Creepy.


This guy reminds me of the black knight in Monty Python, Holy Grail.
None shall pass.
But I did. I didn't even have to hack off his limbs.

Statue.

Arrow windows (there's probably a technical name).

Poking around in places I shouldn't be.

I found a way out!
Norbert bravely teetering on the ledge about 100' off the ground. Dizzing.
A view of the city. :)

Norbert likes it, too.



And that was my day! :) Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!