Belgium

I got to Brussels from Paris by train, which was clean and arrived on time - very novel. After stepping out the station things seemed a little strange, there were no cars driving, only a couple of buses and a few cyclists. As I walked to the hostel, the few cyclists became many, it seems on Sundays the population of Belgium take to their bike and peddle around the capital (although the car ban on Sundays may have had something to do with it as well.

There are plenty of odd things in Brussels, the national symbol is Manneken Pis, a fountain/statue of a tiny man taking a leak which they dress up in different outfits everyday. Theres also the Atomium, Belgium's Eiffel tower (apparently), which was built for the '58 expo and is celebrating it's 50th anniversary. They also have large cartoon murals painted onto the side of buildings here and there.Although Brussels is in the Dutch speaking Flanders region, 90% of the population speak French, so I have no who is speaking what half the time.

While I was here, I stopped by the European Parliament and watched a bit of a debate, which was gripping. I also took daytrips to Antwerp and Brugge. Had a nice canal ride around Brugge and climbed the Belfry, which was a lot of steps.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Rotterdam for a night then on to Amsterdam. The Internet's a bit rubbish at this hostel so I haven't been able to add any pic to Flickr yet, will try again at the next place.