City & Meeting #2 - Brussels

Ah Bruxelles! I finally broke out the bravery (and even a little Francais!) and did some sightseeing this afternoon. After a successful meeting this morning (and a delicious brie sandwich), I took a cab back to the hotel and talked with the family. Ever try a three way video chat when you don't have a video camera or voice capabilities? Hilarious. After talking with my family, it seemed ridiculous that I could see the Grand Place (pronounce it with a French accent and it sounds much fancier) but I was worried I'd get lost between there and the hotel. So I scrounged up a map and headed over there - really around one corner. It was a little bit of a let down, because my parents had spoken of it so highly, but the architecture was indeed beautiful. Still no peeing boy statues though, which supposedly are everywhere here. Since I don't know what they're actually called, I don't want to ask a native and look totally ridiculous. So I'll keep looking. And hopefully find a souvenir one at the airport to take home for Jess and Dana. What a special gift. But I digress...The Grand Place is cobbled and blocked from vehicles, so it was mostly tourists walking around. All of the Japanese people with cameras quickly unmasked it to be a tourist destination, although Johan assures me that Brussels is not a tourist town - "too small" he says. I was brave enough to venture into a little chocolate shop that looked promising - Neuhaus. I mean, could I really hold my head up if I didn't try to find some Belgian chocolate? And it was worth it, on two fronts. I bought some chocolate, including some presents for my family and some for myself and let me say, YUMMY! It was worth it. And I also found a coffee mug in there - it has a picture of a yellow lab, like my Sherlock, on it and he's wearing a bow tie and a lovely bowler hat. It says "Am I handsome?" I had to buy it! This tickled another Belgian customer, and when I told him that it looked like my dog, he said he hoped not with the hat! I even tested a bit of my French on the shopkeeper - only to say "Est-ce que vous parlez Anglais?" But I survived and now I am packing and getting ready to take a bath before my dinner with Johan!