Mussels in Brussels (or that time we almost walked into a riot)!

One thing I learnt when visiting Brussels is that it never hurts to do a quick Google about public demonstrations/civil unrest before hopping on a plane to your holiday destination.

After we landed in Brussels we had to take two trains to get to our hotel.  No big deal. As we were sitting on the first train, we started to notice it was getting full of people wearing red jackets/hats/scarves.  No bit deal, we thought, there was probably a soccer game happening.

As we continued along, we saw more people dressed in red cramming onto the train but now there were people in orange jackets/hats/scarves. Okay, maybe its a soccer game and Brussels has two teams playing each other.  Still no big deal.

As the train continues along, we see this out the window:

Okay, something is happening here!

At Gare du Midi train station, we had to exit packed train and switch to another one.  As we enter the station (which is indoors, enclosed with low ceilings), it is packed with people wearing red, orange and green.  This is definitely not a soccer match!  Police are everywhere, people are everywhere and then the fireworks start going off.  Literally. They were setting fireworks off indoors!  A piece of one hit Shea in the face.

Luckily, where we had to catch our second train was away from the crowd and was easy to figure out.

As we get off our second train and walk to the hotel, the roads are packed with vehicles.  No one is moving. Everyone is honking. Police motorcycles are weaving their way through the cars.

At the hotel, they explained that there were protests going on against the austerity measures Belgium's government was implementing to reduce their deficit. Apparently, Belgium's economy is not doing so well.

We later learnt that the demonstrations turned into a riot. Over 100,000 people showed up to protest.  They set cars on fire, attacked police and basically made a mess of the city. Below are some pictures of the riot that we, thankfully, avoided!

If we had exited Gare du Midi Train Station, this is what we would have walked into.

Demonstrations outside Brussels Stock Exchange.  We visited this building the next day.  There was graffiti all over it. 

After this picture was published in every newspaper the next day, a fund was created to buy the owner of this car a new vehicle.  

No fund was created to buy the police an new vehicle though.

Welcome to Brussels!

In addition to being vocal about political affairs, Brussels is a city to eat in.  There are some interesting buildings to look at while you wander the streets.  This architecture is so much more enjoyable, though with a waffle or some form of chocolate in your hand.

Just one of the HUNDREDS of chocolate stores in the city!

I'm trying to figure out what exactly I am standing by. Interesting fact: there are so many old, neat things in Brussels, it's best to go find a waffle!

The weather was quite cold, but nothing compared to the snow Canada was getting!

Some statue of some old guy. Who knows. I was busy eating!

Brussels is fascinated with peeing statues.  Here is Manneken Pis.

Manneken Pis.

In the name of gender equality, here is Jeanneke Pis!

We managed to not enter one museum but could not resist going into St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. 

Time for another waffle!

Too many choices! Some are even filled with chocolate.  Or if you prefer, you can have one filled with ham and cheese, hold the whipped cream and chocolate.

The Arch of Brussels.  Every important city has one!

We had a lovely afternoon in this pub. Brussels has some fantastic beers!