Brussels, Belgium Part I

On Friday, Spousal Unit said that he would be home by 12:00 noon so that we could get an early start. We didn't want to drive in the dark, if at all possible, since he had only been there once. This was to be my first visit to Brussels.

Well the best laid plans, obviously do not get carried out in our house. He didn't get home until 2:00 and had decided that he wanted to drive straight through and not stop in Liege. I had offered up this option to not have to drive in the dark.

So I hop on the Internet and Google hotels in downtown Brussels. Spousal Unit mentioned that the "Grand Place" is were we wanted to be near if at all possible. I checked out some of the hotels and came upon a weekend special. 50% off the Royal Windsor, directly on the "Grand Place." Woo hoo. A Five Star hotel, did I mention that I got it for 50% off?

We finally take off at 3:00 and hit the road. A girlfriend said that it would be a drive time of 3 1/2 hours- MAX. The Google maps said 3 hours. Actually it is more like 4-4 1/2. The directions were really bad, once we were in the city. I didn't have a map with enough detail to really point us in the correct direction. It is really dark outside. Like most major cities, Brussels doesn't sleep. Oh, the street signs are on the side of the buildings, that you can read just as you are going by.

So....... we drove around for an hour and a half. Luckily, Spousal Unit is a Navigator. He always finds his way some how. We finally found the hotel.

It is gorgeous. Very old world elegance. The bell hop comes out for our bags and then parks the car for us.

We are escorted to our room.

The bedroom.

The mini fridge. Even has a French champagne for us to purchase. Not!!!! Not at those prices.

The marble bath room with bidet.

The Grand Casino is right across the street.

The beer that seems to be the national beverage. I didn't like it. The taste is OK, but I couldn't get past the smell. For a bar snack, the bartender served us potato chips.

I was starving, but the restaurant had already closed. I also was too tired to go out and search for something to eat only to go to bed. I ate the chips. They were really good.

More tomorrow.