Bizarre Brussels, Belgium

Brussels is a beautiful city, full of ornate old architecture from the Gothic period, and rich in interesting and diverse history.  One of my favorite pieces of architecture are the guild houses in the town square (bottom center).  The detail is staggering.  I just stood and stared at them for a while.

Another gorgeous feat is of course the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, started the Gothic period of construction in the 13th century and wasn't finished until the 1990s when the prince was to be married inside of it.
Because it is done in the Gothic style, it has hundred of grotesques along the side.  They are grotesques, and not gargoyles, because gargoyles have the specific function of helping to funnel water off of the roof of a building.  Grotesques are simply for decoration, and the ones on the Cathedral depict evil spirits attempting to flee from the presence of God, which is a pretty cool idea.
Not only is Brussels dripping with ancient art, there's quite a bit of modern art as well.

One of the most beloved statues in the city is Manneken Pis (bottom right).  Legend says a rich man lost his young son in the city and promised a large reward for whoever found the boy.  A stone mason then declared that he would find the boy, and in addition he would also use the reward money to make a statue of the boy doing whatever he was doing when the mason found him.  Behold, the peeing baby.  Apparently the city loves to dress him up in costumes.  They love it so much there is one man who is employed by the city and his only job is to make costumes for Manneken Pis.  

Two doors down from the fountain is (what else?) a waffle shop.  The mascot for their shop is a large fluorescent green version of Manneken Pis, wearing sunglasses and munching on a waffle (top left).  Families come by to take pictures with this creepy statue.  This is probably the best example of how weird the people here are.

There are other, less odd, pieces of modern art, including the adorable moose -- or at least I think they are moose! -- by the Cathedral (upper right), and several mosaics of Space Invaders (lower left).  The artist only known as The Invader, has placed these mosaics all over the world apparently, but this is the first time I have seen one.

Weird people.  Weird.