Brussels: Cobbled Streets, Tourists, Chocolate, Art, and a Peeing Statue

I stayed right in Central Brussels, so I was close to everything that you're about to see. It is an interesting town for a weekend tourist, populated by many other tourists, chocolate shops, and incredibly striking buildings--all surrounded by quite unremarkable buildings. Here are some quick highlights:



De Beurs/La Bourse
A famous building. Everyone sits on the steps.

The next few are from the Grand Place:


L'Hôtel de Ville



L'Hôtel de Ville


La Maison du Roi



Maison des corporations



One of the countless chocolate shops.


A close-up of the window. Lots of the shops have seashell-shaped chocolates, and this one has a lighthouse display to expand on the theme...



From the Musée des Beaux Arts, a statue of Venus from the 18th century. Made by Anonymous.


From the Musée des Beaux Arts, Daughters of Satan , Egide Rombaux, 1904


Beautiful old arcaded shopping street.


Manneken Pis. Famous statue of small boy peeing.
Explanation:
"One story is that the statue is a tribute to a child who saved Brussels by piddling to douse the fuse of an incendiary device.

Another story is that a nobleman, ecstatic about the return of his lost son, commissioned a statue in the child's honor.

A third story claims a street urchin relieved himself against the door of a sorcerer who, in revenge, condemned him to assume the position forever.

City records trace Manneken Pis to 1388, but the statue you see today dates from 1619 when, after the original was destroyed, locals demanded another. " From http://www.usrf.org/man_pis/WW74.html

But I don't really get it.



A more contemporary statue on the streets of Brussels. I have to confess I like this one better.