Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels, Belgium

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Brussels, the bustling capital of our neighbor-country Belgium, twice (!) in the past six weeks.

It’s a great city – so much to see, do, eat and drink - but on a slightly smaller scale than some of the other great European cities. It actually felt like my old home, the great city of Edmonton, in that ‘small-big city’ way.

Exciting but not overwhelming.

And very, very beautiful!

Parc du Cinquantenaire, which commemorated the 50^th anniversary of Belgium’s independence in 1880, is one such beautiful place in Brussels.There is no shortage of benches to enjoy the view of this impressive, U-shaped 74 acre park.

Parc du Cinquantenaire is also the home of three different museums,The Royal Military Museum, the Cinquantenaire Museum, and the AutoWorld Museum, and to the Great Mosque of Brussels. 

And to many other delights, such as The Tournai Tower, a large, rook-like structure that was built to "show off the technical possibilities offered by Tournai stone". 

And to many more benches of various style to relax on.

This bench had a terrific view of this gnarly tree, a cross between the trees from Lord of the Rings and the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.

All that walking, exploring and bench-sitting made for thirsty work...good thing we were in Belgium, home of some of the best beer (and frites, moules, and waffles!) in the world!

That's right, we're only a 90 minute train ride away from some of the best food and drink in the world...now that I think of it, why have I only been to Brussels twice?!