Brussels During Nato

  A few weeks ago Brussels hosted the Nato summit, and since it was a holiday, I thought it would be an excellent time to visit. It was interesting to see how the city dealt with having a summit that could result in big protests. The block with the US embassy was closed, as well as the area close to NATO HQ. There was also a few other streets closed off, but I am not sure why (a police officer just would not let us pass). A helicopter hovered over the city the entire time as well, which was very annoying. It was also interesting to see that every time a big wig had to get somewhere the intersection would be halted until their convoy passed through. 

  Jora (another IAESTE trainee) and I also went on a freeish (you pay what you feel it was worth) tour of the city center. It started in Grand Place which is the main square of the city. It has a bunch of old buildings that were rebuilt at least once after the French army destroyed it. It also passed the old stock exchange which might be turned into a beer temple. The tour also passed the little peeing boy (Manneken Pis) and also learned it is someone's job to dress him every morning. The tour guide pointed out the gay district with all its flags and one of the murals. In the end, we took a photo with the whole tour group and then parted ways. 

  Jora and I then went to go and see the European Union area. It was cool and looks like there is a lot of buildings of interest along with many people walking in and out in suits. We tried to see the European Parliment, but then found out you need your passport to do that and neither of us had ours. Next was to go to the NATO HQ, so both of us got bus tickets to then realize that the bus had been rerouted away from NATO during the summit. This was quite disappointing so then we went to the brewpub that was conveniently in front of the train station 😊😊.