The weary traveler

Rue des Bouchers.

Rue des Bouchers is a very nice, picturesque street close to the Grand Place. The narrow cobbled street is packed with restaurants that compete for the tourist trade with hard-sell waiters and displays piled high with all manner of marine delicacies. – 360cities

Belgian cuisine is characterized by the combination of French cuisine with the more hearty Flemish fare. Notable specialities include Brussels waffles (gaufres) and mussels (usually as "moules frites," served with fries). The city is a stronghold of chocolate and pralines manufacturers with renowned companies like Godiva, Neuhaus and Leonidas. Numerous friteries are spread throughout the city, and in tourist areas, fresh, hot, waffles are also sold on the street. – Wikipedia

St. Bavo Cathedral.

The Saint Bavo Cathedral (also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral, or the Dutch Sint Baafskathedraal) is the seat of the diocese of Ghent. It is named for Saint Bavo of Ghent.

The cathedral is noted for the Ghent Altarpiece, originally in its Joost Vijd chapel. It is formally known as: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. This work is considered Van Eyck's masterpiece and one of the most important works of the early Northern Renaissance, along with one of the artistic masterpieces of Belgium. – Wikipedia

Ghent Theater.

"Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region, Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province." – Wikipedia

Canals in Bruges.

"Bruges (Dutch: Brugge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country." – Wikipedia

     

Manneken Pis.

"Manneken Pis (Dutch for little pee man), also known in French as the petit Julien, is a very famous Brussels landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.

On many occasions, the statue is dressed in a costume. His wardrobe now consists of several hundred different costumes. The costumes are changed according to a schedule managed by the non-profit association The Friends of Manneken-Pis, in ceremonies that are often accompanied by brass band music.

On occasion, the statue is hooked up to a keg of beer. Cups will be filled up with the beer flowing from the statue and given out to people passing by." – Wikipedia

   

Buildings on the Grand Place.

"The Grote Markt (Dutch) or Grand Place (French) is the central market square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guild houses, the city's Town Hall and the Bread House (Dutch: Broodhuis, French: Maison du Roi). The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels next to the Atomium and Manneken Pis.

Brussels (French: Bruxelles; Dutch: Brussel), is the de facto capital city of the European Union (EU) and the largest urban area in Belgium. After the end of World War II, Brussels has been an important centre for international politics. It hosts the main institutions of the European Union, and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels has become increasingly francophone. Today most inhabitants are native French-speakers, although both languages have official status. This process has led to a longstanding conflict between the French- and Dutch-speaking community, reflecting the situation in Belgium at large. Brussels is the capital of Flanders and of the French Community of Belgium." – Wikipedia

The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral.

"The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is located at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".

In 1047, Lambert II, Count of Leuven founded a chapter in this church and organized the transportation of the relics of Saint Gudula, before then housed in Saint Gaugericus Church on Saint Gaugericus Island. The church patron saints, archangel St. Michael and the martyr St. Gudula, are also the patron saints of the city of Brussels.

In the thirteenth century, the cathedral was renovated in the Gothic style. The choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276. The façade was completed in the mid-fifteenth century." – Wikipedia

The belfry of Ghent.

"The 91-meter-high belfry of Ghent is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city center of Ghent, Belgium, the other two belonging to Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church. Through the centuries, it has served not only as a bell tower to announce the time and various warnings, but also as a fortified watchtower and town treasury.

Construction of the tower began in 1313 to the design of master mason Jan van Haelst, whose plans are still preserved in a museum. After continuing intermittently through wars, plagues and political turmoil, the work reached completion in 1380. It was near the end of this period that the gilded dragon assumed its place atop the tower. The uppermost parts of the building have been rebuilt several times, in part to accommodate the growing number of bells." – Wikipedia

St. Nicholas church in the distance.

"The St. Nicholas' Church (Dutch: Sint-Niklaaskerk) is one of the oldest and most prominent landmarks in Ghent, Belgium. Begun in the early 1200s as a replacement for an earlier Romanesque church, construction continued through the rest of the century in the local Scheldt Gothic style (named after the nearby river). Typical of this style is the use of blue-gray stone from the Tournai area, the single large tower above the crossing, and the slender turrets at the building's corners." – Wikipedia

Buildings on Market Square, Bruges.

"The Grote Markt ("Market Square") of Bruges is located in the heart of the city and covers an area of about 1 hectare. Some historical highlights around the square include the 12th-century belfry and the Provincial Court (originally the Waterhall, which is 1787 was demolished and replaced by a classicist building that from 1850 served as provincial court and after a fire in 1878 was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style in 1887." – Wikipedia