Fancy on fancy

 (This is the Grand-Place in Brussels. More below.)

We departed Paris by high speed train to Brussels. I don't remember it being cold in the Gare du Nord, but it was open to the elements at one end and these photos suggest the kids were cold anyway. Here are a couple of photos of our bundled-up Brussels-bound sprouts:

          

Once on the train everyone looked happier. But it was just a 90 minute trip.

    

Our plan was to spend just a night in Brussels before going on to Bruges and then Antwerp. The central train station in Brussels is convenient to the old city with its "you must see it to believe it" main square, the Grand-Place. But first we made our way to our eccentric but comfortable hotel, the Hotel Mozart, just next to the square. In the second picture below you can see the hotel on the left.

          

Its leading decorative idea is what the Norrises call "fancy on fancy." Turns out well if you really go for it!

  

     

 

Here is the door to our attic loft room, and some pics from inside:

    

The kids were very excited to be staying in hotel, which seemed luxurious now that we tend to go with AirBnb. We had a nice rooftop view from our stained-glass window over the old city to the Grand-Place:

   

It was probably my favorite lodging of the year. The spire in the photo above tops Brussels' gothic Town Hall built in the early 1400s. Over the years, various professional guilds constructed their own ornate buildings next to the Town Hall to show their wealth and power, resulting in a magnificent and architecturally diverse main square. You might think of that story as the political economy of architectural "fancy on fancy".

    

It is even more spectacular at night:

From our hotel window we could  appreciate the changing colors on the spire during one part of the evening.

While it was still daytime we explored the Christmas markets and other buildings in the old city, and we grabbed lunch at a fun restaurant called Drug Opera.

    

Note these interesting street lamps:

Unfortunately, Charlotte was feeling fever-y and under the weather, so Cy and I popped out for some Thai noodles to bring home for everyone (well, Cy had rice). The whole area around us was quite charming.

And that that was our quick but very satisfying visit to Brussels. The old center, the Grand-Place, really is worth a stop if you are ever in the area. And as we learned, if you are ever in Belgium at all then you are in the area. And if you like fancy on fancy, then you owe it to yourself to stay at the Hotel Mozart.