I love going to visit Manneken Pis statue. The name means “peeing little man”, or "peeing boy.”  Before that, he was known as Petit Julien. #7 He was designed by the sculptor Heironymus Duquesnoy the Elder in 1618, and is made out of bronze.

This one is not the original it was replaced in 1965. The original one is kept in the Museum of the city of Brussels. 

He’s often dressed in unusual costumes, one being Dracula which I found amusing. His wardrobe counts more than 900 outfits.​

Manneken Pis is the best-known symbol of the people of Brussels and embodies their sense of humor. There are stories about this statue, one of them involves a witch catching a boy peeing on her front door. She put a curse on him so that he would pee for eternity. The witch not only cursed him with a full bladder but also turned him into stone.

This wouldn't be a trip without checking out the art museums.

We got to visit three and they were all connected making it even easier to explore. Fin de Siècle, Magritte, and Old Masters Museum. These are the top art museums that highlight Peter Brueghel, Rubens, and Paul Gauguin as well as many other artists. There’s so many beautiful pieces dating back from the 1400’s to the 1800’s, and they all have a story to tell...I could imagine myself being transported back in time to that era.

There were modern sculptures intermingled with old masters. Metal sculptures in particular seemed to move and change dramatically as you walked around them. They just pull you right in.

There were some works by old masters that were unfinished. I loved studying how they approached the underpainting. We are lucky they left these behind for us, one such painting by Adriaen Isenbrandt. You could see the drawing, and underpainting clearly. He spent much time defining shapes, details and values before ever going in with color.