Brussels - Visit to EU Parliament + Waffles

I am studying the UK's relationship with the EU for my Political Science class, so we went on a trip to Brussels, Belgium to visit the EU headquarters. Here are some of the highlights.

1)  First Impressions: It is a very dirty and somewhat ugly city at first glance. There is graffiti EVERYWHERE. And not even cool, interesting graffiti, it was poorly done, un-artistic graffiti.

Once we ventured into some of the sightseeing destinations, such as the main one - The Grand Place - it was more likeable.

2) Chocolate - It IS as good as you've heard. It is really good and not too sweet.

One thing I really liked about Brussels is that although their main tourist attractions are chocolate and waffles, they weren't too "in your face" about it. In Venice, they are notorious for blown glass and gelato, so every single store sells either one or the other, which is really annoying, but this wasn't the case in Brussels. There were a couple of streets that had a lot of chocolate shops and a few waffle stands, but it wasn't overwhelming.

Also, possibly because of their affinity for chocolate, Belgian shops were particularly well decorated for Valentine's Day:

3) Waffles - The basic waffles come with just powdered sugar for 1 euro, but the traditional tourist waffles come with a massive glob of whipped cream, and possibly dark chocolate or fancier toppings such as nuts or fruit.

4)  A lesser known Belgian food:  Fries with mayo. Sounds - and looks - gross, but definitely my favorite. Note: apparently Belgian is known for having excellent meat and seafood (particularly kebab and mussels), but I can not attest for that...

5) The EU Parliament!!!! As a temporary Brit, I shouldn't have been as excited to visit the EU because apparently most British people do not want to be part of the EU, but... I thought it was pretty cool to be there.

Outside:

6) The city at night:

Note the graffiti, and it was ugly in person, I promise.

Brussels by day:

7) The final sight - So, we kept seeing touristy memorabilia with pictures of a peeing naked baby on it, but we were really confused because we hadn't heard of that sight and by the end of our last day we hadn't come across it in person. This of course became the last sight we wanted to find, and it was funny because of how insignificant it seemed, although of course it is pretty bold to have a peeing baby as a public statue.

It is actually pretty small:

Overall, I had a good time and I am glad I went, but I would not recommend going out of your way to go there. If you do, it can easily be done in 1-2 days.