Day 10 (December 26)

The Dominican

We woke up at 6:30 A.M today, and checked out of our room at The Royal Snail. We were all ready to transition between hotels. We called two taxis to bring us to our last hotel, The Dominican. We arrived at around 7:30 A.M, and our first priority was to put our stuff away in our room. After this was done, everyone was starving. We went down to the breakfast buffet and we all decided to get chocolate pancakes and sausage.  They were very delicious and would hold us over until dinner. After breakfast, it was 8:15 A.M. We called two taxis to drive over to The Belgian Comic Strip Center For Art (History). Yuval was the most excited to go to the museum because he loves comics, especially Batman: the Killing Joke. 

The Smurfs

When we arrived at 9:00 A.M, we were astonished at how much art was present. There were three floors in the building! On one floor, we saw famous pieces like Tintin and The Smurfs. On another, we learned the history of comic strip art. Alongside this, it holds some of the most well known comics around Europe. While there, we got to learn a little history about the place. 
The building was designed by the world-famous architect Victor Horta in 1905, at that time it served as a textile department store. After the owner's death in 1920, the building began to deteriorate. Famous comic artists like Bob de Moor and Alain Baran planned to restore the building as a museum dedicated to the history of Belgian Comics. Once the building was restored, it was inaugurated in the presence of king Baudouin of Belgium and queen Fabiola of Belgium in 1989. Now every so often the museum redecorates and rearranges the exhibits.
It was a very exciting experience because we had an amazing experience and we saw how famous European comics originated/gained their popularity.  Before we left, we headed into "Slumberland" a comic store. There was comic strip albums, children books, and comics. Nothing interested us, so we left the museum at around 12:00 A.M. We called two taxis once again to drive us to Royal Palace Of Brussels (History).

Royal Palace Of Brussels

This is the official royal palace of the king and queen of the Belgians, however it's not their official royal residence. It was constructed by King Leopold II in the 1900's. It once was apart of the Coudenberg Palace in the middle ages. After the Belgian revolution the palace was offered to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, and he planned to expand it. The plans were executed by Henri Maquet, and the design included a formal garden in the front that separated the building from the 'Place des Palais'.

When we arrived at 1:00 P.M, we all sought to look at the garden. It was beautiful, and the bushes/flowers were neatly trimmed and kept. This was an astonishing sight. After the garden, we went inside the building and explored. While walking around, we stumbled into this banquet hall that had beautiful crystal chandeliers. We also walked through this long hall with designs scattered around the ceiling. It made us feel like we were royalty. 

Toukoul

We left at around 5:00 P.M, and called two taxis to drive to an exotic restaurant called Toukoul. Once we were seated at 5:45 P.M, Yuval ordered the Kitfo, Pierce ordered the Bere Tibs, Max and Will ordered the Beg Tibs, and Trevor ordered the Gomen Toro Tibs. The meal was very filling and delicious. It was a great way to end our long day. After we left the restaurant at 7:00 P.M, we called another two taxis and drove back to the hotel. When we were in the room it was 7:30 P.M and everyone was exhausted. We said our goodnights, watched a little South Park on TV, and went to bed.