Rue des Bouchers , Brussels

In the early evening, after gawking at the Grand Market Square, we wandered into a side alley where people were strolling in before us. The sky was blue-purple, and the first section of the alley was dark.

As we followed the narrow path, we suddenly came upon a magnificent display of lights, colors ( to challenge the Tivoli Gardens ) and aromas. The alley was filled with side to side open restaurants, crowding the space till there was little room to walk between them.

I was hungry, but my wife, the picky one, had to look at every restaurant menu and study every plate on the dining tables. When she finally decided, I had given up all pretense of being civilized, and don't even recall which restaurant we chose.

The food was excellent, as expected in Brussels, but the interaction of the setting, the happy diners chatting, and watching the parade of others following our same search, made a night to remember.

We strolled the alley several nights in search of something new, and left happy.