The Great Europe Adventure: Bruxelles

I have very little patience with this Belgian keyboard (all the letters are in different places, the period requires a shift, the @ sign requires a third shift, etc.), so please excuse any typos and my reluctance to update everyone individually...

I arrived here in Brussels on Saturday. My train left London at 6:59AM, and I'd gone to bed at 2AM that night. As soon as I was on the train, I was already mostly asleep... but then the guy next to me started talking... and didn't stop. He told me that he "hated the silence on long train rides," but I really just wanted to sleep. Anyways, I was a bit tired when I arrived in Brussels.

Holly met me at the station, and we took my stuff back to the apartment we were staying at. I met our host, Jacques, and he's a really nice guy. And apparently really trusting... Because he decided to go home (to Antwerp) for Easter and left us the whole apartment for the weekend. It's a really nice place, very spacious and perfectly located.

Brussels is quite possibly the smallest major city I've ever been in. Holly and I decided to walk around. We thought it would take a couple hours, but within 10 minutes, we'd seen most of the city. We stopped for Belgian waffles for lunch. Holly had the strawberry, chocolate sauce, and ice cream waffle and I had the banana, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream waffle. They were exquisite! Heavenly!

We walked around a bit more afterwards and ultimately ended up at the Comic Museum. The museum was pretty cool, but I was exhausted and didn't know many of the comics (a large number were exclusively Belgian). We walked through all the exhibits in a little over an hour and went back to the apartment for a siesta. On the way home, it started downpouring (it had been rainy all day), and by the time we got in, we were soaked through. Holly and I were both pretty tired and couldn't really get the energy to move until about dinner time (and the rain was no great motivator).

Before laving, Jacques had recommended we check out Moeder Lambic for Belgian beers. It took us awhile to find the place, but it was totally worth it. When you sit down, the waiter will ask you what qualities you want in your beer (dark or light, bitter or sweet) and will match you with a beer based on your answers. I (dark and bitter) was matched with this great Zinnebir Xmas, and Holly (light and fruity) was matched with the Grisette Fruits des Bois, which pretty much tasted like fruit juice. It was a fun experience. The atmosphere was just what a Belgian bar should be. The long tables were just split tree trunks, and the walls were dark wood and brick. The only food served were cheeses and pates, so we opted to get cheap sandwiches down the street.

It was a very pleasant evening, and when we got home we watched part of the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus before we were too tired and went to bed instead.

Today (Easter), we slept in (until 9AM -- haha) and went to Brussels' "best" flea market. And it was. It was huge and sold everything from hats to silverware to teacups to lab beakers (for real). We both got a couple small souvenirs. Afterward, we went around to a few of the nearby sites, but we couldn't go in any of the churches on account of Easter.

Brussels seems to be famous for six major things: beer, chocolate, waffles, mussels, chips (that's fries to you Americans), and this strange statue of a little boy peeing. We'd tried waffles and beer the previous day, so we set out to find the others. The statue of the little boy was, well, VERY little, but we got the customary photos anyways.

We got chips (for which you MUST choose a sauce -- I recommend one called "Brazil," which sort of has a peanut buttery, curry taste that's surprisingly sweet and delicious) and walked up to the palaace. It had been drizzling most of the morning (even hailing at the chippy), but by this time, it was bright and sunny. We walked around the palace gardens and walked over to the Botanical Gardens.

In the afternoon, we got proper Belgian hot chocolate (they bring you hot milk and dark chocolate and you add the chocolate -- and sugar, if you fancy -- to taste). It was a lot of fun, and the hot chocolate even came with a little pot of mousse! After, we went to Leonidas (a famous Belgian chocolatier) and split a skewer of chocolate covered fruits. As a side note, I assure you we had a healthy breakfast before we left the house in the morning.

Brussels has been incredible thus far, but the city is incredibly expensive. We've been hard-pressed to find any restaurants with entrees under 20 euro (can't find the symbol key), and that is way over my daily budget for the trip. That's mostly why we've been snacking throughout the day; it's really hard to find affordable food (plus, we want to try EVERYTHING).

Tonight, we're hoping to find affordable pub food (Holly wants to get a Maes pint glass from a pub as Mae is her middle name) in Jacques's neighborhood (St. Gilles), but if not, we'll probably end up with sandwiches again. Tomorrow, Holly leaves for Amsterdam (I stay one day longer before I meet her there), and I'm planning to go to Bruges for the day. Brussels is very small, and I can't imagine what else I could see here. I'm looking forward to Bruges but I will probably not be able to update the blog again until I'm in Amsterdam...