Our hostel was whatever, but apparently it is located at the site where Van Gogh used to work.
First order of business was to buy hats and gloves because our giant jackets weren't enough. It was freezing!
Then we started our trek with our rain soaked map to see some sites.
The main square of Brussels is really cool. It is formed by the old guildhouses with architecture to represent their trade. For example, the boatsman's guild building was shaped like a stern at the top. Now the buildings are taken over by shops (most of them chocolate shops.)
There was also the museum, which was constructed to mimic a Hapsburg palace. At night they had a light show with lights on the windows and tower of the museum with random electronica music. And the square was decorated for Christmas time! Complete with tree, lights, and life-size nativity scene.
There is also a garden surrounded by 48 pillars with statues to represent each of the guilds.
Brussels is apparently the city of the comic book. Who knew? They have a comic book museum where they pay special homage to Tin Tin, the Belgian comic that became quite popular and which they are most proud of. They even have giant comic scene murals randomly throughout the city on the sides of buildings!
Good thing some of the comics in the museum had no words cause I couldn't read the original French...
We also made a stop by the European Union office. Brussels is the de facto capital of the EU.
And we pointlessly took the metro to the outskirts and this monument: the Atomium. It was built for Expo 58 world fair in Brussels and apparently is a gem of architecture but we were over it with a glance from afar. Sorry Atom.
We went to the museum of instruments where there is the largest collection of instruments in the world. The headphone tour had no words but just played the music of the instrument you were standing in front of. They had everything from juke boxes to old harps to Wii rock band.
The must see in Brussels is the Manneken Pis - a statue of a boy peeing. Oh Brussels, you are so random. When we finally found the statue it was super small.
OK. What we really did in Brussels was eat. Oh my god. Belgian waffles constantly. They really do have them perfected - perfectly fluffy with no parts that are too crispy. Does the fact that I got all mine with strawberries on them count as being healthy?
Every other store was a chocolate store. Not exaggerating. They all had tantalizing display windows and ... well we basically went in all of them. So incredible tasty. Beligum can take the crown of best chocolate in my book for sure. This was one of my favorite pieces. It tasted like a subtle version of a York mint candy.
Besides waffles, chocolate, and mussels (yes it rhymes) Brussels is known for its frites -french fries they fry for you upon ordering and top with a choice of sauce. I don't even like ketchup or anything but these with Barzil sauce were awesome.
Brussels also has lots of beer (yep, we just keep getting healthier and healthier huh?) We went to a well known bar called Delirium which was a college aged hang out full 3 stories of kids and decorated with different signs all over the walls. It was described as the place of 200,000 beers. The choices they had on tap included apple and cherry. I don't like beer. But the cherry one was definitely better than I thought it would be. I even finished my first glass of beer ever.
It's sister bar next door, Floris, had 50 kinds of Absinthe on deck. We did not go there. Too intense.
Another spot we visited was Theatre Toone, a bar that used to be a puppet theater. It was really cool with the old puppets display inside. It had a more mellow feel and older crowd.
Our second day we took a day trip to Brugge, a small city an hour train ride away from Brussels. Adorable!
Before we got to explore the city though we just had to get another waffle. This round version is called Liege. It is denser than the square Belgian waffle and tastes almost carmelized. The maple syrup it came with looked like thick chocolate fudge. Heaven.
Brugge was like a town out of a Christmas decoration model: Ice skating rink surrounded by colorful old shops and a bell tower.
The canal that runs thru Brugge (pronounced Broojjj) used to be a moat.
We climbed up the 300 something stair bell tower to work off some of the chocolate and get the bird's eye view of the city. Did you know someone sits there and plays the bells? He is a floor below and his keyboard is attached by metal cords to hammer like things within the giant bells above.
View.
Next stop: chocolate museum where we saw unbelievable chocolate art statues and a demonstration of chocolate making. We learned why Beligum is famous for chocolate: They used to be a major port of cacoa, they pride themselves on it, and they have regulations of the fineness of the chopped cacoa that eludes the taste buds creating a smoother flavor.
Of course we needed chocolate to go. So we walked down from street level into Dumon, a shop owned by a mother and her two daughters. Hand made chocolates! None of the chocolates on display had signs; they prefer to explain them personally to you as you choose. So cute.
Yummmmm!!!!
So that was Brussels and Brugge.
No wait. One more waffle.
Hey this is really very amazing place with the best food. I am also new at New York city and wondering for the best taste here. Thanks for the post.
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