Our first stop was Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the home of the European Parliament and NATO headquarters. We checked into our hotel, and then decided to do a little sightseeing.
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| Galeries Royales St. Hubert |
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| A huge indoor shopping center with so many chocolate shops! |
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| Grand Place's Town Hall |
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| King's House (Maison du Roi) |
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| Outside of Belgium's most famous chocolate shop |
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| One of Manneken Pis' many international costumes |
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| Elvis Presley costume |
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| Propoganda during WWI |
Our next stop was for a little sweet treat. The streets surrounding the Grand Place are filled with waffle and chocolate shops. So we split a Speculoos and banana waffle.
Next up is the most recognizable icon of Brussels, the Manneken Pis (the little peeing boy).
Not too far away from the Manneken Pis is Delirium, a rowdy bar that holds the Guinness Book of World Records for most beers available at a bar. The choices are a little overwhelming, so we just ordered what the bartender recommended to us.
We ventured a little further away from the Grand Place for a recommended restaurant in the fish market district. La Villette "The Slaughterhouse" was a quaint, little restaurant with only a handful of tables. Chris ordered a steak with a cheese/beer sauce, and I ordered a salmon steak. My meal came with a few Brussels sprouts, which is only fitting since we were indeed in Brussels!
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| Chris' mouthwatering steak |
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| My fresh salmon, potatoes and mixed vegetables |
After dinner we strolled back through the Grand Place just in time to see all of the buildings light up for the evening.
We finished our evening with what else, chocolate! Neuhaus has been creating delicious chocolate treats since 1857, and they have certainly perfected their craft. Chris tried a cherry truffle, and I tried a champagne truffle.
In the morning, we ventured away from the historic center to take a tour of the European Parliament. This recent (1992) institution now encompasses 28 countries speaking 24 different languages. Unlike America, each country in the EU can opt of of some EU policies, like Great Britain continuing to use their currency instead of the euro.
After the European Parliament tour, we walked to the Park of the Cinquantenaire, which holds many of Brussels' museums. The arch below was built because Belgian King Leopold II wanted to rival Paris. He wanted a monumental structure created for the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence in 1880.
One of the museums in the park is the Royal Army and Military History Museum. This free museum had an enormous collection of military uniforms, planes, tanks and other artifacts.
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| An early attempt at Kevlar used by the British during WWI |
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| German aid bag |
After the museum, we headed back to the central part of town for lunch at Restaurant Chez Leon, a restaurant that's been serving buckets of mussels since 1893. Located on "Restaurant Row", it competes with dozens of other restaurants all trying to win the business of hungry tourists. Even compared to Rome, we felt very overwhelmed by the pushy waiters trying to entice us in. One waiter even stood in the middle of the walk way, and tried to keep us from passing him. But we were determined to eat at Chez Leon (it got great reviews in our guide book). So of course I ordered mussels (#1 they are the specialty of the restaurant and #2 I couldn't resist saying that I "ate mussels in Brussels"). Chris ordered sausage with stoemp (Belgian mashed potatoes).
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| Chris' meal |
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| My meal |
After another afternoon treat of a delicious waffle, we packed up and headed for Bruges. About an hour away from Brussels, Bruges is called the "Venice of the north" for its canals that flow throughout the city.
We checked into our hotel which was located right on one of the canals.
We took the advice of the guide book again, and headed away from the touristy restaurants to find a more authentic meal. We chose The Flemish Pot, a romantic restaurant serving Flemish specialties. After receiving our regular menus and wine menu, we were handed a beer menu. Each page of this menu featured a different bottle of beer (the size of a wine bottle). We chose St. Bernardus Abt. 12 and the waiter brought out 2 red wine glasses along with the bottle and a bottle chiller. He presented the bottle to us as if it were a fine bottle of wine. We tasted the beer and were both very impressed. Chris said that he felt the Belgians love beer as much as the Germans do, but they don't have the restrictions that the Germans do with their Purity Laws, which allows them to be more creative with their ingredients.
We both ordered the 3-course meal, which included pâté, beef stew and a custard topped with a chocolate liquor sauce. The beef, which came out in a iron pot, was so tender it didn't even need to be cut with a knife. It was of course accompanied by fries, which made great dipping devices to soak up all of the sauce. Chris and I knew we still had dessert, but we just kept eating and eating the beef stew....it was that good!
The next morning after breakfast, we walked to the Market Square.
Bruges has so many amazing views of the canals and the romantic buildings that surround them.
Our next stop was Choco-Story: The Chocolate Museum. This museum gave us a full history of the creation of Belgian chocolate, all the way back to the Aztecs and Mayas in South America who used the cocoa bean as currency and to create a "drink of the gods".
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| Ancient mortal and pestle to grind the cocoa beans |
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| Pots to serve the cocoa drink in Europe |
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| An entire statue made of solid chocolate |
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| The final product |
Right after the chocolate tour, we took a beer tour of the De Halve Maan Brewery. The "Half Moon" brewery is the only remaining brewery in the historic part of Bruges.
Our tour guide showed us the current machinery used to make their beer, followed by the old machinery that is no longer in use.
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| View from the brewery's rooftop |
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| 6 generations have owned and operated the brewery |
The tour concluded with a free glass of their Brugse Zot beer, which means "Fool from Bruges". The beer we tried came straight from the vat, without being pasteurized or filtered.
After enjoying a quick meal outside, we of course had to stop at another famous chocolate shop. The Chocolate Line is known for their unusual chocolate, created by "the mad scientist of chocolate." We each selected 3 chocolates to try. Chris selected a fleur-de-lis praline, a creole praline and a Havana cigar praline, while I selected a lime/vodka/passion fruit praline, a wine praline and a cola praline. My cola praline tasted like a root beer float, with pop rocks mixed inside which made my mouth feel like it was really fizzing like a soda.
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| The shop lets you watch them make the chocolate! |
The final tour we took was a boat tour of Bruges' canals. Our tour guide was very witty and humorous, which made the history of the city even more delightful when he told it!
After the boat tour, we went to the "Wall of Beer", a display of only a portion of Belgium's vast array of beers. In the cellar was a store, selling hundreds of varieties of Belgian beer. We were able to find the bottle we had the previous night at dinner, so we bought a bottle of it, along with a few fruity beers as well.
The next chocolate shop we had to try was Confiserie De Clerck, a little shop owned by a 3rd-generation chocolate maker. The inside of the store made us feel like we stepped back in time.
Our final dinner in Belgium was at Bistro in den Wittenkop, a small, casual restaurant that serves Flemish favorites. Chris ordered a pork stew, and I ordered another bucket of mussels, this time in a garlic sauce.
For our last breakfast we decided to eat at a place with a view of the Market Square. We watched all of the food vendors and shops hurry to prepare for the soon-to-be rush of tourists, all while enjoying a waffle with cherries on top and eggs with bacon.
Two of the churches in Bruges have very unique features. The Basilica of the Holy Blood has a relic of the blood of Christ, which was brought to Bruges in 1150 after the Second Crusade.
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| Relic of Christ's blood |
The second important church is the Church of Our Lady, which houses a statue of Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. It is said that this is Michelangelo's only statue to leave Italy in his lifetime.
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