brussels, belgium

the end of august brought about another bank holiday, meaning our first long weekend after starting work and an excellent opportunity to do some more traveling. unfortunately, we didn't plan quite early enough and prices were a little bit higher, most likely due to the higher anticipated demand from the holiday.

in the end, we settled on another eurostar vacation. after all, we figured we might as well take advantage of our wonderful location, a scant 10 min stroll from st. pancras international train station. we also figured we'd continue to get the most out of our french education and decided to head to brussels. after we booked our trip, we found out that our aussie friend, dan, was also going to be there at the same time.

make no mistake about it, this was going to be a culinary-themed holiday. our objectives were simple: 1) chocolate, 2) waffles, 3) fries, 4) mussels, and 5) beer. everything else was optional. belgium has plenty more to offer, and there is lots to do in brussels. but we would be more than satisfied if we covered off our modest list.

our hotel was located in the european quarter, really close to the EU headquarters by schumann metro station. while it was away from the city centre, that also meant it was quieter in the evenings. in actuality, it was beginning to seem like nothing is really that far in europe, as we could walk to our hotel from the city centre in about 15-20 minutes.

the brussels known to tourists is quite small, and revolves around the square known as the grand place (meant to be read/said with french pronunciation). the square itself has a lot of heritage, with guildhouses and the town hall dating back to the 15th century. by comparison, canada (yes, the country) was born yesterday. we read that karl marx wrote the communist manifesto in one of the guildhouses lining the square. the square is dominated by the town hall (hotel de ville). we know very little of architecture (although being in europe, you can't help but learn), but the gothic building was very beautiful and intricately built.

the rest of the city centre is basically in a one mile radius spiraling out from the grand place. other notable sights we visited included the famous, if slightly irreverent, manneken-pis, which is a statue of a peeing boy. yes, really. galeries royale de st-hubert, a very pretty and posh covered shopping arcade. we also stopped by the comic strip museum; belgium has a fascination with comic strips and both tintin and the smurfs (yes, those smurfs) were created by belgian artists. we walked into the museum of chocolate (where else would you find one?), but felt that 4 euros was a little too much to pay to learn about chocolate without actually getting to eat any.

but the real stars of this trip were ennumerated earlier. it is hard to find a block without at least one chocolate shop. godiva, leonidas, and neuhaus are all internationally renowned chocolatiers. you can get strawberries dipped in a chocolate fountain at leonidas and chocolixirs - extremely rich milkshakes - from godiva. that's not to mention the stacks of truffles and pralines. but the clear winner had to be wittamer, located by the grand sablon, whose pralines were absolutely divine. flavour so rich and texture so smooth had to come at a price, but it was worth every penny.

equally ubiquitous were the waffle shops. there are actually two different types of belgian waffles. the type normally found in north america are of the brussels variety. they are light and fluffy, but don't taste like much on their own. that's why they're usually accompanied by toppings such as strawberries and chocolate. the other type is the liege-style waffles. these waffles are more dense and sweeter, usually with a caramelised crust. they also look like they have the corners trimmed off, although we never really learned why. after trying both (many times), we find that we prefer the liege-style waffles. the fact that you can get them on the street from a trolley just makes them that much cooler. our friend also tried one from a van off the street - similar to an ice cream van, except they sell waffles too.

as a bonus, we also found another trolley that sells...wait for it...escargots of all things. it was located on a street corner by manneken-pis. needless to say, we had to sample such a bizarre phenomenon. they were different form escargots we have had previously, the type that's basically baked in garlic butter. these were stewed in a peppery broth, but equally tasty.

the third regular sight in brussels is the chip shops. a wonderful snack that would be very dangerous for our waistlines were we to live here. the chips (i.e., french fries) are really good here, probably better than in paris and definitely better than those found in london. for a little extra, they'll add a dollop of mayonnaise or some other sauce (the concoction of mayonnaise and ketchup is quite good) for you to dip. very convenient, and not overly expensive, a cone of chips is a great way to avoid hunger while walking around. they also make a great complement to the bowl of mussels, which can be found at almost every restaurant.

there was one section of very touristy restaurants. the menus are for the most part less expensive (around €10-16) than the more local restaurants. the trade-off is that the food is pretty standard fare (steaks that aren't really that good, chicken) and the service is what you would expect for tourists. on these menus, you won't find any belgian specialties. walking down the strip, you are regularly harassed by restaurant staff trying to get you to dine at their establishment (much like walking down brick lane in london). but if all you need is some mussels and fries, then they're a good option.

finally, a quick note about the beer. during our three days there, we managed to sample eight different beers. keep in mind that we're not really the drinking type. here are the beers we tried: bockor, hoegaarden, maes, leffe, stella artois, jupiler, kriek, chimay. some we have previously encountered in canada, but others were distinctly local. as a note, stella isn't really a big beer in belgium - most of the locals drink jupiler more than anything else. chimay is a beer made by trappiste monks and has 9% alcohol. and kriek (at least the variety we tried) is a fruit beer and we weren't sure whether it wanted to be a wine or a beer more. teresa notes that it tasted like cough medicine.

all in all, we quite enjoyed belgium. it was a delicious holiday and we would very much like to visit again. we're getting hungry just writing this recap. but, of course, there are other places we still need to see...