Bonjour!
Long post ahead, but I promise a lot of it is just some of the amazing chocolate we saw this weekend! ;) On Thursday night, I flew from Barcelona to meet my friend Brittany from CU in Brussels, Belgium! We stayed about 10 minutes away from Grand Place in a hostel.
We started off our morning relatively early so we could see the city! On our way up to Grand Place (the meeting point for our walking tour), we passed lots of appetizing waffle and chocolate shops, and Brussels' most famous sculpture! We also had a chance to visit the St. Nicholas Church.
We took a walking tour starting in Grand Place with Sandeman's New Europe. It covered pretty much everything we wanted to see in the city center. Our guide named Fraser was from Scotland! I really appreciated his humor and history knowledge as we passed through various sites in Brussels. Some highlights included Mannekin-Pis, the Stock Exchange, the Galeries Royales (King's and Queen's), the oldest church in Brussels (St. Nicholas), the comic murals, and the Mont des Arts. Fraser suggested a few things to help us spend the rest of our afternoon in Brussels. He recommended that we didn't go to the chocolate or art museums (not worth it and very touristy) and the Atomium (not worth the train ticket). We ate lunch at Scott's Bar about halfway through the tour!
Fraser recommended we stop into the
Coudenberg Palace museum to get a view of Brussels underground. This was a very well-done museum with a detailed audio guide and remains of a palace that burned down in 1731. Today you can still see parts of the chapel and a few important rooms!
We then walked back down to the main part of the city to try some famous Belgian (not French) Fries at
Fritland, also recommended by our guide. They were delicious and a nice break from the walking!
After our snack, we continued walking through Brussels and exploring new sites. We did some shopping and had fun seeing the city!
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called
Skievelat and split an entree. It was a nice place and wasn't too expensive! We tried some Lapin à la bruxelloise (rabbit cooked with a sweet cherry beer).
Belgium is also known for its beer, so of course we had to try some! We went to the restaurant right by Mannekin-Pis and tried a few Belgian beers. I really enjoyed all of them - the ones we got were strong but sweet! (Side note - we thought the crackers were funny shapes!)
On Saturday morning, we took a day trip to Brugge with Sandeman's New Europe. It was a great deal for the day that included train tickets and a guided tour around the well-preserved medieval city! Our guide Peter was from Liverpool and grew up visiting Brussels and Brugge.
For lunch, we tried Carbonnade Flamande (beef and beer stew). It was alright, but I probably won't be rushing back for it! The sun came out after lunch, so we continued walking through the city finding new spots! We later stopped at
I Love Waffles - I loved the toppings bar and thick waffles!
We went back to Brussels to eat dinner and chose
L'Italiano! Pizza's always a good bet, and our waiter even hopped in the photo!
Throughout the weekend, Brittany and I stopped in tons of different chocolate shops! It was a good way to get lots of (delicious) free samples and find some souvenirs. Belgium is known for its chocolate, especially the praline ones. It didn't disappoint!
We did have a couple of strange situations happen at our hostel, but it was overall a really fun and successful weekend! I love Brussels and Brugge, and would return just for the food!
Au revoir!
Amy
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