Brussels, Belgium

Way back in October after spending 2 days in Bruges, we headed to Brussels for 1 night.

I think it's taken me so long to post about Brussels, because I absolutely HATED it.  From the moment we got off the train I didn't like it.  I loved Bruges so much that going to Brussels afterwards was just disappointing.  It was also the first time I felt unsafe in any city I've been to.  Plus there wasn't much to do/see, and we didn't have the greatest weather.  I didn't take many photos, but here are a few!

Right after checking into our hotel we decided to freshen up before we started sightseeing.  While I was freshening up my makeup I heard tons of yelling outside.  I opened up the window to see people with guns pointed at a truck, and then people laying on the ground with guns pointed at them.  I assume it was some sort of undercover operation since the non-undercover cops showed up seconds after it all went down.

Talk about a warm welcome to Brussels!  NOT!

After the cops had arrested everyone we decided it was safe to exit the hotel & start sightseeing....which ended up not being much!

I forget what the name of this was, but it is some sort of famous statue of a boy peeing.  There's souvenirs all over the place selling crap with this boy on it.

Next up was the Grand-Place.  It's just a huge square with pretty buildings surrounding it.  I wish we would have gone back to look at it when it was lit up at night.

We visited St. Michael & St. Gudula Cathedral which was beautiful.

After walking around the city some more we decided to grab some dinner which ended up being delicious Thai food, and then went back to our hotel for some much needed sleep!

The next day I mentioned to the husband that there was a car museum outside of the city center.  My husband's all about cars, so I obliged him, and we took the metro to the museum.

He took over 100 pictures of cars, but I'm definitely not going to post any of them since I don't think most of my readers are into cars.  It was a beautiful building though!  There was some sort of wine exhibit/tasting going on while we were there which was slighting annoying, only because I didn't get to taste any.  I could have easily let the husband walk around looking at hundreds of cars while I drank a bottle glass of wine!

After finishing up at the car museum we took the metro back to the train station, caught a bus back to the airport, & got the hell out of Brussels!

I really wish I liked Brussels more, but I wish we stayed in Bruges one more night instead of going to there.  Oh well, c'est la vie!

Bruges, Belgium

In the middle of October I found some super cheap airfare through RyanAir to Belgium.  Originally I was planning on only visiting Brussels, but a few people had mentioned that Bruges was amazing, so we decided to go there too!  What I didn't realize was that it was a bi*ch to get to Bruges from the airport we flew into.  It took an hour & a half flight from Venice, an hour bus ride, and an hour train ride to get to Bruges.  Once we were halfway there my husband said that this place better be worth it....and IT WAS!

We stayed at the Royal Stewart B&B.  It was great, inexpensive, and within walking distance to everything.  The owner, Maggie, was wonderful!

We were already exhausted once we got there, but decided to get started on seeing things since the weather wasn't supposed to be so great the rest of our time there.

Bruges is often called the Venice of the North since there's a bunch of canals.  I din't think so at all though.  It reminded me more of Salzburg.

A shop with lots of beer!

I was starving once we got there, so I decided to get some French fries.  French fries supposedly originated in Belgium in case you didn't know.  They're also twice fried which makes them super crunchy & yummy!  Even though I don't mayonnaise I like to dip my fries in fancy sauce.

The Markt (Market Sqaure)

We took Rick Steves advice & went to Dumon to buy some delicious chocolates!

After buying some Belgian chocolate we decided to try some more of what Belgium is known for...Belgian beer!  I actually like beer a tiny bit more than wine, so both the husband & I were excited.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the beer menu.  It was like 50 pages long.  Crazy huh?!  We pretty much told the waiter what types of beer we liked & he brought us some.  I don't think I had a beer I didn't like the entire trip.  What I didn't know is that Belgian beer is really strong alcohol percentage wise.  I don't think I had a beer under 6% alcohol!  Most were around 8 or 9%!

After enjoying a few beers we decided to grab some dinner.  While walking around trying to find a restaurant we ran in a sushi restaurant!  I was SO EXCITED!  I hadn't had sushi in almost 6 months.  Husband doesn't like sushi, but he obliged me and said we could eat there.  After that I took some more pics of The Markt all lit up, went back to our B&B, and crashed!

The next morning we decided to see the Basilica of the Holy Blood (right hand side of the photo).  It's supposed to hold the relic of the Holy Blood (Christ's blood).  No pictures were allowed inside, but you can see some I didn't take here.

On the walk to to our next stop I came across some cute chocolates...

and some interesting ones...

The Church of Our Lady holds a sculpture made by Michelangelo that's said to be the only one to leave Italy during his lifetime.  Our Rick Steves book said the section with the sculpture was supposed to be free.  Well, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  I believe it's now €4ish to inside.  I'm cheap, so I didn't pay to go in.

After leaving the church we decided it was time to find the De Halve Maan Brewery, and take a tour!  The tour was great, and the guide was funny.  We also got to go up to the very top of the building, which had amazing views!

At the end of our tour we got a "free" beer.

We decided to have lunch there too.  The husband and I both got the beer, cheese, & ham soup.  It was delish!  I've been wanting to recreate it since we got back!

After lunch we decided to do a boat tour.  It was ok.  We got stuck on a boat with a bunch of Asian tourists, so we got the automated tour in like 5 different languages.  I saw some other boats who had drivers who talked the whole time.

This doggy was just relaxing in the window...

I was hungry after sitting on a boat for a half hour, so I decided it was time to try my first Belgian waffle in Belgium.  It had this sugary coating on it & it was to die for!

Next we hit up the 2be store, so the husband could pick up some beer to bring home with us.  Since we got such a good deal on our plane tickets we paid to check a bag.  This place has 780 different Belgian beer!  

Husband making tough beer decisions...

After purchasing our beer we walked to Bruges' oldest bar.

It's been there since 1515.

After sharing a beer we headed back to the bar/restaurant we were at the night before to try MORE Belgian beer!

This beer is called Quack.  We only got it, because it came in a fun glass!

This was one of my favorites!

After leaving there we found an Indian restaurant, stuffed our faces with delicious food, and then headed to ANOTHER bar.

This bar was special though.  It was down an alley, & if you weren't looking for it, or didn't know where to look there's no way you could find it!  Thankfully our B&B hostess gave us great directions!  We had already tried to get in a few times, but it was always full!  This bar serves a yummy beer that you can ONLY get there.  It's not sold anywhere else, you can't get it to go, and you can't even buy the glass. 

 After waiting for 30 minutes some people finally left, and we quickly grabbed a seat!  We ordered the famous house beer, Garre.  What I didn't know about this beer (until after I drank one) was that they're 11.5% alcohol each!!!  You're only allowed 3 of them at one sitting.  We met a lovely Irish couple there, and ended up staying for almost 4 hours chatting with them!

After that we headed back to our B&B, and got up the next day to head to Brussels!

Bruges was a fabulous city, and I'm so glad we made the long trip there!  It's probably one of my favorite cities I've been to in Europe!  It's not too big, and not too small.  Just perfect!