Brussels, finally

Ahoy,

Some of our faithful readers may recall the endless protests of winter 2011 that prevented us from getting to Brussels. We were so excited every step closer we got to Brussels this time. The airplane landed on Belgian ground! We are on the train into the City! We got off the train into the City! We are walking on the streets! We are in our airbnb! We made it to Brussels! There was no one protesting this time around. We were so pleased to finally get there. 

Our Airbnb was close to the midi station in a diverse neighborhood. We dropped our things and departed to walk into the central area. It started to rain. It would not stop for the rest of this trip. We got a waffle, fries, gluhwein, and beer this night- essentially checking off all our boxes before going back to tuck in early. We got stopped to pick up some Moroccan street food, that was really quite yummy. 

The next day we headed off early into bruges, an hour train away. It was quite rainy this day as we wandered around the old medieval city. Really, I was just looking for places for respite from the rain. I came upon some shops that I would quickly become intensely obsessed with (Hema, Dille & Kamille). The old cobblestone streets were fun and more challenging to walk along than I anticipated. I tried to be so careful about how I stepped because my footprint covered barely 2 stones, so my feet could easily roll or fall between stones. Interesting problem to have for tiny feet. 

It felt like we spent the day walking around and waiting for A to feel like having a beer. The much anticipated Belgian beer we are both fond of. The weather was really not appropriate to consume copious amounts of Belgian beer. I think he would have had a lot more if we were here during more favorable weather. We stopped into the Frites Museum, which was probably one of my highlights for the trip. We learned about the history of potatoes, and the evolution of fries. It was a unique experience, and so delightful. I came upon a chocolate place Rick Steves had referenced and went inside to some impatient and almost grumpy chocolatiers. After leaving with a few pieces, we wandered around some more until my patience wore thin. I was ready to go back, and we couldn't go back until A had a beer. We went to a brewery to get a flight. It was still pouring outside. Finally, we made the rainy walk back to the train station. A slept the entire train ride, so I had to stay awake otherwise we'd miss our stop. 

We picked up some take-out from a Mediterranean place to bring back to our place. Our host was not home so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves. I found Love, Actually to watch on Netflix, and much to my surprise we made it to midnight for New Year's. The weather cleared up and stopped raining for maybe 2 hours, perhaps so that everyone could light off their fireworks. We were able to watch some risky maneuvers from our balcony. We were both happy to stay in. 

The next day we anticipated everything to be closed. And most places were. We wandered for most of the day, walking into the old part again.We stopped for coffee, food, bathrooms, chocolate, etc. We walked and window shopped a lot. I made notes of places to look for in our future stops because they would be open. This night, we got instant noodles and oranges from the grocery store for dinner. Cuisine here had not been super impressive, and I was not in the mood to seek out anything specific. Honestly, we would get sleepy pretty early and not be so hungry in the evening anyway. It's a silly thing, but I enjoyed the easy nights in.

We left pretty early the next morning for the train to Amsterdam. We had purchased an open ticket when we first arrived. The trains to Amsterdam are every hour; it was so easy. I am always so impressed with how close everything is in Europe, and how easy and convenient train travel is in the region. 

best,

jt