Two weekends ago my friend Chrissy and I ventured to the two must-see cities in that Francophone country and just happened to stumble upon Brussels' annual beer festival. Serendipity at work. (By the by the German word for "serendipity" is spürsinn - not so romantic).
We left Bremen on Friday afternoon and took a 7-hour train ride with many changes to make it to the gourmand capital of Europe. I had hoped the weekend would be rife with chocolate, waffles, french fries, and beer, and oh it was :)
Friday night involved much fun going out and meeting tons of people from all over the world, and we started early Saturday morning to see as much of the city as we could. Brussels is beautiful and vibrant, with probably the most impressive center I've seen in all my European travels. It's overwhelming, and almost a bit unglaublich.
Tons of people from all over the world were in the city for the main event - the annual beer weekend. The city center hosted a large area where many of Belgium's best beer manufacturers set up shop and served everything from dark Trappist beers brewed in abbeys to sweet cherry and strawberry beer. Chrissy and I had much fun sampling whatever we could and making conversation with the international crowd.
One thing I've really found in my travels here so far, and this may sound a bit cheesy, is how generally nice most people are. A couple and another man helped us on the train when we thought we might miss our connection, and numerous people in Belgium went above and beyond to give us directions and recommendations. And apart from being logistically helpful, most people are very willing to make conversation and share about themselves. It probably helps to be a young girl and I know it differs from country to country and culture to culture, but it makes me feel positive about the world in general when I have such experiences.
When we pulled ourselves away from the festival we ventured to the other sights. A must-see was the mannekin pis, the famous statue of a boy peeing into a fountain. We also took a hike to the EU buildings, strolled through the grandiose old palace, and checked out the shopping arcade with the most famous chocolate store in the world.
I LOVE THE FOOD IN BELGIUM. We got delicious french fries with random amazing sauces from the so-called best fry stand in the city, ate sugar-filled waffles from a place that opened in the 1800s, and bought some amazing chocolate. This foodie was quite happy. We ate on the cheap too. I probably spend about 15 euro on food the entire weekend. Oh and managed to track down some weenie dogs...
On Saturday evening we took the quick train ride to the über romantic city of Bruges. Most of the city is marked as a Unesco World Heritage site, and for good reason. Medieval, antique, wonderfully charming...I could go on with the adjectives. Chrissy and I took a small boat tour through all the canals, climbed 360 or so steps to the top of the main bell tower, and spent most of Sunday walking around before it was time to return to Germany. More sampling of Belgian beverages and french fries occurred as well, of course. We also went to a supermarket and loaded up on chocolate, which I have happily already given to many people here as gifts. I love coconut and found the most amazing coconut chocolate bar I will probably ever have. ahhhhh...
Belgium isn't generally known as a must-see country in Europe, and I wonder. Brussels has a palpable vibrancy I haven't felt in many other places, and I wonder if the fact that it is the headquarters of the EU has something to do with that. The EU was only formed in 1993, so perhaps in some years you will hear about Brussels along with London and Paris. I hope.
This weekend I will hang out in the very windy city of Bremen and return to Hamburg on Saturday night for some ausgehen followed by a trip to the famous fish market in the wee hours of the morning. Bis Bald!
p.s. Many pics in this post, I know, but as always check out the rest here
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