Moving on! I got up at 6:30am on Friday morning to catch my train to Brussels. Had a layover in Koeln, and then direct to Brussels from there. I wanted to get to Central Station which meant that I had to get off at North Station and then take a different train to Central (though it turns out that my hostel was closer to North Station in the first place...oops.) So the train was a few minutes late arriving, so I missed the connection, so just waited for the next one. Unfortunately, I got on the train going the opposite direction... I really should've realized this when all the people waiting at the platform didn't get on...
So I'm sitting on this train, and it's only supposed to take three minutes to get to Central and it's been about ten...and we are not in a city anymore. So I asked a lady next to me and she told me I was going the wrong way, but luckily the train stopped after about 15 minutes, so I just got back on the next one going back into the city--so all in all I was only about thirty minutes of unnecessary travel. Got on the right train and asked some people if it was going to the city just to make sure, and they said I was good to go. I was sitting next to a guy from Brussels who started talking to me and asking where I was from and he said he had a few hours before his work appointment so he could show me around if I wanted. Now I knowwwwww, this scenario sounds super sketchy, but despite what people who know me think, my street smarts are actually pretty good, and I had good instincts about whether or not people are sketchy, and this guy seemed pretty genuine. He just really loved his city and wanted to show me it! So he showed me where my hostel was (which was very fortunate because I don't think I would've found it otherwise) and then we walked to the city center and he pointed out all the main sights and such. Kelsey was abroad in Brussels last semester so she had made me a list of things to see, so I basically read the list to him and he showed me how to get to everything, so when Katherine arrived, I already knew how to get to everywhere we wanted to go!
Here's a picture of Grand Place--Friday afternoon was absolutely gorgeous! Rest of the weekend, not as nice...
My new Belgian friend gave me a little history and tour of everything we saw which was really cool. (I honestly don't remember his name which is why I have avoided naming him haha) As everyone knows, Belgium is famous for its chocolate, waffles, and beer. There were chocolate shops EVERYWHERE. Chocolate shops to Brussels are as coffee shops to Amsterdam, I'd say...or Starbucks to D.C. As a local of the city, he knew of a good chocolate shop, so we went there first. The chocolates are on a giant display and you tell the salesperson what kind you like and they suggest ones and explain about what they have and such. I picked out a few, and then we sat outside and I ordered some hot chocolate--it was AMAZING. None of this powder crap you get from the grocery store, this was pure hot chocolate from Madagascar.
YUMMMMM. And of course being a European man, the afternoon cafe was his treat :D Afterwards, we walked around the city some more...Kelsey had told me to go to Marcolini Chocolatier (we had some chocolates from there on Christmas which she had brought back...so good!) So we walked in, and this place was the equivalent of Tiffany's, but for chocolate--not even joking. All the chocolate was behind glass cases, and the workers were all in black and looking chique, and the whole store was very minimalist. ALL FOR CHOCOLATE!!!!
Walked around some more, and then Katherine texted me and said she was on her way to the city, and my Belgian friend had to leave for his appointment. We said goodbye and I graciously thanked him for all his help and went back to the hostel. Waited around awkwardly for Katherine to tell me she was at the metro stop. Played pool with this Turkish guy staying in the hostel. Now, I am terrible at pool, but for some reason, I was playing amazingly in those couple games! Maybe this will be a new chronicle in my life as a pool player.
Went and picked up Katherine from the metro station--I haven't seen her since December so it was really cool to see her again, and in Europe! She checked in, we changed into some Friday night appropriate clothing, and then left for dinner. The Turkish guy kind of awkwardly invited himself to come eat with us, and he didn't speak English very well so the whole walk there was pretty amusing. It was like he was trying to talk about American stereotypes, but he was mixing them all up.
Walked around the city center area and we were so hungry that we just picked the first restaurant that looked good. It was so charming on the inside! We sat down and ordered, and then the Turkish guy kept complaining about the food--Katherine and I thought the food was good, honestly. And then in the middle of eating, he just abruptly got up and was like, I must go! And he left.
So Katherine and I finish our meals, and are just awkwardly sitting there wondering what to do about the check. The waiters kept walking around and smiling at us, they took our plates, but never gave us a check or anything. So we just slowwwwly walked out, and said goodbye to all the waiters and they all smiled back at us wishing us good nights (one even asked for my number! It's nice to take a break from Germany sometimes and actually have men flirt with you...because that's a big no-no in Germany) and yeah, we just walked out of the restaurant. So I guess the Turkish guy paid for the entire meal--nice!
By the time we got of dinner it was after 9, and still light out! It doesn't get dark here until literally 9:30pm. It's so strange! So we walked around, took some pics...
Kelsey had told me I had to go to Delirium bar, which was also listed in my student guidebook as having 2005 different types of beer with like, 25 different ones on tap. The Belgian guy had showed me where it was earlier that day but I had forgotten (it was down a bunch of side streets) but after walking around for thirty minutes, finally found it! It was almost 10 and the place was already packed, so we grabbed an open table, and took turns getting the beer. We started off with a Charles Quint--8,5 percent! And it came in GOBLETS!
Next we got the Delirium Tremens, voted best beer in the world, according to this sign!
That one was 9 percent I think. I really liked Belgian beer--it had a very distinct kind of sweet flavor to it. I'm turning into a beer lover btw. All through college I could never stand to drink it, and then last semester, knowing I was going to Germany, I started forcing myself to get used to it, and after three months here, I can't go back! It's just so refreshing, and it's now usually my drink of choice over wine or mixed drinks (also doesn't help that it's cheaper than water...!)
So we were at the bar for a good four hours I think, met a group of hilarious and rowdy Danish guys. I feel it's a lot more acceptable to be drunk and rowdy when you're 30 in Europe than it is in America...
Back to the hostel, etc. etc. Saturday! Walked to the center, found the famous Mannkein Pis! And then got Belgian waffles at the place Kelsey had told me to go. The rest of these pictures I post will be complements of Katherine, because my camera broke--I think it's because it got a bit wet--and it stopped taking pictures. It is currently at some Canon Shop, who knows where, but I just pray it'll be okay and that it won't be an insane amount of euros to fix. All I can think is that it broke at a good time (if it had to break) because I'm not really traveling anywhere for next few weeks.
Of course I got the waffle covered in chocolate and strawberries :) Walked around some more, took lots of pictures, found the little tourist-info place and checked some email, went up to the parking garage to view the Atomium, and then made our way back to the hostel. It had been a late night so we were exhausted but the hostel had a lockout from 10am-2pm, so we had to be out of there during that time. Came back and showered and took a nice nap until around 5:30.
Saturday was the big Gay-Pride day in Brussels, they had a giant parade and a Mr. Gay Contest, and then just a giant rave basically all throughout the city that went on all night. Katherine and I both remarked how nice it was to be in a city that seemed to be so supportive of gay rights! We made our way to dinner, walking through all the craziness...
And found ourselves at dinner at a cute little restaurant called Publico. It was mainly a Mediterranean restaurant, but it also had typical Belgian dishes. We figured that since we didn't pay for dinner the night before, we would splurge on a nice dinner, and it was absolutely amazing! (I know I know, I say that about EVERYTHING!) We both got some red wine, and they served us some bread, and then Katherine ordered a spicy tomato sauce potato appetizer thing, and then I got the lamb tenderloin with an amazing sauce and garlic roasted potatoes and ratatouille-- AHHHH!!!
My camera rallied for one last picture of the food. Our waiter was also so sweet and charming, and it was just such a nice dinner! I had been on a no-starch and no meat diet for the past week and a half which I think made the dinner that much better. After dinner we went to the Irish pub called Celtica, which has 1-euro beers every night until midnight. Had a couple, and then by 11 we were still so tired so we just went back to the hostel and got a good night's sleep.
Our train back to Heidelberg wasn't until 6:30pm, so we had the whole day Sunday to see the rest of the sights. Bought a metro pass and made our way down to see the giant arch...
And we explored the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History...only because it was free. But it was actually pretty cool-- kind of reminded me of the Air and Space Museum back home. We were then able to go up to the top of the arch and get some nice panoramic views. In one of these photos, you can see the crazy Atomium structure.
Next went to the Palace of Justice, which was the biggest building in Europe when it was built. The outside is all under scaffolding so wasn't that cool, but we could walk around the inside atrium part which was very impressive. Next to the buidling, you can also very clearly see the elevation difference between Lower and Upper Brussels, and can actually take an elevator to get to Lower Brussels--that's how big the difference is!
By the time we had done all of this, we were very hungry, so we made our way back to the city center to eat at one of the famous frittes-places. Everyone raves about Belgian fries, but honestly, they are not that different from American ones. Quite different from the fast food ones, yes, but not from the ones you'd get a sit-down restaurant. Nevertheless, we were able to pick fun sauces (Katherine got curry-ketchup, and I was daring and tried the samurai sauce) and of course, they were delicious.
With our bellies full of fries, we went to the grocery store to buy some cheap Belgian chocolate. I bought one pack to take home, and not even gonna lie--I ate the rest. I just cannot resist chocolate, it's terrible. Then we went to Marcolini, and I bought a nice pack to bring home to mom, and then I took Katherine to that first chocolate place I had gone to with the Belgian guy, and she loved the hot chocolate just as much as I did. Went back to the hostel, packed up our stuff, went to the train station, and made our way to Germany!
I'll talk about Katherine's visit to Heidelberg in another post, because I just wanted this one to focus on Brussels. Overall, I absolutely LOVED the city! I've already told Kelsey this, but I am so jealous she got to spend her whole semester there! It's basically like a smaller, friendlier, and more manageable Paris. Everyone was so friendly, the food was amazing, the city is beautiful, the public transit is easy to figure out. I guess the only downside was the weather-- as I said it was beautiful on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday were pretty chilly and windy and grey, and I heard that that's kind of the norm for the city. Like Montreal, it's a bilingual city, so everything is in French and Dutch/Flemish. My knowledge of French is extremely minimal, and I was actually able to get by more by looking at the Dutch, because it;s so close to German. I really enjoyed traveling with Katherine as well-- she is also very city savvy and can successfully read a map and figure out public transport so we were able to share the burden of finding everything, because on a lot of my trips so far, I've been the one to organize everything, and it gets exhausting! Katherine is collecting original little paintings from all the cities she has visited, so she bought a pretty one in Grand Place, and I am so jealous that I never thought of something like that to do! Collect at least SOMETHING from everywhere I've gone. I always send postcards from places I go, but those aren't for me... so i was kind of sad that I'm more than halfway through and had only just now had this idea presented to me.
But as I said, it was a lovely weekend in a lovely city! Brussels is definitely one of my favorite places I've visited this semester!
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