Belgium!

alright, this is going to be a long one. lots of pictures. caitlin and i just spent the past 3 days in belgium. it was AWESOME! i should probably do this chronologically. monday, we left at 8am and took the bus for 4 hours to brussels. i slept most of the time so it wasn't too bad. we got to our hostel at about 2, dropped off our bags in the lockers and walked towards the center of town. it was SO cold. i'm talking a high of 9 degrees (celsius). friggin cold, right?

so anyway, the city itself is not all that beautiful. in fact, they say in the city guide that it's ugly and they like it that way. i wouldn't go as far as ugly because there are parts that are completely magical. but it's true that they will have this amazing structure sandwiched by 2 boring apartment buildings or ugly grocery stores. and there is a ton of graffiti but none on the historical buildings. i guess even the punks respect the architectural beauty.

the center of brussels is this place called the "grand square" which is completely amazing. it's all ornate and reminds me of disney land. it's the most beautiful at night, in my opinion. and all the streets branching off of it are filled with these adorable little chocolate shops and DELICIOUS waffle stands. ok so that's the next thing we did after taking a million pictures of the grand square. we got BELGIAN WAFFLES. i had 3 of them (one each day we were there) and the first was with stracciatella gelatto, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. seriously, i have never felt so close to tears as a result of food consumption before. in a good way.

the next step on our journey through the city was to a store to buy gloves, hats and more layers. we were not prepared for snow and snow it did. in most of these pictures i am totally bundled. and i mean, i come from the north east. i know what cold is. i was NOT prepared. after warming up a little, we went to a frites stand (aka fries). turns out, they are not french. they are belgian. and they are DAMN good. i thought i'd try the local favorite and get my fries with mayonnaise on top. ew. well, ok not ew. the first few bites were amazing. i love mayo. but after half a bucket of fries covered in mayo, i felt a little ill.

we walked those off for a little while and discovered the city some more. there are so many cool streets and buildings where you wouldn't expect them. we had no destination or time frame, so we wandered until about 10 and then headed back to the hostel to sleep. oh wait, one more thing before going to bed - we went to this cool pub and got kriek. it's cherry beer, a belgian favorite. i like it a lot! i wonder if they have it at haxtons, because i could easily drink only that for the rest of my life.

on to day 2. we got up early and caught a train into ghent. that town is ADORABLE. it's really tiny but so charming. in brussels, most people speak french. the signs and everything are in 2 languages (french and dutch) but in ghent everyone speaks dutch and then if you speak french to them they'll switch to french. we wandered around and took lots of pictures. we were only there for a few hours but we ended our excursion with lunch at this "pancake" house that claims to be the inventor of the pancake. when they say pancake though, they mean crepe. not to say i didn't enjoy them thoroughly, but there is something to be said for a pile of silver dollars. mmmmmmmmmmmm.

so back to brussels - we took a train back and went straight to our next destination. we were so excited about this place that we almost ran into the ticket booth. this place, this magical spot, this WONDERLAND is called "mini europe." yep, it is exactly what it sounds like - a park that takes you on a tour through europe via models of the famous monuments. it. is. amazing. it was all outdoors however and we froze our noses off. the pictures are priceless though and it was worth every limb i lost to frostbite.

in the same park there is also a water park for kids and some sort of disney land rip off full of carousels, themed restaurants, imax theaters, etc. there was also the atomium which looks like molecules and is in the background of most of my mini europe pictures. it was super expensive though and we decided to save our money and head back to the center of town. we grabbed some dinner (aka fries and a sandwich...always fries and/or a waffle involved in a mean in belgium). food there was not expensive at all especially compared to paris and it was so good. you could get a sandwich for less than 3 euros and fries for 1 and a half. the beer was delicious and also very inexpensive. i mean, where else can you get a huge mug of beer for less than 2 euros? we wandered around a little more and took some pictures in order to make room for waffle number two. i got the same thing (ice cream, chocolate and whipped cream) because it was just so good. and the fruit covered mountains of waffley goodness seemes a little too hard to eat with mittens and a scarf. not that i didn't get ice cream and chocolate all over my face anyway.

there is a lot to do in brussels but you have to pay for all the museums and stuff so we basically walked around and saw what we could for free (which was still completely worth it). all of the shops and touristy things close before 7 which is crazy. one thing i can advise - if you want to shop in brussels, get up early. they don't mess around. at dinner time everyone peaces out. then it's restaurant time. these people know how to eat and i think it's because they need that extra layer to keep from getting hypothermia. seriously.

we were freezing again and headed back to the hostel after a long day and a lot of walking. it didn't take long to fall asleep and we were up early again in the morning to get some hot water before all the other hostel goers woke up and took it all. (we were in dorm-style rooms and we had to go outside to get to the showers. brrrrr) our last day was spent mostly in the beaux-arts museum which was pretty cool. it reminded me a lot of orsay which is my favorite museum in paris. it's about the same size (meaning it's doable in a couple of hours and not overwhelming like the louvre which i find to be beautiful but overrated). also, there is a painting there by david which just so happens to be my mom's favorite and i believe the piece of art that inspired her to paint (i think that's what she said). anyway, i appreciate the death of marat if only because of her love for it and was excited to see it in person. my mom is an incredibly talented artist and as i am in awe of her gift, i am in awe of that which inspired it.

after the museum, more fries. of course. this time with ketchup. they were so warm and delicious. perfect meal (if you can call it a meal) on a freezing cold day. we did a little last minute shopping, ate some chocolate-covered strawberries, bought some post cards and headed to the train station. a sad goodbye but a much-needed return to my own hot shower and comfortable bed. i am so glad i left france for a few days because if anything makes you feel at home in a strange country, it's going to and even stranger one. can't say i missed the smell of paris because the air in belgium was significantly sweeter and more fresh (due to the waffles everywhere i imagine). but i am happy to be back and ready for my next adventure. alright everyone, hope you enjoyed this one. i'm off to accomplish some french bureaucratic bull in an effort to finally get some health benefits. a bientot...