Day 31 (Part 2): Brussels

“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist.”
-Renee Magritte

“How strangely do we diminish a thing as soon as we try to express it in words.”
-Maurice Maeterlinck

Traveling to Brussels was kind of a nightmare, but actually worth it in the end. I felt like Norah and I were in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. First our train from Amsterdam was canceled, then our hotel wouldn't answer their film, we don't speak French so communicating with the public transportation people was difficult, and then we realized that the "Brussels South" airport is like an hour outside of city center.

Thankfully our hotel was super nice, it was like 10 steps up from our Amsterdam hostel. It took a lot of motivation from both Norah and I to actually go back into Brussels after finding the hotel, but we really had no choice! We weren't going to miss out on seeing the city. We probably spent like three and a half hours on trains yesterday. Thankfully the hotel helped us get a free shuttle to the airport this morning and hooked us up with a Taxi last night.

Here's a shot after dropping things off at our hotel.


We tried so hard to be good tourists.


However, when we walked into the the beautiful Grand Place it was suddenly all worth it. This is basically what I thought Paris would look like, it's by far the most beautiful city I've ever visited.


This little guy gets a lot of attention, it's the Mannekin Pis statue. I was surprised that it was only like a foot tall.








Pictures say a lot more than words here.


We ate at a restaurant in the square, it's actually in one of the pictures above. I was pleasantly surprised by the Kriek beer! It was absolutely delicious. It's a cherry flavored beer that basically tastes like a juice box. I'm already researching where I'd be able to buy it in both Dublin and Ohio!


Fantastic.


For the actual meal I got a traditional Belgian chicken casserole, again a hearty meal! Rich flavors, fantastic butter on the bread, definitely cooking I could get used to. I was a little nervous to order the "American" I was warned that it was basically a plate of raw hamburger meat. I figured chicken was safe, you can't serve uncooked chicken!


Looks kind of like how I imagine a bar in Germany would look. Terrifying mannequin included.


That's right a Belgian Waffle! Thank God I'm not studying abroad there, I would be picking one of these up on the way back from class everyday.


Apparently if you rub this statue it gives you good luck? We looked it up afterward, we just rubbed it because everyone else was doing it. Peer pressure.






Again, no words! Unlike Amsterdam, I'm already planning my trip back to Belgium, hopefully with someone who knows French. Probably unlikely, but here's to dreaming!