Our first trip out of Paris was definitely eventful. We took the metro to Paris Nord station to take an express train to Brussels. The station was huge and had a massive departures board which mechanically rotated every minute or so. We were so intrigued by it we all took pictures :) When we finally boarded the train, we were all tired from the night before and slept the entire way there. When we arrived in Brussels, we realized that our hostel was on the opposite side of the city, so we left the station and ventured towards the heart of the city to see what Brussels was all about, luggage and all. Luckily we traveled light! We were almost to the Grand Place when we noticed a small little store to our left. It was a minute before we realized it was a chocolate museum! Sign me up. So we went in, paid a few euros to walk around the museum, see how chocolate is made, listen to a chocolatier explain how he makes chocolate, and enjoy the FREE SAMPLES! Didn't they realize American girls can't say no to chocolate? Or is that just women in general? Anyway, we had our fill of chocolate before we left and certainly got our money's worth.
When we left the chocolate museum, it was only a few seconds before we were in the Grand Place. The architecture was beautiful but didn't match the rest of the city at all. It was very old and even a bit dark. We took some pictures in the square but then we noticed a lot of people walking around with fries. Without any shame, Torey immediately walked up to a couple and practically demanded, "Where did you get those?" They pointed us down the street away from the square and we began our quest. After all the chocolate, it was time for a salty Belgium specialty: frites special, or french fries with ketchup, grilled onions, and lots of mayonnaise. It's basically a heart attack in a bowl, but again, totally worth it. Here's a picture of me faking a heart attack before even eating them:
So after yummy, yummy fries, we went to see the Manneken Pis: a small fountain of a little boy peeing. It was supposed to be Brussels' equivalent to Paris' Eiffel Tower... huge disappointment. But it was still funny to see all the tourist attractions centered around a peeing boy. You can buy peeing boy bottle openers, figurines, chocolate statues, t-shirts, you name it. After seeing the Manneken Pis, we headed to our hostel. We took a quick nap when we got there any then got ready to go out. First, we headed back to the square to eat sandwiches and waffles before trying to find the Delirium Pub. If you haven't heard of Delirium, let me fill you in: it's a bar that serves over 2004 different beers! I loved every minute of it. The atmosphere was exciting and although it was filled with a cloud of smoke, we enjoyed the Michael Jackson tribute that played all night long. We made friends with a bunch of Spaniards and we enjoyed many different types of Belgian beer. Overall, it was a great night.
The next morning, Courtney and I got up and went to mass at a giant cathedral down the street. For such a large church, it was odd to see only 38 people total at mass... it didn't really seem like Brussels had a very religious community. Anyway, after church we headed to the train station to take a 50 minute train to Brugge. We were told it was beautiful so we went to check it out for the day. What we had heard was correct: it was everything you'd imagine a small European town to look like. It was very quaint and intriguing with a small river running through it and little squares throughout the small city. The most interesting thing about Brugge was that it had more chocolate shops than Wheaton, Illinois has churches which is saying something. Everywhere you looked there was a sign that read, "Belgium's Finest Chocolate." We didn't know who to believe! Who's was really the best? So after walking around for an hour or so, we went with the only sign that read, "The best hot chocolate you will ever have." And they weren't kidding. The hot chocolate was amazing. They give you a large cup of steaming milk and then a chocolate cup filled with chocolate chips which you add to the milk yourself to give it as much chocolate as you desire. Bon Appetite!
After a little more window shopping and walking around Brugge, we headed back to Brussels to make it to the American sports bar, Fat Boys, to catch the Bears Game. While we were there we ate true American food: cheese fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and burgers. What a treat! Although the result of the game didn't turn out at all how we had hoped, we still had a great time amongst the lively atmosphere or Bears and Packers fans. Soon after the game ended, we headed back to the hostel for some shuteye.
The next day was one of those awkward days where you have enough time to do something small but not enough time to do anything significant before heading home. I hate traveling in the mid-afternoon. I really prefer traveling in the morning so I can get to my destination and move on from there. But since we had some time, we walked to the Palais Royal and took some pictures of the grand building. Then we headed back to the square to grab some lunch. We basically cafe hopped on our way back to the train station. We headed home the same way we came and made it back to Paris in time to do grocery shopping and laundry before our first real day of class. I had no idea then what my classes would be like but I was in for a real surprise the next morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment