My expectations of Belgium: chocolate, waffles, beer. The reality: chocolate, waffles, beer, mussels, beautiful buildings AND “French” fries. Brussels is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It is full of importance and possesses an air of regality. You walk into the Grand Place and you feel as though you have stepped back through time. There are buildings towering above you in every direction of the square; but these building aren’t the steel skyscrapers of New York, they are ornate mason structures with gold details and statues of important figures throughout history decorating their outer walls. City hall reaches up towards the sky and 300 of these statues of mayors, politicians, painters and more look down on the square at the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to visit this majestic city each year.
And the best part of all, my hostel was right down one of the streets that leads up to the Grand Place! All around the square was the best restaurants, waffle shops, frites shops and shopping! So, I bet you’re wondering what a frite is right? Well, we call them “French” fries, but actually we are incorrect! Fries originated in Belgium and there are Belgian Frite shops everywhere! And what goes better with fries than a nice warm waffle? My favorite waffle shop was called Los Churros and Waffles and I fell IN LOVE with a Belgian sauce they had called Speculoos. It is similar to Nutella except that it tastes like Teddy Grahams or graham crackers! It was so delicious, I ate at least one a day. I mean, look at them, how couldn’t you?
We toured the city in the most fairytale-esque way possible… a horse drawn carriage of course! The carriage ride was perfect, just 30 minutes and we got to see the main attractions around the square. We learned about all of the important buildings standing today as well as those we could no longer see. We learned that the city before us was not the original Brussels, the real Brussels was actually below our feet. The city had been destroyed by wars in the 13th century and the people built a bigger and better Brussels on top of the ruins. Down one of the side streets, though, you can actually see some of the ruins of the city below ground through glass panels!
While on the carriage ride, we passed by beautiful business and government buildings dating back to the 17th century that Brussels is famous for as the capital of the E.U. Around one of the corners of these majestic buildings, we saw a little boy peeing! His name is Mannekin Piss and he is actually a statue on the outskirts of the square. Technically, he’s a fountain… of a little boy peeing, if you catch my drift. The legend goes that back in the days of the wars, a little boy peed on one of the bombs in the streets, stopping it from going off and saving the lives of many people! And so, they erected a statue in honor of the little peeing boy.
On the other side of the city (a metro ride away, DO NOT attempt to walk!) there is a massive structure called the Atomium. It is known as the Eiffel Tower of Belgium. The structure resembles a giant atom, but you can actually go inside of it. Stepping inside, you feel like you have entered the Twilight Zone. The balls all hold displays of both the creation of the structure as well as objects from past decades showing what the future was thought to look like. You travel from ball to ball by the escalators that are within the tubes connecting them. Traveling through those feels like you are in an episode of Star Trek; the lights change colors, and the round windows above allow you to see up into the sky. But, when you get to the top, you can see why it is called the Eiffel Tower of Belgium; the views of the city are incredible. We went at dusk right before closing time, and we watched the sun set over the city of Brussels. It was a beautiful sight to see.
My favorite day, however, was definitely Valentine’s Day, or Gal-entine’s Day as my friends and I called it. We took a train an hour north to the smaller city of Bruges. Getting off the train into the city, I felt as though I had stepped back 300 years in time. The city looks as though it is right out of the pages of a fairytale. Everywhere you look, there are cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and beautiful French and Dutch inspired houses. Canals run through the streets, and beautiful ornate churches can be found around every corner. There is a city square, just like that in Brussels, and the entire place is surrounded by beautiful colored shops, a massive tower, and plenty of old, majestic buildings. The city was a land of romance, and spending Galentine’s day there was the best decision we made. It didn’t hurt that Bruges is the chocolate capital of Belgium, either! I bought so many yummy pieces, and they were all gone by the end of the day! Bruges is now my new favorite city, and I hope to travel back there someday.. maybe with my own Valentine on my arm!
