Belgium - The Country of Unhealthy Food!

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I am back from yet another weekend traveling adventure! It's definitely convenient to go to a different country every weekend since Europe is so close together. I have a feeling it would be even easier if I was on mainland Europe. Since the innovation of the chunnel, getting off the island of England and into other parts of Europe has gotten easier. As you know two weeks ago we took the underwater train to Paris and last weekend we took it to another Eurostar destination - Brussels, Belgium. While I was in Paris, my friends decided they wanted to go to Belgium which was somewhere that always seemed interesting to travel to, but they couldn't get in touch with me so they booked a trip for 3 people instead of 4 since they weren't sure if I would want to go. Once I found out they were going, I quickly booked a ticket for the Eurostar!

Since our train left at the wonderful hour of 6:10 AM, we decided it would be easiest to stay overnight in London rather than having to take a taxi from Egham to Waterloo Friday morning (which would be pricey and complicated!) Becca's friend Shana came with us on this trip and she goes to school at UCL in London so we stayed overnight with her. We took a taxi to the train station early Friday morning and were in Belgium in just about 2 and a half hours. The train wasn't very crowded (I guess it's not a popular time to travel!) so we had lots of room to spread out and it was nice and quiet for getting some rest.

As soon as we got to Belgium we were feeling slightly culture shocked. I would say it is definitely the most different country I have traveled to. England, France, and Italy expect tourists and therefore are rather Americanized. Belgium was not like this at all, and English was not really an option! (We've all studied French in some capacity so we had to pull our skills out of the back of our brains). Actually, Belgium is quite a mix of cultures. In Brussels the two main languages are French and Dutch because it is the capital city. Up north, in the Flemish region, they speak mainly Dutch while in the South they speak French and there is also a small German community. All these languages make for a confusing travel experience! There is currently a lot of controversy in Belgium because the Flemish part in the northern country wants to break off to become its own country while Brussels wants to remain united. Throughout Brussels there are a lot of Belgium flags hanging everywhere. This means that whoever lives or works there supports Belgium staying united. The sense of unity is not the same up north.

On Friday afternoon right after we got there, we took a train to Brugges in the Flemish region because we could use our Eurostar tickets to get to any station in Belgium for free! Brugges is a cute, quieter city up north but there was quite a language barrier. They only speak Dutch there, and they are rather antagonistic towards their French speaking counterparts, so mostly everything was in Dutch not French. However, they know that they have to communicate somehow, so most of the places spoke English as a universal language. I don't know if this is true, but I've read that they will be more offended if you speak French to them than if you speak English so luckily we were able to get by.

First we went to the Church of Our Lady (the Notre Dame of Brugges) a beautiful cathedral which is home to Michaelangelo's sculpture "Madonna and Child", the only Michaelangelo that left Italy while he was alive. For lunch, we got our first "Frites" the French fries that Belgium is known for. I don't know why they're so popular there, but there are stands all over the country and they are certainly delicious. It's very popular to eat them with cocktail sauce, which is more like what we would think of as Russian dressing. Then we headed over to the main Marketplace, the center square in the city. After taking a few pictures, we moved on to explore another of Belgium's specialties - chocolate! There is a chocolate museum in Brugges we wanted to check out. We learned a little too much about the history of chocolate and the museum was rather poorly put together and repetitive, but luckily we got a few free samples of Belgian chocolate - delicious! To end our day in Brugges, we went on a canal tour. There are lots of canals winding around the town, similar to Venice. We were able to see the cute houses lining the canals and we went under a lot of VERY low bridges. I'm glad we went to Brugges, because it is definitely a quieter area than Brussels and it was nice to explore other parts of Belgium.

When we got back to Brussels, we wanted to go out for mussels, a traditional meal in Belgium. We asked someone at the hotel reception desk for recommendations and he suggested an area we could walk to with a lot of good restaurants. He told us it was a safe walk, but after walking just a few feet, we didn't really feel comfortable with the city, so we decided to take a taxi. He must have been so confused and annoyed at us (and we think he suspected four of us were hiding in the room when it was made for 3 people) but we would have rather paid for the taxi then walk in an unsafe area in a city we weren't familiar with. So we went to a cute restaurant called "Francois" and Sarah and I got a traditional meal of mussels in white wine sauce with frites. It was delicious and just what we needed to end our long day of travel!

On Saturday morning we walked around to explore Brussels since we didn't get to do much of that on Friday. We saw the Grand Place which is the heart of Brussels and kind of reminded me of St. Mark's square in Venice, particularly at night. There are lots of restaurants and stores in the area as well as a flower market right in the middle. We also saw a wedding going on...we tend to see them a lot in our travels! Next we went to see what is (arguably) the most famous sight in Brussels - Manneken Pis. It's kind of sad that a statue of a peeing child is what tourists flock to the most, but every city has to be known for something I guess! The statue is dressed for different occasions at different times and there is a whole ceremony about his changes. I'm not sure what he was dressed as on Saturday because I couldn't read the sign (it was in Dutch) but I think it was a student of some sort.

We then went to a beer museum which somehow beat out the chocolate museum as the worst museum in Belgium. The museum wasn't much of a museum, but basically a few machines and a video showing the production of beer and a rather long winded explanation of the different kinds of foods to eat with beer. At the end, we got to try some Belgian beer. It was a little strong for me, but something we had to try while there! After the beer, we needed something sweet so we went to get another Belgian delicacy - "gauffres" (waffles). The traditional waffle has caramelized sugar on it but can also be served with ice cream, strawberries, banana, chocolate and whipped cream (hence why the title of this entry is "the country of unhealthy food!"). The waffles were delicious, as was everything we ate in Belgium, and after that it was time to move on to some more sightseeing.

We went back to our hotel to pick up a tour of the city. It started out as a walking tour and then transferred to bus. Brussels is the capital of the EU, so we saw the buildings where the 'offices' are housed in. We also saw the Rue de Brouchers which is a cute narrow street with tons of restaurants, where we ended up going back to for dinner. The tour guide then took us down a back alleyway where we saw the Jannekin Pis, the "sister" of Mannekin Pis. A few years ago feminists got angry that only a male was represented, therefore they made their own female version! I think it's kind of unnecessary, but interesting nonetheless. We then saw Gallery Saint Hubert, supposedly the world's first shopping mall. We didn't do any shopping, but the hallways were beautiful and it looked like there were lots of nice shops.

We then saw the Atomium which was built for the 1958 World Fair and is supposed to resemble an atom. There is an observatory in several of the "particles" and I think even a rotating restaurant. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe of Brussels which is located in the Parc de Cinquantenaire district of town. After the tour was over, we explored on our own and shopped around a flea market in a popular part of the city. Then we had to try out some Brussels frites, as well as do some chocolate shopping. For dinner we went back to Rue de Bouchers and had more moules (mussels) this time in a Provencal sauce with tomatoes and mushrooms. It was another great dinner, and we sat outside under a heated awning so it was great atmosphere!

On Sunday, we had pretty much all day in Brussels since our train didn't leave until 8:30 PM. We also gained an hour because we turned our clocks back the night before PLUS we gained another hour because the UK is one hour behind Belgium, so it seemed like a very long day! (FYI - until the US turns back their clocks we'll only be 4 hours apart!) First we went to the Museum of Musical Instruments where we saw 3 levels of various instruments from all different time periods and could hear samples of music. It was pretty cool because although we couldn't read anything, everyone had their own headphones that were somehow connected to sensors in the ceiling so when you walked to certain parts of the room in front of an instrument you would hear that instrument playing. Next we went to the Church of St. Michael, another beautiful cathedral. The one part I didn't like about this church was a stone altar. The church was very traditional and old looking, but this very modern piece kind of took away from the whole feel.

Then we went to indulge in Belgian goodness one last time with a final waffle before departing! After eating we went back to the Grand Place and there was some sort of strange ceremony going on! Men and women were dressed in uniforms parading around and playing instruments and singing (one song was "Hello Dolly!") We were very confused, but everyone was taking pictures and seemed very excited. As we were watching and wondering an American couple came up to us to ask what was going on. We had no idea, but started talking to them and to make a long story short they live in Louisiana but lived in Lawrenceville, NJ for 5 years over 40 years ago and the woman taught home economics at Reynolds, my middle school! What are the odds that I would meet someone who taught at my middle school in Belgium of all places? It's a small world after all!

We later learned that the ceremony was for the changing of the Mannekin Pis. We decided to go see if he had been changed since yesterday if this was true, and on the way we saw the couple from before who showed us a picture they took and indeed he was changed. We wanted to go to get our own pictures of the new outfit, but when we got there he was naked! I don't understand how they made the change so quickly or why it's such a big deal, but it is certainly interesting. By this point, most things were closed because it was after 5 on a Sunday and it was dark because of the time change so we just went to get some tea before heading back. The train ride back was nice even though I was sitting alone since my friends and I booked separately. It was a nice chance to get some work done and relax before my 9AM class on Monday! We got back to school around 11:30 and surprisingly I felt very well rested and ready to continue the week!

My friends and I all decided that we enjoyed Belgium and we're glad we saw it and we wouldn't NOT go back, but we have no burning desire to go. It was definitely a different experience than I'm used to and I'm so glad I have another stamp in my passport! Obviously though, I am now on a diet (though I did manage to sneak some Belgian chocolate back with me!) This weekend should be nice and relaxing. I'm not traveling anywhere, but I decided I need to start working on my final papers! We don't have much due throughout the term, but it's all due at the end and I don't want it all to sneak up on me! Next week is reading week which is supposed to be used for everyone to start their papers because we don't have class. I actually have my media arts class on Monday and have to do a presentation, but I'm off the rest of the week which will give me lots of time to work on my research. My next travel adventure will start Thursday when Erin and I leave for Ireland! Until then, Cheers!

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