Brussels

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Dan and I arrived in Brussels around 3:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon. We almost missed our train out of Paris because the automated machine that was SUPPOSED to give us our tickets apparently didn't like the taste of my credit card. The train ride was a smooth hour and a half.

Our hostel in Brussels was the Vincent Van Gogh Youth Hostel -- where you have to have a passport and you can't be over the age of 35. The place was great... although there weren't nearly as many english-speaking visitors as in Paris. But the place had a bar with cheap beer, a pool table, lockers, breakfast, and lots of other extras. The only downside was that they ended breakfast at 9:00 AM and they locked everyone out of all the rooms from 10 to 2. Dan and I shared a 6-person room with some hippie-type french guys... so it got a little bit stinky 😞

Thursday morning, Dan and I started things off at the Royal Art and History Museum. The place was not impressive at all. In fact, I'd say the place was a waste of time and money. They should call it the tapestry museum. It didn't help that the museum "ran out" of english audio guides. They only plus is that the museum expedition took us into a nice part of town just past the European Union headquarters.

The real highlight of the day was the food. Dan and I had belgian waffles for lunch -- mine with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. For dinner we ate at a restaurnant called the Chez Leon where we each ate a pot of mussels cooked in celery (mussels are Belgium's national dish).

Other than that, Dan and I took in another museum -- The Musee d'Art Moderne. There were some famous Bruegel paintings and an interesting collection of surrealist paintings. As far as musuems go, I can definitely say I prefer to look at modern art rather than the historical, "famous" stuff.

On Friday, we decided to take it easy. It was raining all day, and we were both feeling sick. We had a limited time in Brussels... but I can't say that we missed all that much. We visited the Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art and did a little bit of shopping... a relatively boring day.

Compared with Barcelona, Paris, and even Dublin... Brussels takes on a much more modern look in many parts and has far less people walking around.

Onward to Amsterdam.

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Photos

Garden
not exactly sure what the building is used for

Comments

[lindsey and laura]

?????
how many mussels did you each eat for dinner in brussels? what did you have to drink with the mussels?