Waffles and Beer!

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Peter and I decided to take a weekend trip to Brussels since it was (sort of) a halfway point between us. Besides, Belgium sounded infinitely more exciting than Douai or Luxembourg.

We booked a night at a strange little B&B in an immigrant neighborhood slightly outside the city center. It was a very eclectic place, decorated with things brought back from the owner's many travels. Our room had a sort of African feel, and the room next to us was decorated with a mirror and lighting fixtures from India. It was how I imagined a boarding house would be...very much a communal life. As a group, we decided what time we wanted to eat breakfast in the morning, and then we all sat around a massive wooden table eating Moroccan pancakes. We discussed culture, languages, politics, and travel in a combination of three languages (English, French, Flemish/Dutch). The B&B has very mixed reviews online, but I absolutely loved it. I can understand why people who need privacy, structure, and order wouldn't like it, but I can't wait to go to Argentina in a couple years and stay in the new B&B once the owner relocates.


Turns out there's not much to do in Brussels...besides eat and drink. Peter and I decided to have a Fat Kids Weekend, where we planned to do little more than just that...eat and drink. On the menu: French fries (originally from Belgium) eaten with mayonnaise, waffles (Belgian waffles do, in fact, come from Belgium), and beer (Stella Artois and Hoegaarden are Belgian, among many other brands).

In between stuffing our faces, we visited the few sights, including the Manneken-Pis. It's a (cute?) little station of a boy peeing, and the city often dresses it up. One of the museums has a collection of all the outfits he's worn in the past few hundred years. Many of the outfits are from other countries, so the little guy has been dressed up in kimonos, traditional African clothing, military uniforms from various countries, and lots of other random outfits.

We visited a beer brewing museum (which, of course, came with TWO beers), watched the USA-England World Cup match (drinking absolutely delicious cherry-strawberry lambic beer), and ate several waffles. The waffles in Belgium don't come with maple syrup. Oh, no. You can choose from as many toppings as you want, including Nutella, hot chocolate syrup, caramel, strawberries, kiwis, fresh whipped cream, bananas, and nuts. We tested several varieties, just to be sure we were getting a true taste of Belgian cuisine. Let me tell you, you can't really go wrong when eating any sort of waffle in Brussels!

After a quick 36 hour visit, we went back to our respective home cities. This Christmas, I think I'll be having dreams of Belgian waffles dancing in my head instead of sugar plums...

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Photos

drinking (more) beer at the brewing museum
(the table and stools are tiny, which is why we look absolutely gigantic)

Comments

[karin]

Strawberry beer-Yuck! Waffles with anything chocolate- now we're talking! Do they have waffles with chocolate heaven in Kaolack or Kounghuel? I might have to settle for rice and ??? Love you!! Mom

[Chris Signore]

Peeing Statues!!
Hi Kate, Your mom sent me to this sight. I Enjoyed reading all about your travels, they sound interesting and FUN! The Waffles look absolutely YUMMY! Just wanted to tell you to have a GREAT TRIP with your mom! She is so looking forward to seeing Africa with YOU!! Be safe and well.....And build a LOT of Wonderful Memories Together!! Chris