Summer Adventure - Reykjavik, Brussels and Amsterdam 2015 - Brussels, Bruges and Macaron Inflation!

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Maxine and I had an early morning flight Friday Morning to Brussels. We had to be waiting for the airport shuttle at 4am even though our flight wasn't until 7:40. There was more airport chaos - they are really not set up well for the volume of travellers they are seeing. Once we were past security, we found the lounge and were able to grab a coffee before our flight.

We arrived in Brussels around 1pm, hopped on the train and headed to our hotel which was 120m from the train station! Perfect location! The train was a bit confusing.. I had (wrongly) assumed that French was he predominant language in Belgium. I was mistaken. It is predominately spoke in central Brussels, however outside Brussels, and in the norther part of the City, Dutch and also German is largely spoken. Most of the signage is actually in Dutch, which made things a bit tricky interns of making sure we were on the right train! Our hotel was also located VERY centrally close to Grand Place in the old part of Brussels. We unpacked, cleaned up and ventured out to find some lunch (and Beer!). Central Brussels is beautiful! Buildings dating back to the 1600's, cobblestone streets and outdoor cafes. 200m from our hotel is Grand Place, which is absolutely stunning and voted the most beautiful square in Europe! Beautiful palace-like building surrounding a cobblestone square. Brussels dates back to the year 580 where there was a settlement and cathedral constructed on an island on the river Senne, however the official foundation of Brussels is officially said to be in the year 979. Walls were built around the city in the late 1100's and again in the mid 1300's to accommodate a rapidly expanding city. Grand Place (Market square) dates back to the 1000's but the City Hall building dates back to the early 1400's. Other buildings on the square were built between them and late part of 1600's. In 1695, France invaded Brussels and literally destroyed the city, including Grand Place, so most of what is seen today has been restored from that time. Miraculously, although Brussels was an occupied city during both wars. there was not a lot of damage.

Brussels/Belguim is famous for Beer, Waffles, Chocolate, Lace and Tapestry... so we decided to partake in all of the above! As I mentioned, once we got settled we ventured out in search of lunch.... we ended up in "restaurant row" and got bombarded by crazy, aggressive restauranteurs ... so quickly learned to do research ahead of time and after a quick Trip Advisor Search, was able find a decent place. Had lunch, dinner, wandered around a LOT, saw St. Michael's Cathedral and had a pretty early night.

Second day we did a walking tour around brussels. Saw more of the old city and explored different streets, cafes, shops and took lots of photos. We saw one of Brussel's most famous landmarks, Le Manneken Pis - essentially a tiny bronze statue of a boy holding himself and peeing. It actually dates back to the 17th century and was city fountain... strange indeed! Le Mannekin actually has a sister, Jeanneke Pis... So we had to hunt her down as well... She is much younger than her brother lol, but about 100 years. Down the alley where Jeanneke was hiding, we found Delirium Cafe! Delirium is legendary in Brussels for its selection of over 4000 beers! There main part is in a dingy basement decorated with hundreds (if not thousands) of beer trays and lights. They also serve cheese plates. So what else would one do when they are thirsty and hungry early afternoon, than to stop at Delirium? So this was the first of a few visits lol. We didn't get to sample all 4000, but we expanded our Belgian beer horizons haha. Kwak has by far become our favourite, as has Westmalle (some of this you can get in Edmonton... yay!) We also tried some fruit beers, Floris Pomme and Floris Kreik are excellent. Delirium Nocturnum also really yummy. Saturday night we went for dinner at a restaurant called 'T Kelderke just off of Grand Place and tried a Belgian Stew called Waterzooi... It was Delish! Definitely getting a recipe!

Of note, Friday when we arrived, we were sucked in to all the chocolate shops and patisseries... We bought a delicious macaron for a euro and moved on.. Apparently, over the weekend, the cot of Macarons goes up by a factor of 20%! Saturday it was 1.20... Rip off! Macaron inflation is alive and well in Brussels!

Sunday we caught an early train to Bruges! I LOVED Bruges. Maxine had been before, but it had been raining. It is a BEAUTIFUL, well preserved town - the centre is actually a UNESCO site. Bruges has its origins dating back to 1600BC as a trade route to the east. It became important in the early part of the 10th century and was chartered as a city in 1128. Bruges had a strategic location at the crossroads of the northern trade and the southern trade routes. A large weaving and textile industry grew there and the population at one pointe exceeded that of London. In and around 1500, the main channel started to silt over and Bruges died slowly until the last half of the 19th century when tourism started to flourish. Bruges was untouched during the wars and all the buildings are well-preserved including the magnificent belfry in the square dating back to the 13th century. We spent the entire day in Bruges, just strolling around, getting lost down narrow streets, saw some windmills along the canal and really just taking in the sights. We had lunch on the square - I finally had mussels and fires! (and beer of course) We made it back to Brussels around dinner and decided it would be a good idea to have a waffle for dinner. Then back to Delirium for another beer sampling.

Monday was our last day in Brussels, so we went to see some sights we had missed, including St, Micheal's Cathedral - I am still overwhelmed at the magnificence of these European Cathedrals. This one was was started in 1226 and took over 300 years to complete. Stunning. Later we picked up some souvenirs, had lunch at a cafe away from the crowds - Monday was a much calmer day in general so it was nice to be out and about. We took our time, enjoyed another beer at delirium, had a beverage on our "patio" had a nice dinner and started packing for the last leg of our trip - Amsterdam!

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