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Published: November 6th 2013
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Antwarp station
An accidental encounter :) Sat: Adventure back to Brussels I upped my homework this time. The ticket counter lady even printed out the train connection. 9:02 train should connect to Rotterdam then to Brussels. But looks like the travel god is still on break.
On the info screen, we located the train with Rotterdam as a stop. It wasn’t exactly 9:02 train but we swear we saw Rotterdam. At 9:40, we were in Der Haag, nooo! We overshot Rotterdam!! We missed the connection for sure. We shot back to Rotterdam via Delft. Next available way to Brussels was through Antwerp…on a donkey train, grrr.
Finally arrived at Brussels central station at 1:30. Long trip, sigh. After dropping the luggage off at Toshi's, first thing first, we went to search for the fries, the "chip king" according to the guide book. Maison Antoine is in the EU area. From Schuman metro station, we found its backside. There's supposed to be windows at the side...whoa! On the front side, we found not only the widows but also the long lines extending from each of the two windows. This' gotta be the chip king!! Line moved snail pace. Many people were getting the meal
to feed the village! The other line seems to be moving faster but I’m sure it was an illusion. After 40min wait, we finally got our turn. Just some fries, curry ketchup, andalouse and a croquette. Anxiety to the max. The moment of truth, drum roll, fries were totally legit! Crispy with body. Nom nom nom.
We were in tight schedule but since EU building was right around the corner, we passed by it and picked up metro at Maelbeek station. We had to make it to Cantillon Brewery before 5pm closing. This would be our last chance as they are closed on Sunday!! Metro reached Clemenceau station at 4:20p and dumped us in a sketchy neighborhood. Random guy was walking around with a box of kitchen knives, selling. You get the picture. I found a nicer one is passing and managed to ask him for direction. We seemed to be going in the right direction. We were going deeper in the industrial neighborhood. It should be just about here...oh! A group of people opened a hidden door on the garage door. A whole different world opened up in the tasting room.
After a brief intro,
we were directed to a self-guided tour through a snug facility where they produce lambic. A things we learned: lambic is made by spontaneous fermentation (no added yeast), sits in cask for 3yrs so it’s flat. It also tastes sour and it’s not bad at room temp. A totally different beer experience 😊
One thing I had on my agenda was Laurent Gerbert chocolate boutique. I accidently found this local shop during my last trip. I just loved the store. Nothing flashy or industry feel, just clean and simple. Chocolat chaud was yummy too, sans heavy cream oppression. Hey, that’s him, Laurent Gerbert!! Making chocolat chaud behind the bar!! I secretly promised myself if he was in the store like last time, definitely take a pic with him 😄. We enjoyed a nice cup of chocolate, mmm. By that time, Laurent had gone to the back room. I asked the girl of my groupy request. Zero hesitation! I mean he’s not like Jacques Torres so this might be a sparse occurring but still! Score!!!
THE thing to see in Brussels is Mannekin-pis! It’s this little naked dude taking a piss from the higher ground. He gets the
Mannekin Pis
a la basquet point-of-interest street pointer, dressed weekly and have chocolate replicas made all over the place. I saw it last time but Vinh cannot leave this place without seeing him in person! It’s not far from Grote Markt and when you’re close, you’ll know. The outfit de la semain was a basketball uniform. Dinner choice in Brussels was Viva M'Boma for a taste of Belgian food. Looked like we were the lucky to be on American dinner schedule because a lot of parties were being rejected throughout the evening. Vinh got carbonnade (yum!) and I…tartar! I know. It’s French. But I can’t get it at home!! We cleared the plates...except chips. Just couldn't do it after the ultimate chip experience at Maison Antoine earlier. Café liégeois topped the night, yea!
Sun: Back to the start We didn’t have all the time in the world but we wanted to squeeze in a day trip to either Ghent or Brugges. Everyone so far couldn't pin point to one or the other. The only consistent thing was that Ghent is less touristy. That combined with Ghent being closer, that was our final answer.
According to my homework, 9:21 train would
take us there in a quick ~30min ride. Perfect. On the monitor, we ID'ed the platform. So we thought... Shortly after the train started, a staff came around to check our tickets. He saw ours and, guess what, told us that the train wasn’t going to Ghent. He told us to get off at the next station and catch the train at 9:22. Cool, except, we arrived at “the next station” at 9:20!! We ran a few platforms over. Luckily, the train was late 😊
We arrived in Ghent shortly after 10a. There were a lot of visitors being unloaded. Rest was continuing onto Brugges. Strange…it was a quiet walk to the center, about a mile. Where did all the tourists go? Ah ha, jam packed tram zapped us by. Suddenly, we started seeing more people. First, we stopped at TI and got us oriented. As we followed the walking route, things got increasingly touristy and messy. It was a beautiful place with a canal lined with old buildings and many cathedrals. But it was missing the character. There weren't a single place we wanted to enter and have a drink. A statue, the last point of interest
on the suggested route, was even covered up for restoration, fail! Fine, let's get this route done and get outta here. Not too many places were open away from the center but we saw much more inviting places along the quiet walk from the station.
About half way back to the station, we came across a cute cafe. Let's try it! It was surprising to see all tables being taken except one. A good sign! What was more surprising was that the cafe was lined with washers. The place was washing theme with a cast iron press as a napkin holder. Super cute! And what was even more surprising was that those washers against the wall were not just for decoration. People were actually doing laundry while having coffee or eating, Cute and functional!
We got back to Brussels at 3p. From Central, we went to Sablon and got so lost . The next destination of Moeder Lambic at place Fontainas was a tough feat. I had to give into using the metro 😞 Nevertheless, we made it to the pub. It was full of people outside and inside...a good sign! We had lambic reinforcement there.
After decompressing from being lost, we were ready to hit a few more bucket lists in Brussels like zennekin-pis, tin tin mural etc. We were so good we even made it to jennekin pis 😄 Bourse area was hustling with street closed for cars. Looks like something was going on.
Dusk was going to be upon us shortly at 7p. Here we were, back to Bourse where it all started. We frequented here pre race to catch metro or to go grocery. Our way back to Toshis was diagonally across through Grote Markt. Wow! Crowd at the Markt was on steroid! Sunday evening?! Deeper into it, we saw booths of food etc. On the main stage, dancers in traditional costume were dancing what-seemed-to-be traditional dance. Let's split a waffle. Gimmicky? Wth. And a beer, hehe. Go all-out!! And yes, go all out or go home because this turned out be THE best waffle eva period! Crispy and airy but has body. And the beer? We happened to land on faro. Soooo good! Fruity like cider without that pungentness. So enlightened. It turns out, this weekend was like a heritage festival. Looks like we got legit regional favorites! Vinh
busted out salami we had bought for dinner at home so we could enjoy faro #2 😄
Ok, now we are really ready to say good bye to Grote Markt and Brussels. At Toshi's, we had long-waited finisher beer from Eco Trail. But wait! It is also faro! We had no idea!! Brusselicious from the "world's oldest lambic brewery"!! What a way to wrap up the trip 😊
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