Brussels

Bonjour! Picking up where I left off (Maastricht Daytrip), our European Christmas Vacation then took us to Belgium. The Belgian border is only about a 45 minute drive from Megan and Todd's place in Eindhoven. So, we woke up early and set out to our first Belgian stop, Brussels. Brussels is the capital city of Belgium, and it struck me as a very big city as compared to our other European visits. Brussels is also home to the European Union and NATO. It has a very metropolitan and cosmopolitan feel to it. The country of Belgium speaks both French and Dutch. Apparently, Belgium is basically linguistically divided North and South. The Northern half of the country speaking Dutch, and the Southern half speaking French. Brussels, being the capital, is officially bilingual, but we certainly heard and saw significantly more French than Dutch.

Our first stop was the Atomium, which is pictured above. The Atomium is a large steel structure on the outskirts of town that was built for the 1958 World's Fair. Christina, the resident chemist of the group, advised that the structure is built in the shape of an iron crystal. It is actually much taller than it appears in the picture. (338 ft.) The line to take the elevators up and into the spheres was extremely long, and we had a full itinerary, so we did not go to the top. Maybe some other time in our lives.

After parking outside downtown, we rode the subway to the center of the city. As soon as we walked up from the subway, C and I were shocked at the size of the city. It felt much busier and bigger than we expected. But, in the midst of the city and the high-rises sits the Grand Place. The Grand Place is one of the most prominent squares in Europe. Along the outside are various guildhalls and the city's Townhall. Unfortunately, it rained for a bit of our day, so the pictures probably don't do it justice. The buildings are incredibly well maintained, and many are contain intricate statues and carvings.  As you can see, there were Christmas decorations all throughout the main square, including a huge nativity scene right in the middle of our view.  Shooting off the Grand Place are a few shopping avenues and various cafes. Chocolate and jewelry seemed to be the most popular items to purchase. C partook in the Belgian waffle with chocolate.  I was shocked at the sheer number of high-end chocolate shops in the city.  They were literally everywhere! Below are some photos of the Grand Place.

After leaving the square, we found a nice cafe to sit and have lunch. The place is called a la Mort Subite, which apparently means "Sudden Death." The clientele was a mix of tourists and locals on their lunch break. The menu consisted of mostly sandwiches, omelets and beer. C got the ham and cheese omelet that is shown below; it came with the largest slice of bread I have ever seen...haha. I ordered the croque-monsieur, which is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Todd and I were looking to enjoy ourselves as much as possible, so we splurged on some beer. Immediately, the Chimay Blue jumped out at me. The Blue is also called "Grand Reserve." It is maltier with more caramel to it than the other Chimays. A great beer to drink while sitting in a Brussels cafe on a rainy day. Here are some photos from our lunch spot.

After lunch, we wandered around the city a bit with the goal of reaching the world-famous Mannekin Pis. I am not entirely sure why or how, but this little fountain of a boy holding his wiener while pissing into a pool became a sensation. There were lines of people waiting to get a picture. It felt like the Trevi Fountain! Personally, I thought it was a bit underwhelming, but the people of Brussels really love it. All the chocolate shops near the fountain sell chocolates in the shape of the Pis. Further, the little boy is constantly dressed up by the locals. He apparently has hundreds of outfits for all occasions. Just a few days ago, Todd sent us a recent article about the city's love for this little fountain. It is actually an entertaining read. Below are the photos we took of the little guy.

From the Pis, we roamed around a bit more. We randomly found some cool parks. We then walked to the Royal Palace of Brussels. Evidently, the king and queen do not live there anymore, so I am a bit uncertain as to its purpose nowadays. But, it looks very nice. It is basically across the street from the Parc de Bruxelles, which is appeared to have little music and food venues set up throughout it. Our timing was unfortunate because the fountain was off and obviously, there was no greenery. But, you can picture how nice it would be in the Summer. Like I said previously, maybe on our next trip to Brussels.

That was basically our day in Brussels. Short and sweet. However, because my traveling partners were all so awesome, they indulged me on my quest for beer. We went back to the car and used the GPS to get to Anderlecht, outside the city. The neighborhood was a stark contrast to earlier in the day. But, across from a vacant lot full of garbage is Cantillon. This brewery is a rarity and basically, non-existent outside Belgium. It makes the finest lambic beer in the world, using old-school brewing methods. The owner is a fourth generation brewer. Yeast is obviously an essential ingredient to beer, and therefore, most breweries are extremely meticulous about the quality and quantity of yeast added to the beer. In contrast, Cantillon produces its beer via "spontaneous fermentation." Wild yeast and bacteria that naturally inhabit the region are allowed to freely enter the beer, and the beer generally aged in oak barrel for a period of one to three years. The brewmaster then carefully blends the lambics of different batches and ages before bottling creating "gueuze." Sometimes, fruit or additional sugar is added as well. The result is a beer unlike any other in the world, and no two batches will ever be the exact same. The beers are generally dry with some sour taste. Cantillon probably does this better than any other brewery in the world. Megan, Todd and I shared a couple of glasses of various styles, and then I bought three bottles to enjoy later. One of them made it home safely in my suitcase, packed between socks, underwear and t-shirts. One of the best brewery experiences of my life. The owners and employees are obviously extremely passionate. They greet everyone on their way in the door. Here are the pictures below:

Heaven

That concluded our whirlwind tour of Brussels. Our next stop was a quick one in Ghent. I will post a short synopsis of that trip soon!