Belgium is Delicious

Like, the most delicious country yet.

When Evan and I arrived in Brussels on Thursday, we weren't feeling too optimistic. Our bus had been delayed leaving in the morning, and the ride had been long, so we were--I was--a little bit grumpy. Our Airbnb was in a somewhat sketchy part of town, and farther from everything than we had thought, so we had to figure out public transportation, which was more expensive than anticipated, and, by the time we got there an hour later, we had yet to see any historic-looking buildings.

Things started to turn around once we actually got in to the studio we were staying in for the next few nights. It was teeny-tiny, but cozy, with private kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Plus--unexpected bonus--a balcony!

Itsy-bitsy Airbnb.

We spent about an hour there unwinding from the day of travel and checking out every inch of our dinky new digs, then hopped on the metro towards the old town square.

Once we got into the older part of town, I felt a lot better about the decision to come to Brussels. There were three main reasons for this change of heart:

Reason #1: fish and Belgian chips (otherwise known as French fries)

Reason #2: Belgian beer

Reason #3: Belgian waffles

Other reasons came later in the evening when, after wandering the old town for a while, we went into Leonidas, the Belgian chocolate shop that my aunt had insisted we needed to visit. I exercised an extraordinary amount of self-control and limited myself to four dark chocolates in various flavors, and two macarons (caramel and litchee).

Those didn't last long enough for me to take a picture.

We hit a grocery store for breakfast supplies on the way back to our Airbnb, planning to make good use of our pint-sized kitchen while we had it.

After a yummy homemade breakfast the next morning (a combined effort of Evan's culinary skills and my talent for supervising), we were ready to tackle a walking tour of the city.

Our tour guide was brand-spanking-new (it was her first tour!), and she had lots of good recommendations for places to get food and beer, and, more importantly, chocolate and coffee.

Oh, and she also told us some cool facts about the history of Brussels and showed us the two famous fountains.  

Manneken Pis (all dressed up for Halloween?)

And his little sister!

And their dog (who isn't a fountain, just a statue).

After the tour, Evan and I made it our personal mission to visit all of the chocolate shops the tour guide had recommended, plus the coffee shop and the biscuit store she'd showed us.

Hello, Gorgeous.

A café eclaír from our new 2nd-favorite chocolate shop.

Mary Chocolatiers is the BEST, but I forgot to get a picture there.

This biscuit shop is actually older than the country of Belgium. Belgium was founded in 1830, and Maison Dandoy was established in 1829. 

Since we'd splurged on junk food, we decided that cooking dinner in our Airbnb was a fiscally responsible move. So we went to a grocery store, where we picked up a six-pack of Duvel (a Belgian beer), and some sprouts (they don't call them "Brussels sprouts" here).

For the next day, we'd planned a day trip to Bruges and Ghent. After an AMAZING walking tour in Bruges, though, we decided to pass on Ghent in favor of spending more time in Bruges.

Bruges was everything I'd hoped Brussels would be, just smaller. Old, picturesque buildings, cool shops and restaurants, with lots and lots of stories everywhere.

Our tour guide was fantastic, weaving tales from centuries before with more modern history. His enthusiasm as infectious, and I can honestly say that the "Legends of Bruges" tour has been, far and away, my favorite walking tour so far.

Some of my favorite tales from the tour included:
--Lace was invented in Bruges, by a lady who apparently got the idea in a dream, in which the Virgin Mary wove a spiderweb and placed it on her lap.
--The people of Bruges are sometimes called "the Irish of Belgium," because of their tendency to throw raucous parties, during which they drink with reckless abandon.
--The longest beer pipeline in the world is in Bruges, connecting De Halve Maan brewery with its bottling plant 3 kilometers away. Locals are waiting for the day that the pipeline bursts, pint glasses at the ready.
--The cathedral in Bruges used to have a golden dragon atop it, until one day, during a particularly wild party, the people of Ghent--jealous of Bruges's status as the favorite city of Maximilian II--swiped it. The golden dragon sits atop the cathedral in Ghent to this day.

After the tour, we went to a kitschy little café called I Love Coffee, where we grabbed a snack (and some coffee, of course). Rejuvenated, we wandered the streets of Bruges, in search of souvenirs and yummy food.

Did someone say waffles?

It was a little too cold for it, but we sat outside for dinner anyway. The local beer didn't do much to warm us up, but a huge pot of mussels did!

We caught a train back to Brussels not long after dinner, and I fell asleep on the ride, which gave me just enough energy to walk into our Airbnb and fall into bed. Evan and I spent our last morning in Belgium--where else?--at Leonidas, where we picked out enough dark chocolates to last us the bus ride to Amsterdam. And then some.

God, Belgian chocolate is good.