Belgium: A Culinary Tour

For my last weekend abroad (yikes, time flies!), I took off for Belgium with my travel partner in crime, Caroline. It was the cheapest flight on EasyJet and only 45 minutes away from Geneva, so it seemed like another no-brainer of a trip. Her boyfriend, who's studying abroad in Barcelona, met us there as well.

If I had to summarize the weekend in one word, it would be: FOOD. Waffles, chocolate, fries, beer, you name it. Everything was so delicious - we basically planned every day around our meals.

Caroline and I each averaged about 3 waffles per day during our stay - not too shabby. Apparently real Belgians eat their waffles with just sugar, but who would do that when there are so many toppings to choose from!? We always ordered typical "tourist waffles" loaded with bananas, strawberries, nutella, chocolate, gelato and whipped cream. Honestly, they are heaven on a plate. No matter how full we were, we always needed to have more!

Note: I will not be held accountable for any salivating on the reader's part. Proceed at own risk and keep that drool off your keyboards.

Belgium is also well known for its beers. We tried all the famous ones: Duvel, Trappist, Non Peut-Etre, Kriek (cherry flavored, my favorite) and Delirium Tremens. Most of these we tried at the Delirium Club, a bar in the old city that holds the Guinness Record for most beers on tap - over 2,000! It was a great, laid-back kind of place and we loved the atmosphere.

Cherry (Kriek) and apple beers, yum 

Of course, we did take time to see the major sites too. Belgium is an unusual European city; it's not as quaint as you might imagine. There is a very pretty old area called La Grand Place (or the Grote Markt in Dutch, Belgium's other national language). This is the most photographed part of the city and it's very ornate - I expected all of Brussels to match this level of luxe.

All lit up for the evening

Not far from La Grand Place, tourists can also find the famous Belgian "peeing baby" statue, or Manneken Pis. The statue is absurdly tiny and often (surprisingly) clothed, thanks to a nonprofit organization dedicated specifically to this project. I guess there are weirder traditions to have...

We also just happened to visit the Manneken mere moments after Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, the ex-Governator) stopped by. There was a huge crowd still buzzing with excitement when we arrived. Too bad we just missed Arnold himself!

See what I mean? Tiny in real life

However, beyond the pretty old town and its odd customs, Brussels is not very attractive. Most of the Belgians we met described the city, in their own words, as "ugly." -Maybe that's a defense mechanism of sorts - if they call it "ugly" before we can say it, then at least they have claimed their ugliness. Either way, they always told us that despite it's ugliness, you do come to love it! And I would have to agree - I do have a bit of a soft spot for this hodgepodge of a city.

Even in the gray urban sprawl, there were still plenty of cool sites to see. We found awesome flea markets with antiques, fresh fruits, yard sale goods, etc. And the graffiti art around the city was incredible - so vibrant and creative.

There were also some cool sites even in the modern parts of the city. The Atomium, which is Belgium's equivalent to the Eiffel Tower, was constructed for the Brussels World Fair in 1958. CNN once named it the "most bizarre" building in Europe, but I think it's pretty cool.

Our Brussels excursion was certainly a laid-back kind of trip. Unlike Paris or Rome, where you feel like you need to run around and take pictures with a checklist of famous sites, we felt free to just wander the city and take it in (with bloated stomachs of course). It was a perfect finale to my Euro adventures, with just the right amount of indulgence.

Quirky city, amazing food, and a lovely weekend trip. Merci, Bruxelles et à bientôt!