It doesn't really hit you that you are in a foreign country when you realize most things are not in english and there are weird signs everywhere. It also hits when you try to figure out public transportation. We are so spoiled here in the States with our access to cars and cheap fuel (more on this later). I adore public transportation (but not busses). It's so convenient and environmentally friendly. I loved using it in Europe after I figured out how to.
Anyway, we bypassed the luggage claim because we only brought carry-on luggage (Go us for packing efficiently and it really deserves a post of its own). We stopped in front of a sign to figure out where to go next. We needed to go down two floors to get to the train station. Easy peasy, except when your luggage tries to kill someone. As we navigated the second set of escalators, my luggage got lose while I was fiddling with directions to the hotel and it tumbled head over heels (if luggage had heads or heels) down a good majority of the escalator steps and narrowly missed the poor gentleman at the bottom. He kindly righted it for me and we were off!
First obstacle, buying a train ticket into the city center. We stopped at the automated vending machine and stared dumbfounded at it. Finally, figured it out and popped in €15. We got our tickets and headed down another escalator to the platforms. We again stood dumbfounded at the platform wondering which train to hop on to. A kind American couple directed us onto the right train. We sat there for a few minutes and then was told by the conductor that the train was having mechanical issues and to get on the other train on the next platform over. We boarded this train and were off in a few minutes.
There was another American couple on the same train as us and I peaked at their tickets which were significantly more than ours. I think they paid for first class and we paid for second. We were in the second class compartment. A few stops later, we got off at the Centraal station. Woohoo, halfway there! We had no idea which exit to take out of the station and we took the first one that we saw daylight. Turned out to be a semi-bad decision because upon exiting the station, we encountered two homeless men fighting. Like really fighting, punches thrown, angry cusses I'm assuming in Flemish. A crowd had gathered. The hubster and I took a wide berth, found a street corner, and tried to situate ourselves.
Something that I think the US has spoiled us is the use of street signs. Separate signs on posts at one corner of an intersection. Not so in Europe. Each city we visited was different. It took a while to figure out where the street signs were in Brussels (on the corners of buildings FYI). So we used landmarks on the google map I had printed out as well as an offline map app I had downloaded which turned out to be the best app I could have downloaded beating the offline language app hands down.
It's called CityMaps2Go and costs $2.99. You have to download maps of your desired cities ahead of time. I think they had every city we planned to visit. It has metro stops, hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants, you name it and it's probably on the map. It has an easy search function and the best part is that it doesn't need data to use. You can pin points of interest. The only flaw I could find was that sometimes the metro stops weren't where the map said it should be. Not that far off, so not a big deal.
Anyway, we picked a direction and started walking. At this point, I had read enough about Europe where I was super paranoid about pickpockets. I stuffed my wallet at the bottom of my bag and kept it in front of me at all times. My Louis Vuitton Neverfull XL was fucking heavy and my shoulder started to hurt. I even bought the hubster a front pocket wallet to replace his large Tumi wallet. Anyway, the strategy that we used to find out hotel absent of street names was to walk to a landmark and hope it showed up on the map app. By doing this, we could figure out if we were headed in the right direction and use those land maps to better orient ourselves on the map and navigate by using actual streets rather than landmarks and blindly going down random alleys.
At this point, the hubster and I were at each other throats. He wasn't being helpful and I had my nose in the app. I think we were both cranky. Anyway, we finally made it to the hotel. FYI walking with roller luggage on cobbled streets is not fun. We walked into this swanky looking hotel and tried to check in. Of course, we were too early. We swapped around some items our bags, dropped off the luggage, and went out into the city to kill 3 hours.
Side note: We stayed at The Dominican hotel. It's a chic boutique hotel that was nicely decorated. Large rooms with large bathrooms. Wonderful shower and comfortable beds. They had an ice machine which also dispensed free water (IMPORTANT since you can't drink the water in Europe and therefore, have to buy water everywhere. At €2-3 for one bottle, it gets expensive.) Located minutes from the Grand Place. Also air conditioning, very important for the hubster. The monks chanting in the elevator gets old fast. We also found a blood stain on the pillow case, but they fixed that right away. They did leave us a nice note about our 5th anniversary which was a nice personal touch.
So we strolled aimlessly around and found ourselves in the Grand Place which I kept wanting to call the Grand Palace.
Galerie de la Reine
Macaroons. Did not partake, was waiting for Laduree in Paris, but the place was always packed
Random statue with a dog
Grand Place
Grand Place
Grand Place
Grand Place
Once we had enough of the Grand Place, we decided to walk over to Manneken Pis. It's a statue of a naked little boy peeing into a fountain. The story behind this statue is that there was a fire and the little boy saved the city by peeing on it or something like that. Anyway, I had read that this little guy sometimes gets to wear outfits that change weekly. However, he was in his birthday suit and was also in his birthday suit when we came back to Brussels for our departing flight.
Manneken Pis
Close up
After playing pedophile and taking pictures of this naked little boy, we stopped for a spell and enjoyed a Belgian waffle. Is the "Belgian" irrelevant when you order it in Belgium? It was delicious. Strawberry and whipped cream.
Hubster posing with the waffle
Me with said waffle. Notice a difference in enthusiasm?
After devouring the waffle, we stopped in at a chocolate shop to poke around. We decided not to buy just yet.
Sweets!
We took a look at the map and decided to head off in another direction. The Grand Place and Mannekin Pis were all that I wanted to see for the day. We walked to this garden and sat for a bit.
Garden. Why don't we have these in the US?
We strolled by a museum. We didn't go in to look at the art since we had no idea what was inside and wasn't sure if it was worth the €8, but we did use the bathrooms. Museums have the best bathrooms in Europe because they are free and clean. Yes, you read that right, you have to pay to use restrooms in Europe. I paid between 40 cents to €1 to use the toilet. Mostly in public locations like rail stations, shopping malls, and gas stations.
Museum. Looks like they have that one painting that was in "The Thomas Crowne Affair"
Our wanderings then led us to yet another park where we spotted some joggers...
And a really long line of people.
When we got closer, we saw that they were lined up for free sandwiches and Cokes. They had coupons of some sort, so we did not get in line. And most likely, the sandwiches would have something the hubster wouldn't like, so it would have been a waste for him. We decided to sit down on the grass for a bit and kill some more time. At this point, I was exhausted. I just wanted to check into the hotel and nap, but I knew napping would be bad since I would be jet lagged and wanted to adjust to the new time zone.
After laying around enjoying the early afternoon sun, we finally picked ourselves up and headed to the hotel. We checked in and rested. Rested and decided what to do for the rest of the day. It was only 1:30 pm! We decided we would have a late lunch and skip dinner in lieu of dessert (more waffle!). I had read reviews about a great seafood restaurant in Brussels and had my heart set on that place. We changed and headed out. We walked over, but I was too intimidated to eat there. It's an open air bar type establishment. You ordered and they call out your name. Nothing was in English and it was all locals. Probably a good sign that it would be good, but we passed. I was a little heartbroken. We walked around for a little bit and settled on a restaurant specializing in Belgian food. This was perfect because one of my goals was to eat local food. No McDonald's for this gal!
Great start for any meal. Belgian beer!
Santé!
My Belgian beef stew
The food was good and very rich. I ordered the beef stew on the recommendation of the waiter. The hubster ordered sausage and bacon with mashed potatoes. I think he ate more of my dinner than his own. The mashed potatoes came with spinach mashed with it. It's ok, I liked his better than mine. So win-win. After dinner, we strolled along some more and took more pictures!
St Catherine's Cathedral
Back at the Grand Place
We missed it by a week. We also missed the Belgian Grand Prix by a week in the other direction. We missed all the good events in Brussels!
Of course, there are three things to try while in Brussels: waffles, mussels, and...
Pomme Frites!!
We had the choice of over 20 different sauces, but of course, the hubster wanted ketchup. No pomme frite sauce for me =(
We didn't get a second waffle which we regret, but we opted to stop into a chocolate shop and sample some local delicacy for dessert instead. By the time we finished the frites, we were pooped. We headed back to the hotel and crashed!!!
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