Belgian Beer, Waffles, Chocolate, Fries... Need I Say More??

Brussels was, indeed, an interesting trip!  I almost didn’t go because I had been feeling poorly all week (fever, stomach upset, etc) which ended up being gastroenteritis from bacteria from contaminated food or water! YAY, I have no idea how/why that happened… it happened right when I came back from Madrid so I’m not sure?  But anyways, I decided to go and thank goodness I did!  It was exciting to fly out of Barcelona for the first time… we took a train bright and early at 6am to the airport, went through security (ugh, I forgot you can’t bring aerosols so they threw out my hairspray) and hungout until the flight.  I didn’t realize how big of an airline RyanAir is… I thought we were gonna’ be on some sketchy little plane but it was a big one! I hadn’t been feeling well at all so I slept during the flight and two hours later we arrived in Brussels!  And it was freezing.  We could see snow!  Ivan saw snow for the first time… it was so funny, he was so excited!!  The tram we were planning on taking ended up being a nightmare so we bought a souvenir 2 € ticket, exciting, and hopped in a cab!  We went to the place to check in but we couldn’t check in until 4pm so we left our luggage there and went for a stroll to satisfy our empty stomachs!  We stopped in at a little bar, assuming that they had food when we asked “Can we eat here?” but it turns out that they didn’t have food but they allowed you to bring in food… weird.  We stopped in for a drink and tried Kriek, the cherry beer.  It is sooo sweet, I’ve heard of people drinking it for breakfast.  A bit down the street, we found another bar that had food!  I got Croque Madame (ham and cheese sandwich) and we tried our first Belgian beers!!  (Mind you, this whole trip I basically took baby sips because I didn’t feel well and I obviously knew something was wrong with me and needed to hydrate myself, not dehydrate myself)  I think it is so cool that each beer has a glass that comes along with it!!

  At this point we had decided everyone had to buy a different each time we got one so that we would be able to try as many beers as possible!  Lunch was fun, we rested in the warmth and tried to get our bearings on the city!  We went to Grand Place, the main plaza, and went into all the different chocolate stores!  Kris, you would have been in HEAVEN!  There was SO much chocolate and waffles that everywhere you walked, it smelled like sugar.  By the end of it, it got a little sickening and I couldn’t handle it anymore… I don’t know how people actually live there!  We went to the chocolate museum, which was really cool!  We watched a demonstration where a chocolatier showed us how she makes her chocolates!  They don’t make the actual chocolate there but they receive big blocks and melt it and then mold it and add crème or whatever to it!  …Very cool!  They had some really cool carvings made out of chocolate as well, it was incredible!  

the Beer Cave

 We also wanted to go to the beer museum but it was closed due to extreme weather conditions :(  So instead, we wandered around the city and ended up finding Delirium Café!!!  I had read about this in my guide book so we had to stop in!  It is a bar that has 2004 beers… it is huge.  It’s three floors and each floor is basically a different bar.  Downstairs, the “Beer Cave” was the coolest and was so crowded, loud, cozy and what you would picture to be a typical Belgian local hangout.  The place was covered in beer trays… walls, ceilings, everywhere.  The main floor was cool because they had a bajillion beers on draft.  We really liked the upstairs, “Hoppy Bar” which was really chill and everything was made of old-fashioned wheels and whatnot.  We only stayed there for a little so we went to get our bags and checked into our hostel!  Our hostel ended up being an amazing buy—props, Jill!  It was on a side street off of the Grand Place (awesome location), had a nice bathroom with two showers and it was super nice for such a good price!  Now that I’ve been spoiled, I want to stay in a legit hostel!  It had four bunk beds and we took up three (there were 6 of us) and we were with two quiet Japanese people.  Later we found a Middle Eastern place to eat at because we were starving!  I got Shawarma pita and Mica and I shared some fries with curry ketchup sauce.  Brussels is famous for their fries and the different sauces they put on top!  Apparently, french fries are not French and actually came from Belgium... new daily fact!  Then we wandered back to Delirium and hung up upstairs in the Hoppy Bar.  We tried several beers and ended up buying some Belgium cards and playing games!  At first, there was only one other table and then the next thing ya know, the place is jam packed and it’s impossible to walk!  That place definitely makes some money!  The next morning we woke up at a reasonable time (ten) and wandered around Brussels to find waffles, which is not hard.  I decided I HAD to get a waffle so I got mine with strawberries and bananas and powdered sugar : ) It was very good, but sooooo sweet!  Ya gotta have a sweet tooth!  We found the famous statue, Manneken Pis, of a little boy urinating into the fountain below… Apparently it has some historical significance, but that is beyond me and I still don’t understand why you see a naked boy EVERYWHERE throughout this city. Beats me.  Then we took a train northwest to Brugge.  Of course, the first thing we did when we get there was find their brewery and we got a guided tour!  This was definitely my favorite part of the trip.  Our tour guide was HILARIOUS—we’re pretty sure she was drunk!  It seems all they do in Belgium is drink… I’m not sure anyone does any work.  But she showed us the place and it was really cool to see everything, I had already learned in class how the process works but now I actually got to see it!  The funniest thing that she said was, “Now, once you pour your beer you’ve got to wait.  You need to get to know your beer and develop a relationship with your beer (wait for the head to go down).  Now once it starts talking back to you is when you’ve had enough”  After the brewery, we found this tea room for lunch and it ended up being amazing!  I found some vegetable soup for my stomach and this amazing pesto bread that I wish I could have all the time!!!  Brugge was very pretty and very cute… small, homely little town.   

the center of Brugge

 They had horse-drawn carriages all over the place, it was so cute!!  We wandered around the town the whole day and then came back to Brussels that night to try more of the famous fries (Vitamin water for me).  The trip ended up being a success—lots of chocolate, beer, French fries, waffles.  There were two failed attempts to meet up with my friend from Clemson Laura and it never worked out so that was a big bummer but hopefully she will come stay with me in Barca!  Brussels is a neat place, but I still don’t picture it to be the capital of Europe! It seems like there’s not much to it!  Who knows, but I liked it a lot and you need to visit!!

Sunday afternoon Mica came with me to Urgencies to go see what the heck was wrong with me and we finally got an answer five hours later.  They gave me some meds (thank goodness) and a diet that I should follow.  Lately, I’ve been eating boiled potatoes, pasta, chicken and boiled apples.  Today was a big day and I can eat boiled VEGETABLES!  Exciting, I know!  But it has been good to be back home… traveling makes me realize how much I love Barcelona!  Class has been good, I had my second Spanish test today, and I’ve been learning lots of history and literature in my other two classes.  I’m nervous because my first test in Poetry is next week and it’s only five questions and 20% of my grade!  But this weekend is ROME! with my program and hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with Erin Kemp!!! It’s been so long!  And then next week is Carnival in Sitges… wooot!!