Mussels in Brussels

After an amazing stay in Amsterdam, we packed up and boarded a train bound for Brussels, Belgium. The train ride itself was a treat and allowed us to the see the beautiful Dutch and Belgian landscapes.





After our journey, we dropped off our bags at our AirBnB and went into town for lunch at Fork, a farm to table restaurant and picnic supply store. We filled up on quiche, sandwiches, salad and the most amazing homemade bread before taking a walk around the Grand Place.

It was then onward to scout out the famous Mannequin de Pis statue which is just that, a statue of a boy peeing. It was covered with tourists, but we managed to squeeze in for a few pics.

You can't go to Belgium without eating a waffle. So, we stopped into the Waffle Factory for a Nutella and Speculoos covered delight. 

With some time left to spare before dinner, we kept up our habit of touring local parks and went to the Parc de Cinquantenaire. The leaves were just too pretty not to play in.

Aside from waffles, when in Belgium you must eat mussels. Mussels in Brussels (with cheesy bibs), right? We had some of the tastiest around at Chou De Bruxelles on the outskirts of town. I'm so glad that I made reservations months in advance, because we were told that they were completely booked for the evening!

Although we saw the Grand Place during the day, we knew that we wanted to come back and see it at night. I'm glad that we did too because it was that much more stunning. We also wondered around the small streets behind it and found the Eglise de Sabon, one of the oldest churches in the area.

It was then onward to Goupil de Fol, a cozy, romantic, and eccentric bar that serves fruit flavored wine. We split two, cherry and hazelnut. We then meandered a little ways up the street to grab a seat at the famous Delirium Bar where I enjoyed a delicious cherry beer. The Belgium people love their cherries and I'm not going to complain about it!

Then, we went to the train station to pre-purchase our train tickets to Bruges. However, upon arriving- we heard grumblings that there was a strike about to occur that would impact all trains coming into or going out of Brussels. After a lot of confusion and conversations in broken English, we headed home and hoped for better news in the morning.

On that note, there will be more to come...