After nearly a month in Holland, I decided it was time to see another country. This weekend it's off to neighboring Belgium! A group of 8 of us decided to travel to Brussels for the first weekend in August. Brussels is only a 2.5 hour trip from Delft, which is within travel distance for me!
First some general observations of Belgium: I didn't realize how French the country was. The dominate language in Brussels is French, and when you walk into a store or a restaurant everyone greets you in French. However, everything in writing was also given in Dutch (or Flemish, the Dutch dialect spoken in Belgium) and people seemed to also speak Dutch. It was really interesting in Brussels because it's not completely one or the other. It's like a cross between a Dutch city and a French city.
Another thing I noticed was a large number of beggars on the street. In Holland I have seen shockingly few beggars or homeless people. I'm actually surprised by how few I've seen, even in the big cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam. I can probably count the total I've seen on one hand. However, in Brussels there seemed to be a lot more beggars. Maybe it was only noticeable because I've been in the Netherlands for so long.
I always assumed that the Netherlands and Belgium were nearly identical countries. I didn't realize that there would be a noticeable difference, but I guess it makes sense as they are different countries with different policies. I'm glad I was able to spend the weekend in Brussels. It was interesting to see the city and really fun just to be there. And the weather finally returned to the summer-like temperatures I've been missing. 70's and sunny all weekend with no rain!
On Saturday (8/1/15) we left Delft a little before 9 am. Going to Brussels took longer because they were doing track work in the Netherlands. We had to take a train to a city just south of Rotterdam. transfer to a bus to Roosendaal, and then take another train the rest of the way to Brussels. The Belgian train from Roosendaal was noticeably different from the Dutch trains I've been used to. There was no wifi (random fun fact: the name of the wifi on all Dutch intercity trains is "wifi in de train"), and the interiors seemed much older and worn out. Just an observation.
We got to Brussels a little after 12. I walked out of the train station and the first thing I noticed was a hill! That's the first hill I've seen in weeks! After walking around a little bit we stopped and got lunch and an Irish pub (when in Belgium, right?). We checked into the hotel after lunch and then spent most of the day walking around and exploring Brussels. We went into several beer and chocolate shops. It seems like every block has at least one or two stores that sell beer or chocolate.
Overall it seems like a really nice city! I'll let the photos do the talking though.
City Hall overlooking the Grand Place. Note that the sky isn't all overcast like most of my recent posts have been.
The Grand Place. So I always thought that it was the "Grand Palace" and that there was a palace. Apparently the Grand Place is just the French way of saying the central square. It was still really pretty.
Coke ads? Am I in Brussels or New York?
We stayed one night at the Hilton City Center. I was in a room of three with Kyle and Garrett. It was a really nice hotel, and breakfast was included. Centrally located, too. I have no complaints from the Hilton! It's funny though, when checking out it seemed like everyone else in line with us was also English.
One of the main shopping streets in Brussels.
No waffles? How disappointing.
It's ok though, I got my waffle. Only 1 euro! There were lots of waffle stands too, to go with the beer and chocolate shops. Also a lot of french fry places. Tourists eat well in Belgium!
Another photo of the Grand Place.
Some bricks. I guess there not that note-worthy, but here's a photo anyways.
I was on a selfie rampage this weekend.
Different types of beer glasses at a beer shop! Each beer has it's own glass!
A street stand selling escargots? We're not in Holland anymore!
The famous statue of the little boy peeing. I was told that the statue is disappointing, and I have to agree with that assessment. It's even smaller than I was imagining.
Here's another selfie, this time I'm joined by Kurt, Annie, and Garrett. It was really sunny, as you can tell by everyone's squinting.
So many tourists looking at the statue. The whole city was really crowded. I was surprised. It was hard to move around at times.
Look, 1 euro waffles! If you look closely you can see two more shops in the background advertising waffles.
Now I just look surprised.
Cool rooftops!
Chocolate Shop! I bought one of those macaroons from another shop and it was delicious. We spent about an hour going into different chocolate shops. Annie brought her "Rick Steves Brussels" guidebook and we went into all of the shops that Rick Steves recommended. We actually used that book a lot over the weekend. We used it walking around and to find some bars in the evening. Thanks Rick!
A statue to King Albert! (I'm assuming it's to King Albert and not some other guy names Albert).
What a view! We spend at least 20 minutes taking photos around here.
The rampage continues!
There's that hill again! It was actually weird to me seeing these hills after spending a full month in the Netherlands. Holland is a very flat country.
Power Squad right there.
An importatn looking building that I forgot what it was. Nearby was a cool park that we went to afterward. We spent a while just relaxing.
The restaurant row of Brussels. We did not eat dinner here. I think I got a take out sandwich for like 4 euro or something. It wasn't bad, but probably not as good as these restaurants.
More nice buildings. Look at all the gold! So fancy.
If no selfie was taken, were we really there?
Another view of the City Hall.
Now the sun is setting. I took too many photos and I'm running out of captions to write.
I found Belgian Food Lion!! This is the company that also owns Hannaford. It's like I'm home!
In the evening we followed Rick Steves' suggestion for a nice bar. We went to this one that was down an alley way. I felt like a local. The place was cool, it had a bunch of local Trappist brews that are only brewed in Belgium. The inside of the bar was nice too. After that we went to a place that was advertising happy hour from 11-12. They had 1 euro stellas, and strongbow cider two for 5 euro. I took full advantage of the 1 euro stellas. Our final bar was called Delirium Cafe. They are known for having over 2,000 types of beer! It was a fun place to end the evening. Afterward we had a nice walk back to the hotel.
The entrance to the bar Rick Steves suggested. We had trouble finding it for awhile. This was actually the second bar recommended by Rick Steves that we found. The first one looked nice, but it was very small and filled with locals. They all stopped and looked at us when we walked in. I guess they weren't too excited to be joined by 8 Americans. We decided not to stay and went to this one instead.
Kurt and Annie enjoying some Belgian beer.
There we all are!
What enthusiasm.
The inside of the bar. I was also on a rampage taking photos inside this one bar.
Kurt seemed to enjoy it!
Sunday (8/2/15) we had a slightly later start. I woke up around 10 and our first stop was the free breakfast. I always love a nice hotel free breakfast. This one had bacon and eggs and pancakes. No complaints here! After the breakfast we were motivated to do some more sight-seeing. We checked out of the hotel and walked around some more.We found an old cathedral!
Some modern art.
And a weird statue thing.
What a nice park. Not a bad walk around the city.
Looking up at the old cathedral.
Looking chill, Garrett.
And the full outside of the cathedral. It's an impressive looking building!
Our destination today was the BELvue Museum. This museum is the National History Museum for the country. It was interesting as I knew very little about Belgian history. Belgium didn't even become a country until 1830. I learned about the history of the royal family, and about the big divide between the French part of the country (Wallonia) and the Dutch part of the country (Flanders). Apparently there's a really big divide! The best part of the museum is that we happened to end up there on the first Sunday of the month, which is apparently free museum day!
After the museum we did our final walking around of the city. We went back to the Grand Place and bought some souvenirs. I also bought a nice dinner of french fries.
Back to this beautiful view again.
My dinner! They know how to make some good french fries. I think I've embraced the whole sauce thing on french fries. The other day I had some fries without any sauce (like I always do at home) and my first thought was "where is the sauce?"
Back to the Grand Palace. Great people watching spot.
A new perspective!
Catching the train back home from Brussels North Station.
After the final walk around of the city, it was time to head back to Delft. We caught the 6:55 train and were back in Delft by 9:30. This time we only had one transfer in Breda and no bus detours.
Overall I had a great time in Brussels! It was great to be able to see another country (now I'm up to five!) and to see the city of Brussels. The weather was great and the food was good. While Brussels was really nice, I don't think it would become my number one destination if I was planning a Europe trip form scratch. After about an hour or two you can have seen all of the touristy parts. But I have no complaints, because more time in Brussels means I just had more time to eat waffles and drink beer. And isn't that what life is all about?
